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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". 1 January 1994. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/birthdays-1404049.html. Retrieved 28 August 2013. 
  2. Who Was Who. 2012. ISBN 9780199540891. http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/www/9780199540891.013.U171880. 
  3. "Home Office Appointment". 9 July 1976. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/46956/pages/9469/page.pdf. Retrieved 28 August 2013. 
  4. "Appointment of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary". 26 June 2012. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/183/183i.pdf. 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=-AMj2BeIQv0C&q=HM+Chief+Inspector+of+Constabulary+crane&pg=PT141. 
  7. justiceinspectorates
  8. "Heath Faces Shake Up in Cabinet". 20 July 1972. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19720720&id=j6hjAAAAIBAJ&pg=5746,4028376. Retrieved 28 August 2013. 
  9. "Kenneth Etheridge obituary". 2 June 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/jun/02/kenneth-etheridge-obituary. Retrieved 28 August 2013. 
  10. "Conning'em No More". http://www.muthergrumble.co.uk/issue14/mg1401.htm. 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=DRSiDwAAQBAJ&q=%2522James+Crane%2522+%2522yorkshire+ripper%2522. 
  13. London Gazette June 1977
  14. "Honours and Awards Supplement". 16 September 1980. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/48309/supplements/12987/page.pdf. Retrieved 28 August 2013. 
Police appointments
Preceded by
Colin Woods
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for England, Wales and Northern Ireland
1979 –1982
Succeeded by
Lawrence Byford
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