Son born on father’s passing out parade retires, marking 70 years of family service

An inspector born on the morning of his father’s passing out parade in 1970 has retired, marking and end to a remarkable 70 years of combined service to the police from the father-son duo.

Inspector Jeff McKeown of North Yorkshire Police has retired this month, bringing an end to over half a century of continuous family service in the police, with his parents surprising him at the same spot he passed out on 30 years ago.

His father, John, also a retired police officer with 40 years of service – with thirty years’ experience as an officer and ten years as a civilian Crime Scene Investigator – completed his initial training at what is now the College of Policing in Ryton in 1970, and missed his passing out ball to attend Jeff's birth.

The day before his training ended in January of 1970, John visited Dudley Road Maternity Unit in Birmingham having received the call to say his wife, Sandra, had been admitted. Arriving dressed in an evening suit and bow tie, John was greeted by a ward sister who asked who he was. He said that he was the expectant father, to which the sister replied that there were already two men in claiming to be the ‘father’. John soon realised that these mysterious so-called fathers were two of his close friends who had been keeping an eye on his wife while he was completing his training.?

John went on to serve in three different forces across a variety of roles, including traffic, drugs squad, and firearms, as well as a Crime Scene Investigator. After finishing his career in the police, John enjoyed just one year of retirement before re-joining North Yorkshire Police as a civilian crime scene investigator. The contract was a temporary one, initially advertised at just three months. Ten years later, John finally retired for good. In total, John dedicated 40 years to the police.

Some 25 years after John began his training and missed his own passing out ball, his son Jeff began his own police training in October 1994, which would mark the beginning of a long and distinguished career in policing.

Jeff began his career in Birmingham before moving to North Yorkshire Police in 2001. From there, Jeff enjoyed a wide range of uniformed roles and specialisms including Public Order Commander, Counter Terrorism Security Co-ordinator, and spent over a year working on planning the police response to the Tour de France’s appearance in Yorkshire in 2014 – an event the Tour Director called the 'grandest' Grand Départ in the event’s history.

Having served for thirty years as a police officer, this month Jeff McKeown’s final deployment as an officer brought him back to the College of Policing, where he was taking part in a training course. To his astonishment, Jeff was greeted by his parents, Sandra and John, to surprise him with another photograph in the same spot three decades later.

Speaking about their family story, John McKeown said "We are immensely proud of both of our sons not only for what they?accomplished in their distinguished though different careers but also for their integrity, kindness and helpfulness to others as reflected in the esteem with which they are held by colleagues."

Jeff has a wife and three children. John says his grandchildren aren’t planning on joining the police just yet.