ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to build up and explore a profile of the occupational and social origins of the chief constables holding office between 1836 and 1996 in order to identify any corresponding patterns of change. It looks at the occupational backgrounds of chief constables before they first joined the police and presents any military experience they may have had. The true impact of the policy of internal recruitment was hidden by the widespread conscription that took place during the First and Second World Wars, and afterwards with national service. The chief constables’ educational backgrounds were important indicators of the social world(s) from which they came. Whilst the majority of chief constables had only a secondary education, a small percentage did have experience of some form of further or higher education. The analysis of the educational profile of chief constables reveals some interesting features.
