Sir David Joseph O'Dowd, (born 20 February 1942) was Chief Inspector of Constabulary from 1996 until 2001. O'Dowd was educated at

Gartree High School Gartree High School is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school with Academy (English school), academy status. Its age-range designation is 11–16. GCSEs have been taught since 2017 and its first GCSE results published in 2019. The ...

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

, the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

and the

University of Aston Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...

. He joined the

Leicester City Police The city of Leicester in England was policed independently until 1 April 1967 when its police force was merged with the Leicestershire and Rutland Constabulary to form the Leicester and Rutland Constabulary. From about 1750 until September 1835 the ...

in 1961 rising to the rank of

Chief Inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is us ...

. In 1977 he joined the

West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, ...

as a

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

. In 1984, along with John Smith and Wyn Jones, he was one of a trio of young provincial rising stars who were appointed to the rank of deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police as part of Commissioner Sir Kenneth Newman's drive for modernisation, becoming head of strategic planning. He was Chief Constable of the

Northamptonshire Police Northamptonshire Police (colloquially known as Northants Police) is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England, in the United Kingdom. The Northampton Police area includ ...

from 1986 until 1993. He was

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respo ...

in 2007.‘O’DOWD, Sir David (Joseph)’, Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2015 ; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 15 May 2016
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References

British Chief Constables English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Chief Inspectors of Constabulary (England and Wales) People educated at Gartree High School Alumni of the University of Leicester 1942 births Living people Officers of the Order of St John High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire {{UK-law-enforcement-bio-stub