Sir John Albert Dellow (5 June 1931 – 30 December 2022) was a British police officer. Dellow was born in London and educated at

William Ellis School William Ellis School is a voluntary aided secondary school and sixth form for boys located in Highgate, London, England. Admissions The School is located near Hampstead Heath. It is situated just east of Parliament Hill and north of Gospel O ...

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...

, and the

Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe , established = , closed = , type = Selective Grammar SchoolAcademy , head_label = Headmaster , head = Philip Wayne , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder ...

. After leaving school, he worked for

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

and did his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

, working in personnel selection. In 1951, he joined the City of London Police as a Constable. Rising to

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 ...

and attending

Bramshill 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 was ...

, he transferred to

Kent County Constabulary Kent Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the and approximately 1.8 million inhabitants of Kent, a county in the south east of England. History On 14 January 1857, a 222-strong 'Kent County Constabulary' was formed u ...

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 1966. He was promoted to

Chief Superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Superintendent.pn ...

in 1968 and Assistant Chief Constable in 1969. In the same year, he became the first police officer to attend the Joint Services Staff College. In 1973, he transferred to the Metropolitan Police as Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Traffic Planning). In 1975, he became DAC (Personnel), in 1978 he took over No.2 Area, and in 1979 he became DAC (Operations). In this post, Dellow commanded the police operation in the Iranian Embassy Siege in 1980. Later that year he was appointed DAC (Inspectorate). He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the

1979 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1979 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1979 to celebr ...

. On 10 May 1982, he was appointed Assistant Commissioner "B" (Traffic). In 1982, he headed the review of Buckingham Palace security after an intruder, Michael Fagan, managed to get into the Queen's bedroom. In March 1984 he was transferred as Assistant Commissioner "C" (Crime). The reorganisation in 1985 meant he was the last officer to hold the post of Assistant Commissioner "C" and the first to hold the new post of Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations (ACSO). He was 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 ...

(CBE) in 1985. In 1987, he was promoted to Deputy Commissioner, holding the post until his retirement in 1991. He was vice-president of the

Association of Chief Police Officers The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established ...

(ACPO) from 1988 to 1989 and president from 1989 to 1990. He was knighted in the

1990 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 1990 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 15 June 1990, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 1990. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged firstly by the ...

. Dellow died on 30 December 2022, at the age of 91. Dellow was portrayed by

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in '' ...

in the 2017 film about the embassy siege, '' 6 Days''.

Footnotes

References

*Biography, '' Who's Who'' *"Siege chief to lead London's detectives", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 6 March 1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dellow, John 1931 births 2022 deaths People from Highgate People from High Wycombe People educated at William Ellis School People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers British police chief officers Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Deputy Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London