John Hoddinott


Sir John Charles Hoddinott was a senior British police officer who rose through the ranks to become Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary.
He was born in Winchester, Hampshire and educated at Barton Peveril Grammar School in Eastleigh. Both his father and grandfather had served in the Hampshire Constabulary.
Hoddinott however joined the Metropolitan Police as a cadet in 1961, becoming a constable in 1963, a sergeant in 1967 and an Inspector in 1969. In the latter year he attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and was awarded a degree in Law and Economics in 1972. After returning to duty with the Metropolitan Police he was transferred to the Obscene Publications squad as a Chief Inspector and then to the Drug Quad as a Detective Superintendent. In 1981 he was put in charge of the CID at West End Central and promoted to Chief Superintendent.
In June 1981 he transferred to the Surrey Police as Assistant Chief Constable before becoming Deputy Chief Constable of Hampshire Police in 1983. He finally became Chief Constable of Hampshire Police on 1 September 1988. He retired in 1999.
He served as President of Association of Chief Police Officers in 1994–95 and as a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire.

Honours and awards

Hoddinott Road in Eastleigh has been named after him.

Private life

He died in 2001 in Middlesbrough whilst working on a new Police Complaints system based on Operation Lancet, an enquiry into corruption in the Cleveland Police. He had married Avril Petheram and had two daughters.