Obituary: John Alderson, renowned police chief credited with developing community policing

While chief constable of Devon and Cornwall, John Alderson was a pioneer of community policing in the Seventies and encouraged his officers to be involved with local events and make themselves known throughout their area, a policy stance much at odds with the prevailing trends of his era.

Alderson preferred to maintain the traditional image of the British police and was against the more aggressive tactics sometimes witnessed today and advocated at the time by Greater Manchester police constable James Anderton, in many ways Alderson’s antithesis.

For example, Alderson was against the use of CS gas, rubber bullets, tear gas or other tactics that might be considered intimidatory. He, instead, maintained a liberal and fair attitude to policing. It was that background that made him such an informed and stimulating visiting professor of Police Studies at Strathclyde University from 1983 until 1989.

John Cottingham Alderson was educated in South Yorkshire and enlisted, in 1938, with the Highland Light Infantry. He was soon promoted to the rank of corporal but left the HLI in 1941 to serve with the Army Physical Training Corps in North Africa and Italy.

Immediately on his discharge, with the rank of a warrant officer, Alderson joined the West Riding Constabulary and involved himself in many sporting activities: especially boxing and rugby. After a course at the Police College at Bramshill, Alderson was promoted to the rank of inspector in 1955.

He was never a conventional policeman and, throughout the 1950s, was keen to pursue academic interests. He studied law and was called to the Bar of Middle Temple in 1956. Later he gained a certificate in criminology at Leeds University.

Promotions to chief inspector and superintendent followed rapidly and, in 1960, Alderson was a subdivisional commander and was selected for the prestigious year-long Senior Command Course run at the Bramshill college. On completing the course, Alderson was appointed deputy chief constable of Dorset, remaining in post for two years.

In 1966, he faced a major challenge when he was transferred to the Metropolitan Police in London and acted as deputy assistant commissioner for personnel and training under Sir Robert Mark. From 1970, Anderson was commandant at Bramshill. He took up the post of chief constable of Devon and Cornwall in 1973.

His patch was a widely diverse area and policing it made considerable demands on both senior officers and those on the beat in rural parts.

In 1978, there had been several demands from distressed mothers on the Pinhoe estate in Exeter that crime and antisocial behaviour were rife. Families were concerned that their children were threatened by gangs of malcontents and Alderson personally investigated and monitored the situation. He put into operation his community policing experiment and, under police supervision, the mothers ran a playgroup for 100 youngsters aged between five and 15 during the summer holidays. Vandalism and petty crime were reduced as were other forms of lawlessness.

It was a radical variation on standard policing but many traditionalists considered the methods too liberal, just as Margaret Thatcher swept to power in 1979. Alderson responded to his critics by showing that the streets of the larger cities and estates such as Pinhoe were now safe after dark. The idea grew and after his five years in Cornwall there were 100 community policemen in the area. Many other forces adopted his ideas.

Alderson’s own personal approach was underlined when he gave evidence to Lord Scarman’s inquiry after the 1981 Brixton riots. He argued perceptively for a less aggressive attitude to controlling such outbreaks and told the inquiry: “If we are to save ourselves from incessant conflict, we must start talking hearts and minds.”

His methods were not, however, viewed with unanimous favour among either senior politicians and colleagues in the force. There was a growing demand for an all-together more robust and confrontational attitude from the police. In 1982, Alderson decided to retire.

It proved a highly active retirement. Alderson was a consultant on human rights to the Council of Europe and visiting professor at Strathclyde University. At the latter his involvement was considerable and his lectures were stimulating and reasoned. He enjoyed debating his more liberal views on policing and social affairs with students and did so with an informed gusto. His training in the law ensured that his lectures and arguments were delivered in a cogent and articulate style. Alderson also helped to create a centre for criminal justice studies at Exeter University and worked with Amnesty International.

It was this wide variety of interests that made Alderson ideal to act as an adviser or consultant on numerous boards. He also published books and appeared often in the media, notably on BBC’s Question Time.

Alderson, who was appointed a CBE in 1981 and awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 1974, contested unsuccessfully Teignbridge in Devon as a Liberal candidate. He married Irené Macmillan Stirling in 1948. She died in 2008, and he is survived by their son.

ALASDAIR STEVEN