After graduating as a Bachelor of Divinity and working in the private sector, Rose Fitzpatrick joined the City of London Police as a police constable in 1987. She transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in 1998, served operationally in local policing at each rank and in 2000 became the first female chief superintendent borough commander in London.
Rose was appointed as a chief police officer in the MPS in 2002 and promoted to the MPS rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner in 2005. She led MPS work to advance equality and inclusion in policing London for two years, before returning to her lifelong professional passion as lead for local policing across the capital.
In 2012 Rose was appointed Deputy Chief Constable of the new Police Service of Scotland, and until her retirement from policing in July 2018 she had overall responsibility for local policing across Scotland, which she considers to have been an immense privilege.
Throughout her 30 year policing career Rose was passionate about working with diverse communities of geography, characteristic and choice and with other committed partners, to keep people safe. She supported those she worked with – particularly women – to develop their professional potential, and encouraged people of all ages to consider careers in policing.
Rose has been an active charitable sector trustee for many years, on the board of charities as diverse as The Rank Foundation, which funds place-based programmes across the UK, and Salle Ossian, a local community sports club in Perthshire.