ALL OUR YESTERDAYS Town first said ’ello, ’ello, ’ello to full-time police 170 years ago

Furthermore, 56% of all recruits served for less than a year; a situation that worsened over time.

The reasons that men were dismissed were predictable. Many were found drunk on duty, others drunk as they came on duty. Some neglected their beat, finding a quiet place to sleep (omnibuses were a favourite resting place) or a friendly beerhouse in which to take a pint; others were insubordinate, immoral or (occasionally) criminal.

PC James Watkins had been reported for loitering on his beat when he went missing. When found by the night inspector, not only was he drunk but ‘his coat was covered in mud as if he had been laid in the street.’

PC William Hollingrake was found drunk on duty and brought back to the station, where his behaviour was ‘so outrageous that he had to be confined in the lock-up cell all night.’

Some men appeared to have a death wish. Few managed to be absent from duty, to be asleep on duty, to abandon his beat because of drunkenness and to be found in a brothel in a single week, but John Brown did.

This might not have been so serious but for the fact that Brown was the highly-praised sergeant from the Manchester force, brought in to provide leadership.

Brown’s spectacular fall from grace was unique but it did highlight a more general problem that helps to explain the dire police disciplinary record, namely poor leadership.

One of the most unusual features of the town police force under the Improvement Commission was the high turnover of superintending constables.

The first, John Cheeseborough, resigned through illhealth shortly after taking up post.

Thereafter, four men held the post – two were dismissed, two were effectively driven from office. Not until the appointment of James Withers (in anticipation of the forthcoming incorporation of the borough) did Huddersfield have a head constable with the confidence of the watch committee and the ability to enforce discipline in the ranks.

In no small measure, the leadership problem stemmed from the determination of successive watch committees, notably when chaired by C H Jones, later the first mayor of Huddersfield, to micro-manage the police. In particular, disciplinary recommendations were ignored, even though their ‘second chance’ policy was unsuccessful in two out of three cases. Consequently, Superintendents Priday and Hannan resigned, the latter explicitly stating that his authority had been undermined by the actions of the watch committee while Superintendent Thomas was dismissed after a very vituperative and public series of clashes with C H Jones. Such was the animosity between the two men that, after his dismissal, Thomas assaulted Jones in the street and was subsequently tried for assault at Leeds quarter sessions. Only one superintendent, George Beaumont, forged a working relationship with the watch committee. Unfortunately, his period of office saw a spike in the number of resignations, as he alienated several respected senior men. Worse, his career ended in ignominy. Having narrowly escaped a sex scandal, he was dismissed for fraud – but that, as they say, is another story!