Sir James Henderson Waddell CB (5 October 1914 – 3 January 2004) was a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who helped reform the police in the wake of corruption scandals in the 1960s. Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Waddell was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff ...

and was an alumnus of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where he graduated with a first in history. As a

Waddell worked initially for the

Unemployment Assistance Board The Unemployment Assistance Board was a body created in Britain by the Unemployment Act 1934 due to the high levels of inter-war poverty in Britain. The Board kept a system of means-tested benefit A means test is a determination of whether an in ...

, having passed the civil service administrative exam in 1936. Waddell was moved to the Ministry of Information during 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 ...

and was called up to serve in the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

in 1942. Before his military service Waddell had been a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

, but had lost his pacifist leanings in the wake of the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. Waddell was wounded in his leg after landing in France after the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, and served as a second lieutenant in the

Reconnaissance Corps The Reconnaissance Corps, or simply Recce Corps, was a corps of the British Army, formed during the World War II, Second World War whose units provided reconnaissance for infantry Division (military), divisions. It was formed from infantry brigad ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. His

service number A service number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they may be used in civilian organizations as well. National identification numbers may ...

was 307300. In 1946 Waddell resumed his civil service career, working for the

Ministry of Housing and Local Government The Ministry of Housing and Local Government was a United Kingdom government department formed following the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government. It was formed, as the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, ...

for 20 years, punctuated by a brief interlude in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

. Waddell joined the Home Office in 1966, where he was placed in charge of the department dealing with the police, public order, and security. The

police service The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

was being drastically reorganised, including a sharp reduction in the number of separate forces, following the

Police Act 1964 The Police Act 1964 (1964 c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that updated the legislation governing police forces in England and Wales, constituted new police authorities, gave the Home Secretary new powers to supervise lo ...

. There were also some special problems affecting the

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

; a ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specific ...

'' exposé had alleged widespread corruption, and some of the allegations turned out to be well justified. Waddell worked with the

Commissioners 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 ...

, first John Waldron and then

Robert Mark Sir Robert Mark (13 March 1917 – 30 September 2010) was a senior British police officer who served as Chief Constable of Leicester City Police, and later as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1972 to 1977. Mark was the first Metro ...

, to clear up the mess. He also tried to get the Metropolitan Police to start taking black recruits, a proposition that was adopted with some vigour by Home Secretary

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

. Work began on devising a new system of dealing with complaints against the police. Waddell was appointed by Prime Minister

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

to investigate

Jock Kane John Kane (7 April 1921 – 27 September 2013) was a Scottish whistleblower who was prevented from publishing two books alleging corruption at the British intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Kane served with the Roy ...

's claims of fraud and corruption at the

Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Un ...

(GCHQ) intelligence agency. Waddell's report was finished in April 1979, and never published. The new Prime Minister,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

, described Kane's allegations as "unfounded" to Parliament, and as a consequence Waddell inferred to a journalist that his report had not concluded that Kane's allegations were unfounded. Waddell married his wife, Dorothy, in 1940, she died in 2001. They had two children, a son and daughter, who survived him at his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell, James 1914 births 2004 deaths Military personnel from Edinburgh Civil servants from Edinburgh People educated at George Heriot's School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British civil servants Scottish civil servants British Army personnel of World War II Reconnaissance Corps officers Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of the Bath Civil servants in the Ministry of Housing and Local Government