Shirley Becke

Shirley C. Becke (born c. 1917) 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.

Becke was born in Chiswick, London, the daughter of a gas engineer. She followed in her father's footsteps, training as a gas engineer at Westminster Polytechnic, and in 1939 became the first woman to pass the Higher Grade Examination of the Institution of Gas Engineers. She worked as a gas engineer for two years and then 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 1946 she became a Detective Constable at West End Central Police Station, working with Barbara Kelley, later to become Britain's first Detective Chief Superintendent, and staying there until 1959, when she was posted to Scotland Yard as a uniformed officer.

In 1954, as a Detective Sergeant, 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.

Becke 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.

In 1973 A4 Branch was disbanded and women police officers integrated with the general establishment. Commander Becke was appointed to the Force Inspectorate. She retired on 29 April 1974 and took up a position as Regional Administrator for London of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service.

References

*Biography, "The Times", 24 May 1966
*"Policewoman's lot is not an unhappy one", "The Times", 29 April 1974