Bob Hunt - Telegraph The youngest of five children, Robert Alan Hunt was born on July 6 1935 in Camberwell, south London, the son of a Scottish coal miner who had been awarded the Military Medal for bravery in action with the Black Watch at Champagne in 1918. From Effra Parade Primary School, in 1946 Bob won a council scholarship to Dulwich College. After National Service with the Royal Artillery, he joined the Metropolitan Police, which offered married quarters for its young officers. Hunt's early years on the beat were spent in south London inner-city locations. He was shocked to learn at his first briefing that a number of "known villains" were said to reside in the Herne Hill council flats - the very ones in which he had grown up. His experiences as a young officer, mediated through the reflective habits acquired at Dulwich, convinced him of the need for better communication between the police and the communities they served. His interest in community policing and communication, and his experience of policing multicultural inner city areas, eventually led to a spell in New Scotland Yard's Community Relations Branch, where he devised a new, more proactive model for police visits to schools which was adopted nationally. In 1970 Hunt completed a Law degree as an external candidate at London University , and his appointment to senior rank at a relatively young age gave him the opportunity to combine operational command with an increasingly managerial role. As a deputy assistant commissioner from 1982, he was responsible for operational policing in a quarter of London, at the same time as being closely involved with far-reaching reforms of the Yard's structure. He headed the force inspectorate from 1987 until 1990, when he was promoted to assistant commissioner , with responsibility for operations at all police stations throughout London. In 1993 the commissioner, Sir Paul Condon, asked Hunt to lead a radical reorganisation to provide the Metropolitan Police with a modern managerial structure and philosophy. When he retired in April 1995, Hunt was the longest-serving officer in the Met. In retirement, he advised a number of police forces in developing countries, encouraging the development of community policing. He was appointed OBE in 1984 and awarded the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished service in 1991. Bob Hunt married, in 1956, Jean White, who survives him with their three daughters and a son. Bob Hunt, born July 6 1935, died May 15 2013