Douglas Osmond

Sir Douglas Osmond CBE QPM DL OStJ (27 June 1914 – 20 April 2006) was the chief constable of Shropshire Constabulary and later Hampshire Constabulary. He is regarded as one of the first career chief constables in the UK.

Biography[]

Douglas Osmond joined the Metropolitan Police in 1935 where he rose to Inspector before joining the Royal Navy during the Second World War. After the war, he returned to the police and was appointed as the Chief Constable of Shropshire, (now part of West Mercia Constabulary), in 1946. At 32, he was one of the youngest to have achieved this position in the United Kingdom. (The youngest was Sir Eric St Johnston who, in 1940 at the age of 29, was appointed chief constable of Oxfordshire Constabulary). Equally remarkable was his rise through the ranks at a time when most chief constables were externally appointed.

In 1962, Osmond left to become the chief constable of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, and in 1967 he presided over its amalgamation with the Portsmouth and Southampton city forces. At this point, the force was renamed Hampshire Constabulary and Osmond remained chief constable until his retirement from the post in 1977.

He died on 20 April 2006 aged 91.

Honours[]

During his life Osmond received the following honors:

• 1958 OBE
• 1962 Queen's Police Medal
• 1968 CBE
• 1971 Officer of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem
• 1971 Knighthood
• 1981 Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire

See also[]

• Hampshire Constabulary
• Policing in the United Kingdom

References[]

• Rolling, S. (2006). Obituary - Douglas Osmond. Frontline (Hampshire Constabulary newspaper). June 2005. Portsmouth.
• (2006). Sir Douglas Osmond obituary. Daily Telegraph. 28 April 2006.