Assistant Commissioner (Crime) In 1901, Henry was recalled to Britain to take up the office of
Assistant Commissioner (Crime) at
Scotland Yard, in charge of the
Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He took up post in late May that year and on 1 July established the
Metropolitan Police Fingerprint Bureau, a world first. Its primary purpose was originally not to assist in identifying criminals, but to prevent criminals from concealing previous convictions from the police, courts and prisons. However, it was used to ensure the conviction of
burglar Harry Jackson in 1902 and soon caught on with CID. This usage was later cemented when fingerprint evidence was used to secure the convictions of
Alfred and Albert Stratton for murder in 1905. Henry introduced other innovations as well. He bought the first
typewriters to be used in Scotland Yard outside the Registry, replacing the laborious hand copying of the clerks. In 1902, he ran a private
telegraph line from
Paddington Green Police Station to his home, and later replaced it with a telephone in 1904.
Appointment as Commissioner On Sir
Edward Bradford's retirement in 1903, Henry was appointed Commissioner on 11 March that year, which had always been the Home Office's plan. He was responsible for dragging the Metropolitan Police into the modern day, and away from the class-ridden
Victorian era. He continued with his technological innovations, installing telephones in all
divisional stations and standardising the use of
police boxes, which Bradford had introduced as an experiment but never expanded upon. He also soon increased the strength of the force by 1,600 men and introduced the first proper training for new
constables.
Attempted assassination On Wednesday 27 November 1912, while at his home in
Kensington, Henry survived an assassination attempt by one Alfred (also reported as "Albert") Bowes, a disgruntled
cab driver whose licence application had been refused. Bowes fired three shots with a
revolver when Sir Edward opened his front door: two missed, and the third pierced Sir Edward's
abdomen, missing all the vital organs. Sir Edward's
chauffeur then tackled his assailant. Bowes faced a life sentence for
attempted murder. Sir Edward appeared at court and followed a humane tradition of pleading for leniency for his attacker, stating that Bowes had wanted to better himself and earn a living to improve the lot of his widowed mother. Bowes was sentenced to 15 years' penal servitude, but Sir Edward maintained an interest in his fate, and eventually paid for his passage to Canada for a fresh start when Bowes was released from prison in 1922. Sir Edward never really recovered from the ordeal, and the pain of the bullet wound recurred for the rest of his life.
Final years Henry would have retired in 1914, but the outbreak of the First World War convinced him to remain in office, as his designated successor, General Sir
Nevil Macready, was required by the
War Office, where he was
Adjutant-General. He remained in office throughout the war. His time as Commissioner finally ended due to the
police strike of 1918. Police pay had not kept up with wartime inflation, and their conditions of service and pension arrangements were also poor. On 30 August 1918, 11,000 officers of the Metropolitan Police and
City of London Police went on strike while Henry was on leave. The frightened government gave in to almost all their demands. Feeling let down both by his men and by the government, whom he saw as encouraging trade unionism within the police (something he vehemently disagreed with), Henry immediately resigned on 31 August. He was widely seen as a scapegoat for political failures. ==Later life==