Sir Colin Philip Joseph Woods (20 April 1920 – 27 January 2001) was an English police officer in the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Metropolitan Police who was also the first Commissioner of the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

, from 1979 to 1982. Born in

, Woods was the son of a Metropolitan Police Sub-Divisional Inspector and was educated at Finchley Grammar School. He served in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

and the

Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an light infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal ...

(into which he was commissioned in February 1944) throughout the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from 1939 to 1946, and then joined the Metropolitan Police as a

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

, rising through the ranks to Deputy Commander. In 1966, he was promoted

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

(Traffic) and in 1968 Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Management Services). The following year he was appointed

Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

of Bramshill Police College, and in 1970 returned to the Met as Assistant Commissioner "B" (Traffic). On 31 March 1972 he was moved to be Assistant Commissioner "C" (Crime). This caused a certain amount of controversy, since he had never previously served in the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...

(CID), which he was now taking over.Obituary of Sir Robert Mark, ''The Independent'', 5 October 2010
/ref>

Robert Mark Sir Robert Mark (13 March 1917 – 30 September 2010) was a senior British police officer who served as Chief Constable of Leicester City Police, and later as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1972 to 1977. Mark was the first Met ...

, the new

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

, had already stated that he believed uniformed and CID officers should be interchangeable in senior posts, and Woods's appointment was the first example of this policy. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

1973 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 2 June 1973 for ...

. In 1975, Mark appointed Woods

Deputy Commissioner A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Aust ...

. He was appointed

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO) in the 1977 Birthday Honours. On 1 August 1977, Woods was appointed HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary. He held this post for two years until he was asked to establish the new Australian Federal Police in 1979. He was awarded the

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

(QPM) in the 1980 New Year Honours.

Footnotes

References

*Biography, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Colin 1920 births 2001 deaths Military personnel from the London Borough of Barnet People from Finchley King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers Royal Ulster Rifles officers British Army personnel of World War II Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Deputy Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian recipients of the Queen's Police Medal English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Commissioners of the Australian Federal Police Chief Inspectors of Constabulary (England and Wales) People educated at Finchley Grammar School