James Crane (police officer)
Sir James William Donald Crane (1 January 1921[1] – 29 November 1994)[2] was a British police officer who served as HM Inspector of Constabulary from 1976–79;[3] and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for England and Wales 1979-82.[4]
After wartime service with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1946.[5]
By the early 1970s he was the Commander of the Fraud Squad .[6] He was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner[7] and it was in this role that on 19 July 1972 he began the Poulson investigation.[8] At the time this was the UK's biggest ever corruption inquiry:[9] it eventually led to the resignation of Reginald Maudling, then Home Secretary and notionally in charge of the police. In 1973 Crane arrested Poulson[10] who was later convicted.[11]
As Chief Inspector of the Constabulary, Crane was also involved in investigating the failings of the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper.[12]
In 1977 he was awarded CBE.[13] On Wednesday, 23 July 1980, at Buckingham Palace, the Queen conferred the Honour of Knighthood.[14]
References
- "The Independent Birthdays". The Independent. 1 January 1994. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- Who Was Who. 2012. ISBN 9780199540891.
- "Home Office Appointment" (PDF). London Gazette. 9 July 1976. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- "Appointment of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary" (PDF). House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Publication. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ‘CRANE, Sir James (William Donald)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 15 May 2016
- Global Finance and Urban Living: A Study of Metropolitan Change. Routledge. 1992. ISBN 041507097X.
- justiceinspectorates
- "Heath Faces Shake Up in Cabinet". The Age. 20 July 1972. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- "Kenneth Etheridge obituary". 2 June 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- "Conning'em No More". Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- Seven-year concurrent sentence on Mr Poulson. The Times (London, England), Saturday, Mar 16, 1974; pg. 3; Issue 59040
- Chapman, Richard (12 July 2019). Ethics in Public Service for the New Millennium. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-75269-5 – via Google Books.
- London Gazette June 1977
- "Honours and Awards Supplement" (PDF). London Gazette. 16 September 1980. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
Police appointments | ||
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Preceded by Colin Woods |
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for England, Wales and Northern Ireland 1979 –1982 |
Succeeded by Lawrence Byford |