Obituary
Former Deputy Commissioner Peter Thomas Moor, OBE QPM CPM FCMI, passed away on the morning of June 15 in the UK at age of 86.
Born on January 3, 1926 in Jarrow-on-Tyne, Mr Moor was the eldest in a family of three boys and two girls. While still a youngster, his family moved to Staines and after his education he joined a firm of insurance brokers as an assistant accountant.
He joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 and trained as a pilot-navigator-bomb aimer and then went through further training, this time as a wireless operator. He was sent to India where he was stationed in Mumbai, Delhi, Karachi, Calcutta and then Bhopal at an RAF radio base.
He left the RAF in 1947 and, because of his radio training, joined the British Post Office for two years as a telecommunications engineer.
Arriving in Hong Kong as a probationary sub-inspector of police in August 1949, he served the Hong Kong Police Force for 34 years, retiring with the rank of Deputy Commissioner. He was the President of the Royal Hong Kong Police Association up until his death.
Mr Moor had served in all the major branches of the Force, including Uniform Branch, CID, Special Branch, Traffic and Marine, and had served in all four regions (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and Marine) in various capacities.
During his time with the Force, he had been the Recruiting Officer for the Hong Kong Government in Pakistan in 1961, and seconded to the Ministry of Overseas Development as Deputy Director of Overseas Police Courses at Hendon for two years from 1963. He was also the Recruiting Officer in Canada in 1973.
When he held the position of Chief Police Information Officer, Mr Moor was instrumental in launching the Force's first newsletter and later the newspaper, OffBeat, which he named himself.
He was the only officer to command the Auxiliary Police for two separate periods. He was Principal Staff Officer at Auxiliary Police Headquarters during the 1967 disturbances.
When he commanded Kowloon Police District from 1975 to 1978, he was chairman of the Hong Kong International Airport Security committee and headed delegations to Thailand, the Philippines and Australia. He also visited Zambia with General Fursdon from the Ministry of Defence to evaluate the Zambian requirements in regard to their Police Para-military Forces and the re-organisation of the Zambian Police Force.
Decorations include Order of the British Empire, Officer of the Most Excellent, Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service, Colonial Police Medal for Meritorious Service, and Colonial Police Long Service Medal. He was commended twice by the Commissioner of Police.
After his retirement, Mr Moor took an interest in local affairs, being West Sussex County Councillor (1997-2009), Vice-Chairman of West Sussex County Council (2005-2009), past Chairman of St Bridget's Cheshire Home in Rustington, Founder Group Chairman at Leonard Cheshire Foundation Services in West Sussex and then Vice President, former President and Founder Chairman of Arun Council for Voluntary Service, and former President of Sofas & Stuff.
He is survived by his wife June, whom he married in 1954, daughters Geraldine and Elizabeth, and son Roger who is a serving officer with the Metropolitan Police.
