Frederick John Hanson, (26 May 1914 – 26 October 1980) was the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

from 1972 to 1976.

Early life

Hanson was born in

Orange, New South Wales Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney on a great circle at an altitude of . Orange had an estimated urban population of 40,493 Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, on 26 May 1914 and was educated at

Christian Brothers College, Burwood , motto_translation = Guided by Christ , established = 1909 , status = Closed , closed = 2009 , type = Roman Catholic, all-male, secondary, day , affiliations = Roman Catholic , founder = Br. P.G. O'Neill , chaplain = , chairman = , en ...

. He worked as a manufacturing jeweller's assistant and a transit porter before joining the police force in 1936. He served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

from 1942 until 1946. He was rapidly promoted through the police ranks, becoming assistant commissioner in 1968 and deputy commissioner in early 1972. His nickname in the force was "Slippery".

Career

Hanson was promoted to commissioner on 15 November 1972, having been recommended for the role by his predecessor,

Norman Allan Norman Thomas William Allan, (3 June 1909 – 28 January 1977) was the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force, from 1962 to 1972. Biography A Protestant and Freemason, Allan joined the NSW Police Force in 1929, posted at Redfern. From ...

, whose term had been tarnished by corruption allegations. Upon taking office, Hanson reportedly sacked 28 corrupt officers and announced that he saw drugs as the biggest problem facing police. As commissioner, Hanson reorganised the force structure, changed the police uniform, introduced Australia's first crime intelligence unit, and allowed women police officers to transfer to general duties for the first time. He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in January 1974. He was occasionally referred to as a "playboy" for his personal habits while commissioner, and critics derided his term as undistinguished. As with his predecessor, issues of corruption and poor management continued throughout Hanson's term. The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

settled a defamation action in 1976 after alleging the previous year that he held a financial interest in a gambling club; however, after his death in 1980 freed media to report without facing Australia's strict defamation laws, he faced repeated allegations of corruption, including having received money from illegal gambling interests and personal ties to various criminal figures. He retired early in 1976. Hanson sought successfully to have

Mervyn Wood Mervyn Thomas Wood, (30 April 1917 – 19 August 2006) was an Australian rower and police officer. He was an eight-time Australian national sculling champion, four-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist. He later rose to become the Commi ...

appointed as his successor; Wood, like Hanson and Allan, was dogged by corruption allegations and later unsuccessfully prosecuted. Hanson made an abortive campaign as an independent candidate for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

seat of

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...

at the 1978 election, but withdrew before election day. Bob Bottom would later allege that his campaign had been motivated by anger at the decision of Premier

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

to order the closure of illegal casinos. Hanson died in his car in his garage in October 1980. The engine was not running when the body was found. It was initially reported as a heart attack, but later understood to be from

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

. The coroner decided not to hold an inquest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Frederick 1914 births 1980 deaths Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Commissioners of the New South Wales Police Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Australian recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Royal Australian Air Force officers People from Orange, New South Wales