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Harold H. Graham
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Dedication to Harold H. Graham

On December 14, 1995, the museum was dedicated to Harold H. Graham, commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police from 1973 until 1981, in appreciation of his contribution to policing in Ontario.

Harold Hopkins Graham,
OPP Commissioner (1973 - 1981)

Harold Hopkins Graham, OPP Commissioner (1973 - 1981)Receiving his appointment on February 28th in 1973, Harold Graham joined the provincial police on January 1, 1941, and was posted to London, then to Sarnia where he served until his promotion in 1949 to inspector of the Criminal Investigation Branch.  The youngest inspector of the branch at thirty-three, Graham had already gained considerable experience as a criminal investigator and had been involved with several murder cases. In his years with the CIB, Graham earned a widely respected reputation. He became chief inspector of the branch in 1961 and two years later was named assistant commissioner of the newly formed Special Services Division. Promoted to deputy commissioner in 1971, Graham boasted membership in the Harvard Associates in Police Science, in the International, the Canadian, and the Ontario Associations of Chiefs of Police, and had served as the president of the Ontario Public Service Quarter Century Club.

During Commissioner Graham’s tenure, the OPP improved its policing capacity through increasing specialization as well as with the purchase of two Bell Jet Ranger helicopters (a new Bell 206-L Long Ranger helicopter was added to the OPP air fleet in 1978 to replace the Jet Ranger OXX, which crashed in 1977) and the acquisition of two mechanical robots to handle explosive devices.  Also, women were recruited for the first time as uniform members in 1974 and new programs, such as the Ontario Government Protective Service and the Indian Policing program, had been created. After a remarkable forty-one year career with the Ontario Provincial Police, Commissioner Graham retired on December 31, 1981 (Excerpts from the OPP’s official history, O.P.P.:  the history of the Ontario Provincial Police Force by Dahn Higley, 1984).

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