Sir Kenneth Gordon Oxford was born in Lambeth in 1924. He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1947. In 1961 Oxford was a Detective Sergeant. He was bagman to Superintendent Basil (Bob) Acott in the A6 Murder investigation that led to the conviction of James Hanratty. In 1963 he took part in the Profumo affair investigation, arresting Christine Keeler on suspicion of perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

In 1966 he was a Detective Superintendent and led the search for the stolen football world cup that was recovered.

In 1969 he joined Northumbria Constabulary as Assistant Chief Constable (Crime).

In 1974 he was appointed as Deputy Chief Constable, Merseyside Police and appointed as Chief Constable of Merseyside Police in 1976.

He completely restructured Merseyside Police and scrapped the then ‘Task Force’ renaming it as the ‘OSD’ (Operational Support Division). See Commando Squad

During the ‘Toxteth Riots’ in July 1981 he ordered CS gas to be used for the first time on the UK mainland. He also made himself known to those Officers involved in the riots by appearing on the front line and visiting those injured.

In 1982/1983 he was Chairman of ACPO (The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland )

During the ‘Miners Strike’ in 1984/1985 he provided mutual aid to other police forces by deploying Merseyside Officers to other areas of the country. He successfully opposed an injunction from the Merseyside Police Committee to prevent Merseyside Officers being deployed elsewhere during the ‘Miners Strike’.

He was knighted in 1988 and retired in 1989. He died on 23rd November 1998.

His predecessor was Sir James Haughton

Brian Starkey
2012