John Alderson | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1922-05-28)28 May 1922 Barnsley,West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 7 October 2011(2011-10-07) (aged 89) |
| Education | Barnsley Technical College |
| Occupation | police officer |
| Years active | 1955–1982 |
| Known for | community policing |
John Cottingham Alderson (28 May 1922 – 7 October 2011) was a senior British police officer and expert on police and penal affairs.
Alderson was born inBarnsley,West Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Barnsley Technical College. In 1938, he enlisted in theHighland Light Infantry as a boy soldier and reached the rank ofCorporal before transferring to theArmy Physical Training Corps in 1941. He served with the APTC in North Africa and Italy and left the Army in 1946 with the rank ofWarrant Officer Class II.[1]
He then joined theWest Riding Constabulary as aConstable, representing the force inboxing andrugby. He attended theNational Police College in 1954 and was promotedinspector in 1955 (after the statutory minimum nine years' service) andsuperintendent in 1960. In 1956 he was a British Memorial Foundation Fellow in Australia and that year he was alsocalled to the bar by theMiddle Temple. He attended the Senior Command Course at the Police College in 1963–1964 and was then appointeddeputy chief constable ofDorset.[1]
In 1966, he transferred to theMetropolitan Police in London asdeputy commander (Administration and Operations) and in 1967 became second-in-command of No.3 District (North-East London). In 1968, he becamedeputy assistant commissioner (Training) and in 1970 was seconded as commandant of the National Police College. In 1973, he returned to London asassistant commissioner "D" (Personnel and Training),[2] but remained in the post less than a year before being appointedchief constable ofDevon and Cornwall in November 1973,[3] where he remained until his retirement in May 1982.
While chief constable he acquired a reputation for radical ideas which were not always popular with other senior police officers, who regarded him as "soft", and was also a champion ofcommunity policing.[4] Alderson was frequently portrayed in the media as the polar opposite toJames Anderton, chief constable of Greater Manchester from 1976 to 1991, who was seen as a champion of hardline, aggressive policing and a more punitive criminal justice system.
He was awarded theQueen's Police Medal (QPM) in 1974 and appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1981.
He became a fellow commoner ofCorpus Christi College, Cambridge, and a fellow of theCambridge Institute of Criminology in 1982 and was also Gwilym Gibbon Research Fellow atNuffield College, Oxford, from 1982 to 1983. He was visiting professor of police studies at theUniversity of Strathclyde from 1983 to 1989 and a research fellow at the Institute of Police and Criminological Studies at theUniversity of Portsmouth from 1994 to 2000. He returned to Australia in 1987 as Australian Commonwealth Fellow with the Australian Government. He often commentated on police matters in the media.
Alderson was a member of theLiberal Party and unsuccessfully contested the Devon parliamentary seat ofTeignbridge in 1983. He served as a consultant on human rights to theCouncil of Europe from 1981 and was a member of theBBC General Advisory Council from 1971 to 1978. He also served on the committee of theRoyal Humane Society from 1973 to 1981 and was president of theRoyal Life-Saving Society from 1974 to 1978.
Alderson married Irené Macmillan Stirling in 1948; they had one son.[citation needed]
| Police appointments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Unknown | Deputy Chief Constable of Dorset 1964–1966 | Succeeded by Unknown |
| Preceded by Unknown | Deputy Commander (Administration and Operations), Metropolitan Police 1966–1967 | Succeeded by Unknown |
| Preceded by Unknown | Deputy Commander, No.3 District, Metropolitan Police 1967–1968 | Succeeded by Unknown |
| Preceded by Unknown | Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Training), Metropolitan Police 1968–1970 | Succeeded by Unknown |
| Preceded by | Commandant of the National Police College 1970–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Assistant Commissioner "D", Metropolitan Police 1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall 1973–1982 | Succeeded by |
