William Sutherland (police officer)

Sir William Sutherland
QPM
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland
In office
1996–1998
Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders
In office
1983–1996
Chief Constable of Bedfordshire
In office
1979–1983
Personal details
Born
William George MacKenzie Sutherland

12 November 1933
Inverness, Scotland
Died30 May 2022(2022-05-30) (aged 88)

Sir William George MacKenzie Sutherland QPM (12 November 1933 – 30 May 2022),[1] often known as Bill Sutherland, was a British police officer.[2]

Sutherland was born in Inverness and educated at Inverness Technical High School.[2] He did his national service in the Royal Engineers, serving in Japan during the Korean War.[1]

After military service, he joined Cheshire Constabulary in 1954.[2][1] He moved to Surrey Constabulary in 1973, where he became chief superintendent in command of the Guildford division in 1974.[1] There, he took charge of the response to the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974.[1] In 1975, he moved to Hertfordshire Constabulary as assistant chief constable,[1] and in 1979 was appointed chief constable of Bedfordshire Constabulary.[1] In 1983, he returned to Scotland as chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police,[3][1] where he remained from thirteen years. He then served as HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland from 1996 to 1998.[1]

Sutherland was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in the 1981 New Year Honours[4] and knighted in the 1988 Birthday Honours.[5]

While in Cheshire, he married policewoman Jennie Abbott, who came from Lancashire. They had two daughters, Alison and Anne.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Obituary, The Scotsman, 10 June 2022
  2. ^ a b c ‘SUTHERLAND, Sir William (George MacKenzie)’, Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2015; online edn, Nov 2015 accessed 27 May 2016
  3. ^ New chief constable. The Times (London, England), Saturday, 14 May 1983; pg. 10; Issue 61532
  4. ^ "No. 48467". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1980. p. 29.
  5. ^ "No. 51365". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 June 1988. p. 2.