[2] In 1953, he came to public attention when, as a police inspector, he investigated the disappearance of Scarborough teenager Marion McDowell, organizing what was then the largest manhunt in Toronto history for the missing girl.
[1] The police force in the 1970s had to cope with a growing population, rising crime rate, and declining respect for authority.
[1] Mel Lastman, mayor of the Metropolitan Toronto borough of North York in the 1970s, said that Adamson responded to complaints of "outlawed displays of bigotry on the force, instituted new procedures following the Morand report into allegations of police brutality and commissioned the Hickling Johnson Report on adapting to the future."
Adamson also pushed to recruit more minorities, and oversaw changes such as improving officer training, and expanding work among youth in crime prevention.
[1] On October 5, 2005, nine days before his 58th birthday, Adamson's son, retired Staff-Sergeant Edward William John "Eddie" Adamson, committed suicide, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his failed efforts to save a fallen officer during a hostage situation on March 14, 1980.