John Ord was a native of Aberdeenshire and joined the City of Glasgow Police on 16 June 1880. He was posted to ‘F’ (St Rollox) Division and his Register Number was M-440.
He was promoted to Sergeant in 1888 and to Detective Officer on 1 June 1891. In 1894 he was promoted to Inspector (Court Officer). In 1901, he was promoted to the rank of Detective Lieutenant and transferred to ‘H’ (Maryhill) Division then transferred to ‘A’ (Central) Division. In 1903 he was promoted to Chief Inspector of the Detective Department and in 1906 was promoted to Detective Superintendent. On 1 May, 1911, he was appointed Superintendent in charge of ‘D’ (Southern) Division, and retired from there on 28 February, 1925. He died on 19 April 1928.
On 1 January 1914, Superintendent Ord was awarded the King’s Police Medal for Gallantry. The citation reads. “Superintendent Ord has completed 33 years of service, distinguished by exceptional ability and merit. The recommendation was spacially based on his conspicuous gallantry in effecting the arrest of numerous dangerous criminals. On several occasions he has arrested criminals at great personal risk, sometimes sustaining serious injuries. For eight years he was Chief Inspector of the Criminal Department, an office of the greatest importance in a force which has to deal with a large criminal element.” There are no specific acts of gallantry recorded. (London Gazette 1.1.14)