39 Facts About Ray Whitrod

Ray Whitrod was considered a world leader in the way society treats victims of crime.

Ray Whitrod was known as a man of high professional standards, with a commitment to justice, equity and integrity.

Ray Whitrod became best known for his term as Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, resigning in protest in 1976 at the corruption then endemic in Queensland, and in particular over the appointment by the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, of Terry Lewis as Assistant Commissioner.

Ray Whitrod was born in Adelaide on 16 April 1915, attending Adelaide High School.

Ray Whitrod joined the South Australia Police in 1934.

Ray Whitrod was engaged in detective work from 1937 to 1941.

Ray Whitrod left to join the Royal Australian Air Force, seeing service as a navigator in north Africa and Europe.

In 1949 Whitrod moved to Sydney where he helped establish the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and was engaged in investigating Soviet espionage.

Ray Whitrod was at the centre of investigations into Vladimir Petrov and his wife Evdokia, who defected in 1954.

Ray Whitrod joined the Commonwealth Investigation Service as its director, moving to Canberra.

The CIS became the Commonwealth Police Force in 1960, and Ray Whitrod was its first commissioner.

Ray Whitrod was the driving force behind the Commonwealth Police Act and the Australian Police College, now the Australian Institute of Police Management, at North Head.

In 1963 Ray Whitrod attained a Bachelor of Economics degree from the Australian National University, which he had been studying part-time since the late 1950s.

Ray Whitrod attained a postgraduate degree in criminology at the University of Cambridge in 1965.

Ray Whitrod served as the Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner from 1969 to 1970.

Ray Whitrod agreed to make some enquiries, but could find nobody willing.

Ray Whitrod reported back to the retiring commissioner, who said that his departure date was fixed, and asked if Whitrod himself might be interested.

Ray Whitrod became Queensland Police Commissioner in 1970 and immediately set out to eradicate corruption, raise educational standards and bring women into all fields of policing.

Ray Whitrod organised for the Queensland Education Department to provide officers with classes in literacy and basic arithmetic.

Ray Whitrod advised the Cabinet of this name, and the names of two others acceptable to him and to the Police Union.

Ray Whitrod was less qualified for the position than at least 60 other men.

Ray Whitrod believed all his efforts for seven years to eradicate corruption would be undermined if the appointment went ahead, and he asked to speak to Bjelke-Petersen.

Ray Whitrod would have unordered taxis turning up during the night, sometimes three or four times a night, to take him to the airport.

Ray Whitrod would receive calls from strangers enquiring about his health, although he had an unlisted number.

Ray Whitrod had a large load of gravel he had not purchased dumped on his front garden.

Ray Whitrod became so frightened for his and his wife's safety that he took to sleeping with a revolver under his pillow.

Ray Whitrod had been awarded a Masters of Arts in Sociology from the ANU in 1972.

Ray Whitrod founded the Victims of Crime Service, an Australian first.

Ray Whitrod taught as a Residential Scholar at the University of Adelaide from 1992 to 1995.

Ray Whitrod played a significant role in forming the National Police Research Unit in Adelaide, and the Australian Institute of Criminology.

Ray Whitrod was the driving force behind the establishment of the Australian Society of Victimology.

Ray Whitrod was a major contributor to the introduction of uniform crime statistics in Australia.

Ray Whitrod's memoirs were published as Before I Sleep.

Ray Whitrod was made a Member of the Fourth Class of the Royal Victorian Order in 1954.

Ray Whitrod was elevated to Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1963.

Ray Whitrod received the Queen's Police Medal in 1967, was named Queenslander of the Year in 1972, was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1987, and in 1993 became a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Ray Whitrod was honoured with a Laudatis from the World Society of Victimology in 1994.

In 1938 Ray Whitrod married Mavis, seven years his senior, who died in 2001.

Ray Whitrod was survived by his other son Ian, and his daughter Ruth.