Joslin was educated at
King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford. After completing his
National Service with the
Royal Corps of Signals Joslin joined the
Essex Constabulary in 1954. He worked for them for twenty years, serving as both a uniformed and
CID officer, and also spent three years at
Essex University studying for an honours degree in government and politics. In 1974 he left Essex Police to join the
Leicestershire Constabulary, and in 1983 was appointed as Chief Constable of the neighbouring Warwickshire force. During his career Joslin campaigned on road safety and traffic issues. He also served as chairman of the
Association of Chief Police Officers traffic committee where he advocated tough drink-driving laws. He was awarded the
Queen's Police Medal in 1992. He retired from the police in October 1998, having served as Warwickshire Chief Constable for fifteen years, the county's longest serving police officer in that job. His 44-year service also made him Britain's longest serving police officer at the time of his retirement. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire in 1999, and is also President of
Warwickshire Association for the Blind. In November 2012 he attracted criticism from the government after urging voters to boycott the
elections for
Police and Crime Commissioners, saying that it would allow people with little experience of policing to take charge of law enforcement matters. "Here we are changing it so that people with little experience and few qualifications, and certainly little knowledge of the police, could be put in a position where they can go as far as sacking the chief constable."
Damian Green, the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, branded Joslin's comments as "deeply irresponsible". In the case following his suicide, Russell Joslin's account of sexual harassment by
Liz Kershaw was brought to light. ==References==