Page 163 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

for the man, would argue with that description. Years
later, in 2013, I was to spend a morning with ‘the gaffer –
now Lord Dear’ at his invitation, to the House of Lords.
More of this later.

In 1985, following the retirement of Chief Constable Sir
Philip Knights, Geoffrey Dear left the Metropolitan Police
to assume the role of Chief Constable of West Midlands
Police.

He arrived to find his new force in decline, with a
reputation for never quite getting it right. He quickly
identified the need for drastic changes within the force,
coupled with depressing levels of low morale within the
frontline officers, all of which required his urgent
Figure 74 Chief Constable
Sir Geoffrey Dear, attention.
Now Lord Dear kt QPM DL
Never one to shirk his responsibilities as a true leader, he
was soon publicly in the thick of it with his with his handling of the shooting by
police of a young boy and, separately, the 1985 Handsworth riots. He
implemented necessary changes in strategy and procedure both
administratively and operationally. Whilst the vast majority of the changes he
wrought were badly needed and good for the future of the force, many of
his decisions were not so well received by some old-school coppers of all
ranks who no doubt felt threatened by his radical and swift decision making.

We had all heard of his commanding presence. His reputation preceded
him. He was renowned for being visible among his troops and would turn up,
without prior notice at police stations around the West Midlands. His motive
was to meet the frontline staff, not necessarily to catch us out failing in our
duties.

I first met ‘The Gaffer’ when posted to relieve the office at
Erdington one day. You might expect the Chief Constable
of the second largest UK police force to arrive in a
cavalcade of cars, flags waving. Not so. Whilst manning
the office, I heard the front door buzzer indicating that we
had a visitor in the reception area. As I turned, I am not
ashamed to admit that I quivered with immediate nervous
awe at the sight of the Chief standing on the customer
side of the foyer desk. If his height, well over 6’6” tall wasn’t
imposing enough, the sight of him in full uniform, with all
the ‘scrambled egg laurel wreath’ decorating his cap and Figure 75 Chief Constable Insignia
epaulettes emblazoned with crossed tipstaves in a laurel - image by By Russell Newman -
Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0,
wreath, surmounted by a crown, was a most impressive https://commons.wikimedia Page163
sight for a young copper.