William Horwood (police Commissioner) - Commissioner

Commissioner

Horwood was a good administrator, but was regarded as somewhat distant, humourless, rude and arrogant by his men. As a soldier, he preferred the company of other military men to that of career policemen, and appointed several to senior posts. In fact, he made no attempt to get to know his men, and did not make regular visits to police stations as his predecessors had done. In return, he was contemptuously nicknamed "The Chocolate Soldier" after a mentally ill man named Walter Tatam attempted to assassinate him on 9 November 1922 by sending him a box of chocolates (Walnut Whips) poisoned with arsenic. Assuming they were a birthday present from his daughter, Horwood ate one and only survived because of the prompt attentions of nearby police surgeons. The nickname also summed up the fear at this time, particularly from those with left-wing sympathies, that there was an agenda to militarise the police, and Horwood's appointment of army officers to senior posts did nothing to alleviate this fear. The rank and file were further upset in 1922, when Horwood apparently made no attempt to resist the demands of the Geddes Axe to reduce their pay, something which was eventually prevented by the efforts of the new Police Federation. Horwood also agreed to suspend recruiting, resulting in a 5% reduction in strength (about 1,000 men). This would have been disastrous when the General Strike occurred in 1926, had the Metropolitan Police not lost responsibility for policing War Office and Admiralty property in 1925, which swelled the numbers available for general policing by another 1,300 officers.

From 1923, many newspapers started to run increasing numbers of stories about police misconduct and corruption. Horwood failed to act, refusing to respond to allegations or investigate his force's activities, and dismissing the stories as gossip and scandal-mongering. This culminated in 1928, with the scandal involving Sir Leo Money and Irene Savidge, in which the police were accused of perjury and harassment. Horwood again failed to handle the case, which was saved by the efforts of Chief Constable Frederick Wensley of the Criminal Investigation Department, and retired later the same year on 7 November 1928. Although he had in fact been scheduled to retire at that time (two days before his sixtieth birthday), it appeared to the public that he was leaving in disgrace and did him no favours. His reputation was further tarnished after Station Sergeant George Goddard of "C" Division was found guilty of taking bribes, confirming what many believed about the force's honesty and integrity.

Horwood was appointed Knight Commander of the Bath (KCB) in on 1 January 1921 and Knight Grand Cross of the British Empire (GBE) on 2 November 1928, just before his retirement. He died in 1943 at his home in West Mersea, Essex, after a short illness.