COMMISSIONER OF POLICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3743, 8 December 1925, Page 36

COMMISSIONER OF POLICE.

INSPECTOR M'ILVENEY APPOINTED. WELLINGTON, December 1. Commissioner A. H. Wright retires from the Police lorce at the end of January, and to-day the Government appointed Superintendent W. B. MTlveney, of the Wellington district, to be Commissioner in his stead. The Minister of Justice, in making this announcement, said that Superintendent MTlveney was a senior officer of great ability, and of long experience, and he had no doubt he would fill the higher position with every credit to himself and with satisfaction to the department. Personally, he regretted the retirement of Commissioner Wright, who was a sound, solid officer, with whom he was pleased to have been associated for the past two or three years. Mr Wright’s principal characteristic was his invariable sound judgment, and his fair dealing with all ranks. The Government had reposed considerable confidence in him, and had always found that confidence to have been justified. A NOTABLE CAREER. (From Ouh Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, December 1. Mr William Bernard MTlveney is the first New Zealand born police official to become Commissioner of Police. In 32 yeans he has risen from the lowest rung of the ladder as junior constable to the highest position in the force. He is a native of Greymouth, and a son of Mr Bernard MTlveney, a gold miner of that district. Starting life as a school teacher in 1881, he joined the Post and Tele graph Department in 1885, but left three years later in order to go to Australia, where he was in commercial life for three years. In 1890 he returned with his family to the gold fields on the West Coast, and in 1891 was elected as councillor to the Borough of Kumara, a position which he held until he joined the Defence Department in October, 1892. In 1893 he was transferred to the Police Force, joining up at Dunedin. Two days later he was transferred to Invercargill. In 1897 he was placed in the detective office in the same centre, and in 18b9 he was promoted to the detective force and transferred to Wellington, being detailed for special duty in the investigation of important cases in different parts of the South Isand, notably the Chinese murder case at Reefton in 1900, and the famous Dr Leggatt case at Nelson in the following year. In 1900 he was transferred back to Invercargill, and during the next six years he was contihually travelling from one end of the Dominion to the other on special detective duties. Among the cases which he investigated was the Tapanui murder. On February 1, 1907, he . was promoted to the rank of chief detective, and transferred to the Commissioner's staff for the investigation of special cases under the immediate direction of Commissioner Dihnie. Almost immediately afterwards lie was sent on extradition duty to South America. In 1908 Mr MTlveney was required to prepare the evidence in the notorious Westport murder case, and in the following year he was detailed to investigate what was known as the Ohinemuri Licensing Committee bribery alienations. In 1910 he was engaged in special departmental investigations in the Auckland Post Office, for which he was specially rewarded by the Post and Telegraph De-

partment. From 1910 until 1912 he was on the staff of the Commissioner of Police (Mr Waldegrave), and in the latter year he was sent to Rarotonga to appear for the Crown in the prosecution against Noonga for the murder of his wife. In 1913 and 1914 Mr MTlveney was detailed to reorganise the criminal registration branch of the Police Department, and in 1915, after having passed the necessary examination, he was promoted'to the rank of sub-inspector and stationed at Auckland where, in the same year, he was engaged in the Keal murder case at Onewhero. In the early part of 1917 he was transferred to New Plymouth, and immediately afterwards he was entrusted with the investigation of the “go slow” strikes in the coal mines in the Auckland and Hamilton districts. Mr MTlveney was transferred to Wellington in 191/, being detached from the police and being attached to the staff of Captain (now Admiral) Hall Thompson for the purpose of the administration of the war regulations. This position he held until in September, 1919, he was promoted to the rank of inspector and given charge of the Wellington district. In 1922 he controlled the inquiries which led to the detection and execution of Daniel Richard Cooper for child murders at Newlands. In 1923 he visited the United States of America with a view to obtaining an insight into the organisation of the police forces in that country. Immediately upon his return on January 1, 1924, he was promoted to the rank of superintendent at Wellington, a position which he has held until the present appointment. As superintendent Mr MTlveney rendered valuable service in connection with the recent shipping trouble, organising the system of patrol on the wharves and thus facilitating the clearance of vessels and the shipment of cargoes. The new Police Commissioner is a member of the local Rotary Club, and at the luncheon to-day when it was announced that he had received the appointment as successor to Mr A. H. Wright he received an enthusiastic ovation. He was greeted with enthusiastic cheering and the singing of “He’s a jolly good fellow.”