Former police head dies

Press, 28 September 1976, Page 4

Former police head dies

PA Wellington A former Commissioner of Police, Mr James Cummings, C.8.E., has died. He was 91. Mr Cummings, better known to friend and criminal alike as “Big Jim” Cummings, was Commissioner of Police from 1944, when he succeeded his brother, Mr Dennis Cummings, until 1950, when he retired. He is survived by a son, Mr Desmond Cummings, of Wellington, and a daughter, Mrs M. Crosby, of Napier, and seven grandchildren. Three of his descendants are in the police force — a grandson, Constable Jim Cummings, who is with the Wellington division, and two nephews, Chief Inspector Morris Cummings, who is in

the United States at present, and Constable Dennis Cummings, stationed in Auckland. Mr Cummings had a distinguished and remarkably successful career. He started with the force as a cadet in 1907, and by 1922 had been promoted to chief detective, over the heads of many older and more experienced colleagues. A year earlier, he had been commended by the Supreme Court for his ability in handling the Ponsonby postmaster murder case. His career progressed rapidly from then, and he became the youngest man in the history of the police to reach the ranks of chief detective, sub-inspector, and superintendent.