“At the outset I would like to make mention of the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner of Police. “The Police Acts, 1937 to 1951,” were amended in November 1951, to provide for the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner; and on the 29th November 1951 Chief Inspector P.Glynn became the first Deputy Commissioner of Police for this State. The growth in the strength of the Police Force and the increasing burden of administrative work fully justified the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner, and I am certain that the Department will benefit as a result of this appointment being made.”
Chief Inspector Patrick Glynn became the first Deputy Commissioner, and later became Commissioner of Police. This image was taken whilst as Commissioner, in 1955.
Image PM2301 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
This advice was published in the Report of the Commissioner of Police for the 12 months ending 30.06.1952. Initially only one Deputy was appointed. Patrick Glynn, who later became Commissioner, joined the Queensland Police Force and was sworn in as Constable on 16.05.1922. He had resigned from the Royal Irish Constabulary and immigrated to Australia, initially working as a Labourer before his application for appointment. During his career P. Glynn was stationed at Roma Street, New Farm, Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) and the Commissioner’s Office, and he successfully organised and took charge of the first Detective College established in Queensland in 1939.
The next appointments at DC rank included T.W. Harold in 1955, J.E. Donovan in 1957, E.M. Anthony in 1960, F. Palethorpe in 1965, R.W. Whitrod in 1970, V.A. MacDonald in 1977, L.R. Duffy in 1981, T.S.C. Atkinson in 1982 and J.K. McDonnell in 1985.
Appointed Deputy Commissioner on 02.07.1987, Ronald Joseph Redmond became Acting Commissioner of Police just two months later, replacing Commissioner Terence Lewis.
Image PM1180 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
The eleventh Deputy Commissioner, Ronald Joseph Redmond, rose to this rank on 02.07.1987 after 35 years in a variety of state-wide branches. A long term member of the CIB, R.Redmond was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1979 to enable him to study Scenes of Crime techniques in the UK and USA. Deputy Commissioner Redmond enjoyed just two months at this level before taking on the top policing job as Acting Commissioner when Terence Murray Lewis was ordered to stand down whilst allegations before the Fitzgerald Inquiry were resolved. Mr Redmond guided Queensland’s Police through two turbulent years with a wealth of knowledge and fine sense of humour.
Further Deputy Commissioners were appointed, including D.J. Braithwaite in 1987, D.L. Blizzard and R.C. Kirkpatrick in 1990, J.P. O’Sullivan in 1991, W.G. Aldrich in 1992, R.N. McGibbon in 1999, R.P. Conder in 2002, our current Commissioner of Police I.D.H. Stewart and the highest ranking female K.D. Rynders in 2008. There are currently three Deputy Commissioners: R.E. Barnett oversees Specialist Operations, B.M. Pointing Regional Operations and S.W. Gollschewski Strategy Policy and Performance.
Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett, 2013.
Image courtesy of Media and Public Affairs.
Deputy Commissioner Brett Pointing, 2013.
Image courtesy of Media and Public Affairs.
Deputy Commissioner Stephan Gollschewski, 2013.
Image courtesy of Media and Public Affairs.
More can be read about some of these Commissioned Officers, and many more Queensland men and women charged with policing this state in our recently published pictorial “Policing Queensland 1864 – 2014”. Click on this link for the ordering process: QP150 Commemorative Book
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was compiled by Police Museum Assistant Georgia Grier. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – Deputy Commissioners” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.
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