Shirley Cameron Becke OBE QPM, née
Jennings, was a
British police officer. She was the fourth and last commander of the
London Metropolitan Police's A4 Branch (Women Police), from 1966 to 1973, and the first woman officer in the
United Kingdom to reach Chief Officer rank when she was promoted to
Commander in 1969.
(29 April 1917 – 25 October 2011)
Early life
Becke was born in
Chiswick,
London, the daughter of a
gas engineer. She was educated at
Ealing Grammar School for Girls and followed in her father's footsteps, training as a gas engineer at
Westminster Polytechnic from 1935, and in 1939 became the first woman to pass the Higher Grade Examination of the
Institution of Gas Engineers. She then worked as a gas engineer for two years.
Police career
Becke joined the
Metropolitan Police as a
Constable in 1941, intending her service to be purely for the duration of the
Second World War, but stayed in the force after the war. In 1945 she joined the
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as a
Detective Constable[1] and the following year transferred to
West End Central Police Station, working with
Barbara Kelley, later to become Britain's first
Detective Chief Superintendent.
In November 1945, Reuben 'Russian Robert' Martirosoff was murdered.
Becke posed as the fiancée of one of the two suspects to gain
information about their whereabouts that would see them captured and
ultimately hanged for their crimes.
[1] She was promoted to
Detective Sergeant in 1952,
[2] Detective Inspector in 1957,
[2] and
Detective Chief Inspector in 1959, when she was posted to
Scotland Yard as the Metropolitan Police's most senior woman detective.
[1]
In 1954, she was called to the headquarters of an oil company in
Mayfair by the company's
accountant to investigate a
theft. She later married the accountant, Justin Becke, who was later ordained and became
Church of England vicar of
South Merstham,
Surrey. She thus became the first head of London's policewomen to be married.
In 1960, Becke was promoted to
Superintendent and returned to uniform,
[2] taking command of the women police in the South-West Area.
[1] Eighteen months later she returned to Scotland Yard as second-in-command of A4 Branch.
[1] She took command of A4 Branch with the rank of
Chief Superintendent on 26 May 1966, 25 years to the day after she joined the force. She was awarded the
Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in 1972.
In 1973 A4 Branch was disbanded and women police officers integrated
with the general establishment. Commander Becke was appointed to the
Force Inspectorate.
Later life and death
She retired from the police on 29 April 1974 and took up a position as Regional Administrator for London of the
Women's Royal Voluntary Service. She retired from this post in 1979, but also served as vice-chairman of the WRVS from 1976 to 1983. She was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1974.
Shirley Becke died in Chichester, West Sussex on 25 October 2011. Her funeral was held in the Lady Chapel of
Chichester Cathedral on 14 November 2011.
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