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 in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and educated at Barnsley Technical College. In 1938 he enlisted in the Highland Light Infantry as a boy soldier and reached the rank of Corporal before transferring to the

Army Physical Training Corps The Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC) is the British Army corps responsible for physical fitness and physical education and has been headquartered in Aldershot since its foundation in 1860. Its members are all Royal Army Physical Trainin ...

in 1941. He served with the APTC in North Africa and Italy and left the Army in 1946 with the rank of

Warrant Officer Class II A warrant officer (WO) in the British Armed Forces is a member of the highest group of non-commissioned ranks, holding the King's (or Queen's) warrant, which is signed by the Secretary of State for Defence. Warrant officers are not saluted, bec ...

. He then joined the

West Riding Constabulary The West Yorkshire Constabulary (WYC) was, from 1968 to 1974, the statutory police force for the West Riding of Yorkshire, in northern England. It was formed under the Police Act 1964, and was a merger of the previous West Riding Constabulary a ...

as a

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

, representing the force in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. He attended the

National Police College The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, (near Hook) Hampshire, England, was until 2015 the principal police staff training establishment in England and Wales. History The need for a training college for the police wa ...

in 1954 and was promoted

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

in 1955 (after the statutory minimum nine years' service) and Superintendent in 1960. In 1956 he was a British Memorial Foundation Fellow in Australia and that year he was also

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

. He attended the Senior Command Course at the Police College in 1963–1964 and was then appointed Deputy Chief Constable of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. In 1966, he transferred to the

Metropolitan Police 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 ...

in London as Deputy Commander (Administration and Operations) and in 1967 became second-in-command of No.3 District (North-East London). In 1968 he became Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Training) and in 1970 was seconded as Commandant of the National Police College. In 1973 he returned to London as Assistant Commissioner "D" (Personnel and Training), but remained in the post less than a year before being appointed Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall in November 1973, 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 of community policing."Alderson's deputy to be chief constable", ''The Times'', 13 March 1982 Alderson was frequently portrayed in the media as the polar opposite to

James Anderton Sir Cyril James Anderton (24 May 1932 – 5 May 2022) was a British police officer who served as chief constable of Greater Manchester from 1976 to 1991. Early life and career Born and brought up in a coal mining family in Wigan, Lancashire, ...

, 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 the

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...

(QPM) in 1974 and appointed

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 ...

(CBE) in 1981. He became a fellow commoner of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, and a fellow of the

Cambridge Institute of Criminology The Institute of Criminology is the criminological research institute within the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. The institute is one of the oldest criminological research institutes in Europe, and has exerted a strong influence ...

in 1982 and was also Gwilym Gibbon Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, from 1982 to 1983. He was visiting professor of police studies at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

from 1983 to 1989 and a research fellow at the Institute of Police and Criminological Studies at the

University of Portsmouth The University of Portsmouth is a public university in Portsmouth, England. It is one of only four universities in the South East England, South East of England rated as Gold in the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework. With approximately 28 ...

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 the Liberal Party and unsuccessfully contested the Devon parliamentary seat of Teignbridge in 1983. He served as a consultant on human rights to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

from 1981 and was a member of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

General Advisory Council from 1971 to 1978. He also served on the committee of the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

from 1973 to 1981 and was president of the

Royal Life-Saving Society The Royal Life Saving Society UK is a drowning prevention charity founded in 1891 in the UK. It has had Royal Patronage since 1904. History The Royal Life Saving Society UK is a national charity, founded in 1891 by William Henry (swimmer), William ...

from 1974 to 1978. Alderson married Irené Macmillan Stirling in 1948; they had one son.

Footnotes

References

*Biography, ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

External links

Obituary, ''Daily Telegraph'', 13 October 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alderson, John Military personnel from Yorkshire People from Barnsley 1922 births 2011 deaths Highland Light Infantry soldiers Royal Army Physical Training Corps soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Chief Constables of Devon and Cornwall Police Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Academics of the University of Strathclyde Academics of the University of Portsmouth English non-fiction writers British criminologists Penologists Members of the Middle Temple English barristers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English lawyers