Home Secretary Priti Patel has confirmed the appointment of Sir Mark Rowley to lead the UK's largest police force.
After joining the Metropolitan Police Service, Sir Mark transformed the approach to UK counter-terrorism and policing gangs, increasing community engagement and workforce diversity, leading the police response to the London terror attacks of 2017 and reducing shootings and murders in London to an all-time low. Sir Mark Peter Rowley QPM was Chief Constable of Surrey Police for four years (2008 to 2011) before joining the Metropolitan Police Service in 2011. Sir Mark has made clear to me that he is determined to be a reforming Commissioner, committed to implementing a robust plan to rebuild trust and confidence in the police and to drive through the urgent reforms and step change in culture and performance Londoners deserve. Sir Mark has demonstrated to me that he is the outstanding candidate for this role. I look forward to working closely with Sir Mark to ensure this investment drives essential change to ensure the force delivers for the people of London. Sir Mark was formally appointed by Her Majesty the Queen following a recommendation from the Home Secretary, after a highly competitive recruitment process.
Knighted in 2018 for his counter-terrorism work, he is returning to policing from the private sector.
Missed opportunity." But Sir Mark's supporters point to his huge experience and leadership qualities. His appointment was broadly welcomed by former Met Det Supt Shabnam Chaudhri, who said Sir Mark had "a mountain to climb" to rebuild trust in the force, but added it was "really good" he had recently been working outside of the Met, which meant he was "completely fresh and untarnished". The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said of Sir Mark: "He spent much of his career in the Met. No evidence that he is a reformer. "This will be a challenging period, but with a focus on tackling neighbourhood crime and delivering the basics of policing, Sir Mark is committed to tackling the significant challenges confronting the force and to making London's streets safer by driving down crime and bringing more criminals to justice." It has also been noted that it came down to an "all male, all white" choice - after a process of whittling down the candidates, the final two were Sir Mark and Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave.
Former counter-terrorism chief takes over as force is embroiled in crises over women, race and homophobia.
He said the vast majority of Met staff were dedicated but he vowed to be “ruthless in removing those who are corrupting our integrity”. This was coupled with a rise in the extreme far right. “Our mission is to lead the renewal of policing by consent, which has been so heavily dented in recent years as trust and confidence have fallen,” he said. Rowley returns to find the force facing one of the worst crises since its founding in 1829. The announcement came weeks ahead of schedule. “These reforms include our use of technology and data, our culture and our policing approach.
Sir Mark Rowley made his name as the person who helped to transform the UK's counter-terrorism approach and lead London's police response in one of the ...
Start your Independent Premium subscription today. He was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2011. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.
During that time he oversaw the investigations into the succession of terror attacks in 2017 at Westminster, Manchester Arena and London Bridge as well as ...
He started his career in West Midlands Police and was also Chief Constable of Surrey between 2008 and 2011. He was knighted in 2018 for his work. Sir Mark, 57, also led the Met’s response to the London riots of 2011 and in 2014 had to face a gauntlet of angry protesters outside the Royal Courts of Justice following an inquest finding that the police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham that led to the disorder had been lawful.
The former head of UK counter-terrorism policing is named as Dame Cressida Dick's successor to lead Scotland Yard.
I look forward to supporting Sir Mark Rowley and working closely with the Home Secretary as we work to restore trust and confidence in the police, ensure that the Met gets the basics of policing right, and build on the significant success we have made in driving down violence and crime in our city.” “A series of appalling scandals have not only exposed deep cultural problems within the Met, but have contributed to a crisis of confidence in London’s police service. I look forward to working closely with Sir Mark to ensure this investment drives essential change to ensure the force delivers for the people of London.” These reforms include our use of technology and data, our culture and our policing approach. It is my job to help them do that, whilst also being ruthless in removing those who are corrupting our integrity. Rebuilding public trust and delivering on crime reduction must be his priority.
The news comes less than two weeks after the force was put into special measures by the police watchdog.
“For too long The Met has been an institution seemingly built on a culture of violent misogyny and racism. “Sir Mark has made clear to me that he is determined to be a reforming commissioner, committed to implementing a robust plan to rebuild trust and confidence in the police and to drive through the urgent reforms and step change in culture and performance Londoners deserve. Gray has been placed on the barred list following the conclusion of a misconduct hearing, and will not be able to work for the police again. Earlier this week the chief inspector of constabulary, Andy Cooke, said the “number one” priority for the UK’s largest police force was to regain the public’s confidence and trust, adding: “We all know that there’s a lot of work to be done around regaining that confidence and trust. Ruth Davison, chief executive of the charity Refuge, said: “We are encouraged to see Sir Mark Rowley has promised to prioritise re-building trust and confidence in the Met which we know is currently woefully low, and is a serious barrier to women coming forward to report the crimes committed against them, including domestic abuse. “He now takes on one of the most important and demanding jobs in policing, leading the country’s largest force at a time when public trust in the Metropolitan Police has been severely undermined by a number of significant failings.
The news comes less than two weeks after the force was put into special measures by the police watchdog.
