ONE of the town centre’s best known bobbies is leaving the force after more than 35 years.
Sgt John McFadzean’s retirement on Thursday comes shortly after he received recognition from the Queen for his service.
And he enters civilian life claiming he is “once a policeman, always a policeman.”
He said: “I have mixed feelings about it.
“I’ve been in the force 35 years and it has never been a case of counting down to retirement – I still really enjoy the job.
“It will take a long time to get used to being a civilian. Once a policeman, always a policeman.”
Mr McFadzean, 55, joined the police in 1975 and had his first posting in Chapeltown, Leeds, as a Pc.
He moved to Huddersfield in 1976 where he worked in Kirkburton for four years before becoming one of the first town centre community officers.
Roles in vice and CID followed and, as logistics manager for the division, he was in charge of setting up incident rooms for high-profile cases like the fatal shooting of Tariq Sattar at the Black Bull pub in Birkby in 1998.
In 1989 he moved to Halifax division before returning to Huddersfield to take charge of the area control room in 1992.
Five years later he went back on patrol in Huddersfield but also worked on the robbery team as well as spending a year on Operation Lancet – an investigation into allegations that Cleveland police officers had offered drugs to prisoners in return for confessions.
