Hendon Police College is the principal training centre for London's Metropolitan Police Service. Founded with the official name of the Metropolitan Police College, the college is today officially called the Peel Centre, although its original name is still used frequently. Within the police it is known as just "Hendon".
It is within walking distance of Colindale tube station on the Northern line.
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The college was opened on 31 May 1934 by the Prince of Wales,[1] in the erstwhile buildings of Hendon Country Club, Hendon Aerodrome's club house (which had been used briefly as laboratories of the Standard Telephones and Cables company). The school was the brainchild of Lord Trenchard, who was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 1931 to 1935. His experiences as second-in-command of the Royal Flying Corps' Central Flying School in 1913 and 1914 gave him a suitable background for the venture, whilst the location would have been known to him from his time as Chief of the Air Staff (1921–1929). The original concept for the college was a military-style cadet establishment to train officers to enter directly at senior rank, instead of the traditional entry at the lowest rank of constable for all personnel. Trenchard's idea was that in future almost all officers above the rank of Inspector should be selected from college graduates, thus introducing a military-style officer corps. Candidates, of which there were to be about thirty every year, were selected by a competitive examination based on that for the Indian Police Service. Most of the candidates were already serving officers, although some were direct entrants from civilian life. Graduates were given the newly-created rank of Junior Station Inspector.[2] Cadets who were already serving police officers received an annual salary of £200 and direct entrants received £170. New Junior Station Inspectors were paid £300, rising to £320.[2] The first commandant was Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Halland, previously Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, who was given the rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner.[3] The assistant commandant was Lieutenant-Colonel Reggie Senior, seconded from the Indian Police Service with the rank of Superintendent,[3] and the chief instructor was Chief Inspector Carrick, an experienced instructor at the Metropolitan Police Training School,[4] who was replaced by Chief Inspector Hugh Young after his promotion to superintendent and posting back to division in January 1935.[5][6]
It was intended that the Metropolitan Police Training School for constables at Peel House in Westminster should also move to a site adjacent to the college,[3] but in the end this did not happen until much later.
The first thirty-two cadets began their course on 10 May 1934. Twenty were serving officers (two sergeants and eighteen constables) and twelve were new recruits.[7][8] The college was founded upon a modern and scientific approach to training. There were forensic laboratories, detective training facilities, a police driving school[9] and a police wireless school,[10] as well as representations of a police court and a police station.[11]
The first course completed their training at the college in August 1935. The graduates then spent four months working as ordinary police constables at police stations in West Central London, four months at the various specialist departments at Scotland Yard, two months as Section Sergeants and two months as Station Sergeants. Although they were officially Junior Station Inspectors throughout this period, they wore the uniforms of the rank in which they were serving at the time and not until this twelve-month period was up were they entitled to wear inspector's uniform.[12] A Junior Station Inspector was to wear one star over one bar on his epaulettes.[13] The second intake of 29 cadets passed out in December 1935[14] and the third intake of 32 cadets in December 1936.[15] In 1937, the course was extended from fifteen months to two years, although only one intake ever completed this longer course. In August 1938, Major John Ferguson succeeded Halland as commandant.[16] In November 1938 it was announced that the rank of Junior Station Inspector was to be abolished and in future all graduates were to be appointed to the rank of Inspector. Promotion above this rank was also reopened to all officers, whether college graduates or not.[17]
The college was closed in September 1939.[18] 197 men had trained there, of whom 188 had graduated.[19] Its graduates included two future Commissioners, Sir Joseph Simpson and Sir John Waldron (both 1934–1935), three Deputy Commissioners, Sir Ranulph Bacon (1934–1935), Douglas Webb (1935–1936) and Sir John Hill (who later also became HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary; 1938–1939), and two Assistant Commissioners, Tom Mahir and Andrew Way (both 1935–1936), as well as a number of Chief Constables of provincial forces, including Sir Edward Dodd (1934–1935) of Birmingham, Sir Eric St Johnston (1935–1936) of Oxfordshire, Durham, and Lancashire, and Sir John McKay (1937–1939) of Manchester, all three later HM Chief Inspectors of Constabulary, Bernard Bebbington (1935–1936) of Cambridge and John Gaskain (1936–1937) of Cumberland and Westmorland, both later HM Inspectors of Constabulary, Alec Muir (1934–1935) of Durham, Albert Wilcox (1934–1935) of Hertfordshire, Sir Douglas Osmond (1935–1936) of Shropshire and Hampshire, Sir Derrick Capper (1937–1939) of Birmingham and the West Midlands, John Gott (1937–1939) of Northamptonshire, Thomas Williams (1938–1939) of Huntingdonshire and the Isle of Ely, West Sussex, and Sussex, and David Holdsworth (1939) of Oxfordshire and Thames Valley. Other graduates included Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Bliss (1936–1937), first National Co-ordinator of Regional Crime Squads of England and Wales, Michael Macoun (1938–1939), Inspector-General of Police of Uganda and later of British Dependent Territories, and the politician Sir Henry Calley (1938–1939).
After the war there was considerable debate about whether to reopen the college. Many considered the police did not need an "officer class" and were best-served by continuing to promote from the ranks. Eventually it was decided not to reopen it as an exclusive cadet college, but as the Metropolitan Police Training School for all entrants. The new National Police College, however, shared many of the principles behind Hendon.
When the Royal Air Force left Hendon in the 1960s, the Metropolitan Police decided to rebuild the college, and the new Peel Centre, named after Sir Robert Peel, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 31 May 1974, forty years to the day after her uncle opened the original Metropolitan Police College. The Queen has returned twice since then, on the 21 October 2001 when she dedicated the memorial to Metropolitan Police officers and staff who have lost their lives on duty, and on 3 January 2005 when she went to visit the Casualty Bureau dealing with British nationals missing after the Asian Tsunami.
The last course at Hendon on the 17 week course finished on 6 July 2007 with a fly past from India 99, a Metropolitan Police helicopter. Recruits will now take part in the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP) scheme.
The centre is run by the Director and Co-ordinator of Training, who is responsible for overseeing the training received by new recruits. Hendon is currently one of the regional learning centres where new recruits can attend the Police Law and Community 16 day course, and where all new recruits undertake the 3 week CTC conversion course (as paid trainees). In addition, Special Constables complete their 23-day course (either as a weekdays intensive course or on 23 consecutive Saturdays or Sundays) at Hendon. The centre runs courses on many aspects of police work, from forensic and crime scene analysis, to radio operations and driving skills. Police officers can expect to return to the centre at various times during their career. Part of the centre is dedicated to the investigations of serious crimes, including homicide. It also has extensive sports facilities.
Training facilities include a mock court room, a road system and Brixley (formerly Kingsgate) police station, which is now used for training purposes only. The mock court room is also used by Transport for London for the training of Revenue Protection Inspectors.
The Metropolitan Police Book of Remembrance[20] is displayed in the entrance of Simpson Hall at the centre. There is also a memorial garden.
