Sir John Ritchie Inch CVO

CBE 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 ...

QPM (14 May 1911 – 22 November 1993) was a police officer who was successively Chief Constable of three Scottish police forces. Inch was born in

Lesmahagow Lesmahagow ( ; sco, Lismahagie or ''Lesmahagae'', gd, Lios MoChuda) is a small town in the historic county of Lanarkshire on the edge of moorland, near Lanark in the central belt of Scotland. Lesmahagow was also a civil parish. It lies west o ...

, Lanarkshire, Scotland. At the age of eleven he was selected to attend the

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...

. He then entered the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating MA in law. Joining

Lanarkshire Constabulary Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshir ...

in 1931 and posted to

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

police station, Inch was promoted

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

in 1936. Undertaking further studies, Inch obtained an LLB and in 1938, at the age of 27, was promoted to

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 charge of recruit training. He qualified as an

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

(ARP) instructor and became the organiser of civil defence in Lanarkshire on the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

. In 1943, at the age of 32, Inch was appointed Chief Constable of Dunfermline Burgh Police. When, in 1949, this merged with Kirkcaldy and Fife County Constabularies into the combined

Fife Constabulary Fife Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council area of Fife. The area policed by Fife Constabulary had a resident population of just over 350,000, almost a third of whom lived in one of the three princ ...

, he was appointed Chief Constable of the new force. Inch's success in combining the three forces into the combined force led him to be appointed in 1955, at the age of 44, as Chief Constable of

Edinburgh City Police Lothian and Borders Police was the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian between 1975 and 2013. The force's headquarters were in Fettes ...

. As Chief Constable of Edinburgh, Inch was a member of the organising committee for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

held in the city in 1970. A keen sportsman, Inch also served as chairman of the Police Athletic Association from 1971 to 1975. In 1975, Edinburgh City Police amalgamated with Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk and Lothian and Peebles Constabularies to form

Lothian and Borders Police Lothian and Borders Police was the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian between 1975 and 2013. The force's headquarters were in Fettes ...

, and Inch served as Chief Constable of the new force until his retirement in 1976. Inch 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 o ...

(CBE) in 1958 and

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Monarchy of Canada, Canadian monarch, Mon ...

(CVO) in 1969, and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1972. He died in Edinburgh on 22 November 1993.The Independent – obituary 29 November 1993
Retrieved 18 October 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inch, John 1911 births 1993 deaths Scottish police officers British Chief Constables People educated at Hamilton Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow People from Lesmahagow Scottish knights category:Officers in Scottish police forces Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Scottish recipients of the Queen's Police Medal