James Anderton

Sir Cyril James Anderton CBE, KStJ, QPM, DL (born 24 May 1932) is a retired British police officer who served as chief constable of Greater Manchester from 1976 to 1991.

Born and brought up in a coalmining family in Wigan, Lancashire, he was educated at St Matthew's Church School and later at Wigan Grammar School. Anderton performed three years National Service in the Royal Military Police before joining the Manchester City Police force in 1953. He began his career as a beat constable in the Moss Side area of Manchester before being talent spotted by then Superintendent Robert Mark who later became Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Anderton rose rapidly through the ranks of the Manchester City Police, studying criminology at the Victoria University of Manchester. He became a chief superintendent of Cheshire Constabulary and later the assistant chief constable of Leicestershire Constabulary. In 1975 he became deputy chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police (GMP), which had been founded a year earlier. On 23 October 1976, he was appointed chief constable, at age 46.

One of Anderton's first acts as chief constable was a drive against pornography and prostitution. A special squad raided 284 bookshops, newsagents and warehouses, confiscating a total of 160,000 magazines to a street value of £200,000. Seizures included The Sun Page Three Annual. The crackdown received support from some feminists and anti-pornography campaigners, but was criticised by civil liberties groups as a moral crusade. Anderton replied to his critics by stating that he was responding to public complaints regarding the graphic nature of the material available in shops across Greater Manchester. It has also been argued that organised crime gangs in Manchester controlled the sale and distribution of pornographic material as well as running brothels, massage parlours and street prostitution.

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