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 to 1979;[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

  1. ^ "The Independent Birthdays". The Independent. 1 January 1994. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  2. ^ Who Was Who. 2012. ISBN 9780199540891.
  3. ^ "Home Office Appointment" (PDF). London Gazette. 9 July 1976. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Appointment of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary" (PDF). House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Publication. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  5. ^ ‘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
  6. ^ Global Finance and Urban Living: A Study of Metropolitan Change. Routledge. 1992. ISBN 041507097X.
  7. ^ justiceinspectorates
  8. ^ "Heath Faces Shake Up in Cabinet". The Age. 20 July 1972. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  9. ^ "Kenneth Etheridge obituary". 2 June 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Conning'em No More". Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  11. ^ Seven-year concurrent sentence on Mr Poulson. The Times (London, England), Saturday, Mar 16, 1974; pg. 3; Issue 59040
  12. ^ Chapman, Richard (12 July 2019). Ethics in Public Service for the New Millennium. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-75269-5 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ London Gazette June 1977
  14. ^ "Honours and Awards Supplement" (PDF). London Gazette. 16 September 1980. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
Police appointments
Preceded by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for England, Wales and Northern Ireland
1979 –1982 		Succeeded by


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