Mr Edward Joseph Saggerson was Chief Constable of Middlesbrough Borough Police for twenty-three years, retiring in 1884 on pension after thirty-seven years in the Force. Mr Saggerson was widely known and greatly respected. When Mr Saggerson went to Middlesbrough, the town had a population of about 17,000 and a police force only a dozen strong. He came from Oldham and succeeded Mr Hannan, the Superintendent. The following details are a glimpse into his time as head of the Middlesbrough Borough Police.

The crimes of this sort Middlesbrough had been very singularly free. In 1865, a man named Hughes, in concert with a woman, murdered a man under Albert Bridge. The woman escaped but the murderer was found guilty and sentenced to death. He received a respite, however, a few days before the date fixed for the execution. Within twenty-four hours of the same fatality, a Constable came to Chief Constable Saggerson in the night and told him that two men had been murdered in the town. He hurried at once to the Police Station, and there saw the victims stretched upon the floor. They had both been stabbed in the abdomen. They were unconscious then and died a few hours afterwards. The name of the man who committed the act was McGriskin, and as it was the result of a quarrel he was convicted, not of murder, but of manslaughter, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. In 1874, one Will Criss Brown killed his child in Middlesbrough by nearly severing the head from the body. He afterwards tried to commit suicide, and was ultimately dealt with by the authorities as a criminal lunatic. Roddan was the next man who was killed in Middlesbrough. His death, which occurred in 1876, was also the result of a wound inflicted in a quarrel and his murderer was imprisoned for ten years.

Shortly after the retirement of Chief Constable Saggerson, a child murder in Albert Park, which was a mystery, preyed heavily upon his mind, and his health and mental faculties were so much impaired that he moved to York a year after the murder took place.

Once, burglaries were very uncommon in the town. There were no very great or sensational instances, most of them being of a comparatively light kind, such as breaking into shops, and taking advantage of doors being accidentally left open. A good deal of the responsibility of this kind of misdeed rested on the public themselves, who left their places obviously unsafe, and in a condition that was sure to be tempting to dishonest people. Mr Saggerson saw no improvement to the condition of the working people of Middlesbrough during his experience of it.

There was very little indeed in Middlesbrough. The Borough Improvement Act of 1866 gave the Police a set of powers that they found to be highly useful and effective. It enabled them, for example, to fine the proprietors of objectionable houses on the evidence of Police Constables alone, and that by summary procedures before the Magistrates.

Robberies with assault about the streets at night were almost unknown. This was perhaps because the principal thoroughfares were never quite clear of men working on night shifts. There was very little pocket-picking, and what little there was was done by strangers. Coining and "ringing the changes" were also somewhat rare offences. Chief Constable Saggerson felt Middlesbrough was absolutely without what was termed a "criminal class".

At the inspections from the 1870's onward, the men appeared in their uniform and the clothing and appointments were complete and of good quality; a high price had been paid for some of the articles. They marched round and showed great efficiency and precision. The HMIC Inspector was extremely well pleased with respect to his enquiries of the men with regard to their hours of duty, clothing, length of time in service, etc. The books and returns were correctly and systematically kept. The cells for prisoners, charge room and offices were in good order. As the Force had grown in size, by the middle of the 1870's, a more commodious central station was desirable. But, at each of the inspections, the Inspector expressed satisfaction at the result of his inspection.

On 15 September 1884, out of thirteen candidates, narrowed down to a final three, Inspector Ashe was appointed as Chief Constable of Middlesbrough Police on the retirement of Chief Constable Saggerson. The salary was fixed at £250 a year and Chief Constable Ashe commenced his duties 11 October 1884. Mr Ashe retired as Chief Constable in August 1902. Mr Henry Riches, Chief Constable of Scarborough, owing to the withdrawal of Mr Winterbottom, Chief Constable of Hartlepool, the only other remaining candidate, was appointed Chief Constable in place of Mr Ashe. Mr Riches took charge of the Middlesbrough Force at the beginning of September.