“For too long The Met has been an institution seemingly built on a culture of violent misogyny and racism. “Sir Mark has made clear to me that he is determined to be a reforming commissioner, committed to implementing a robust plan to rebuild trust and confidence in the police and to drive through the urgent reforms and step change in culture and performance Londoners deserve. Gray has been placed on the barred list following the conclusion of a misconduct hearing, and will not be able to work for the police again. Earlier this week the chief inspector of constabulary, Andy Cooke, said the “number one” priority for the UK’s largest police force was to regain the public’s confidence and trust, adding: “We all know that there’s a lot of work to be done around regaining that confidence and trust. Ruth Davison, chief executive of the charity Refuge, said: “We are encouraged to see Sir Mark Rowley has promised to prioritise re-building trust and confidence in the Met which we know is currently woefully low, and is a serious barrier to women coming forward to report the crimes committed against them, including domestic abuse. “He now takes on one of the most important and demanding jobs in policing, leading the country’s largest force at a time when public trust in the Metropolitan Police has been severely undermined by a number of significant failings.
The force's former counter terror chief takes over at one of the most turbulent times in the Met's history.
We will fight crime with communities – not unilaterally dispense tactics." Sir Mark said: “Our mission is to lead the renewal of policing by consent which has been so heavily dented in recent years as trust and confidence have fallen. “This will be a challenging period, but with a focus on tackling neighbourhood crime and delivering the basics of policing, Sir Mark is committed to tackling the significant challenges confronting the force and to making London’s streets safer by driving down crime and bringing more criminals to justice.” She added: “He takes on one of the most important and demanding jobs in policing, leading the country’s largest force at a time when public trust in the Metropolitan Police has been severely undermined by a number of significant failings. “Sir Mark has made clear to me that he is determined to be a reforming Commissioner, committed to implementing a robust plan to rebuild trust and confidence in the police and to drive through the urgent reforms and step change in culture and performance Londoners deserve. Mr Khan said on Friday: “The Home Secretary and I have agreed that Sir Mark Rowley is the best person to lead the Metropolitan Police as the new Commissioner at this extremely challenging time.
The news comes less than two weeks after the force was put into special measures by the police watchdog.
“For too long The Met has been an institution seemingly built on a culture of violent misogyny and racism. “Sir Mark has made clear to me that he is determined to be a reforming commissioner, committed to implementing a robust plan to rebuild trust and confidence in the police and to drive through the urgent reforms and step change in culture and performance Londoners deserve. Gray has been placed on the barred list following the conclusion of a misconduct hearing, and will not be able to work for the police again. Earlier this week the chief inspector of constabulary, Andy Cooke, said the “number one” priority for the UK’s largest police force was to regain the public’s confidence and trust, adding: “We all know that there’s a lot of work to be done around regaining that confidence and trust. Ruth Davison, chief executive of the charity Refuge, said: “We are encouraged to see Sir Mark Rowley has promised to prioritise re-building trust and confidence in the Met which we know is currently woefully low, and is a serious barrier to women coming forward to report the crimes committed against them, including domestic abuse. “He now takes on one of the most important and demanding jobs in policing, leading the country’s largest force at a time when public trust in the Metropolitan Police has been severely undermined by a number of significant failings.
Get all of the latest UK news from NationalWorld. Providing fresh perspective online for news across the UK.
The force was criticised in light of the Sarah Everard case. It is believed that the new commissioner was expected to identify appropriate changes they would implement in the Met Police force to tackle some of the issues and controversies over the past few years. Sir Mark Rowley is a senior police officer within the Met Police and had held the role of assistant commissioner for specialist operations from 2011 until 2015.
Tackling a 'toxic' canteen culture, listening to concerns about women's safety and preventing youth violence are among the issues in Sir Mark Rowley's ...
“We deserve a Commissioner who will ensure action is taken and officers are disciplined when investigations go badly wrong instead of spending so much money on PR and failed attempts to defend their integrity in the courts and at inquests. “We need a Commissioner who is on the side of the public and not hiding behind statements that claim there are always a ‘few bad apples’ in an organisation of 44,000 people. But as an LGBT+ person and having gone through the experience of the Port case, I don’t feel that. Her response to increasing complaints and issues felt like she was rushing to defend against criticism from the public. John Pape, 43, is a promo producer who lives in Deptford, south-east London. His friend and former lodger Gabriel Kovari was one of the serial killer Stephen Port’s four victims, and he repeatedly sought to raise concerns about Port to the police. As we return to living somewhat normal lives again, we could see a return to the peak of knife crime offences in 2019. None of the officers involved have been formally disciplined yet; I think people lose faith as a result of that. He said: “The IOPC reopening its investigation into Met’s handling of the Port case is a positive step towards accountability. She said: “Trust in the Metropolitan Police is at a low for women and girls. “As someone who was involved personally, and as an LGBT+ Londoner, I felt young gay men were considered a low priority. We need to put officers on our street who communities have confidence in and can work. This has also been mentioned by a number of trauma surgeons working in A&E units, who say the victims are presenting with multiple stab wounds compared with one or two a decade ago.