Priti Patel and Sadiq Khan, who have endorsed Sir Mark Rowley to turn around the struggling police, have now announced him as the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
The associate commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and former chief constable of Surrey of Scotland Yard won the £292,000-a-year position against Nick Ephgrave.
After a devastating inspection last month exposed a long list of new failings, the Met was placed under special measures. These included officers failing to record tens of thousands of crimes, ignoring almost all anti-social behaviour victims, failing to help vulnerable victims, and failing to handle a backlog of numerous online child abuse referrals.
He takes over for Cressida Dick, who was forced to resign in February as a result of a year-long string of scandals that included the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, the force being labelled “institutionally corrupt” by an independent inquiry, and the imprisonment of two officers for taking photos of dead murder victims.
Sir Mark said today: ‘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.
‘We will deliver more trust, less crime and high standards for London and beyond and we will work with London’s diverse communities as we together renew the uniquely British invention of ‘policing by consent’.’
Sir Mark said he was ‘deeply honoured’ to take up the role.
He 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.
‘I am grateful that the Home Secretary and Mayor are both determined to support the urgent reforms we need to deliver successful community crimefighting in today’s fast moving world. These reforms include our use of technology and data, our culture and our policing approach. We will fight crime with communities – not unilaterally dispense tactics.
‘I also know that the majority of officers and staff retain an extraordinary sense of vocation and determination and want us to do better. It is my job to help them do that, whilst also being ruthless in removing those who are corrupting our integrity’.
His appointment has been agreed by Tory Home Secretary Priti Patel and Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan after they clashed over Ms Dick’s departure when Mayor Khan pulled the plug and forced her to resign.
Ms Patel said: ‘Sir Mark Rowley is a distinguished and exceptionally experienced police officer, having served the people of the West Midlands and Surrey before guiding the capital through some of its most challenging moments in the wake of the 2017 terror attacks, as the Met’s then head of counter-terrorism.
‘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. Rebuilding public trust and delivering on crime reduction must be his priority’.
Mayor Khan said: ‘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.
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.
‘As Mayor, I will support and hold him to these promises as I continue to hold the Met to account’.
Less than two weeks have passed since the police watchdog placed the force under special measures.
In a letter, HMICFRS listed a number of mishaps at the biggest force in Britain, including the killing of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, the ‘racially profiled’ stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams, and the strip-search of Child Q, a 15-year-old black schoolgirl.
It comes after other controversies, such as the inadequate investigation of serial murderer Stephen Port and the discovery of racist WhatsApp messages exchanged between Charing Cross Police Station personnel.
Other tragedies were the imprisonment of two officers for photographing the bodies of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, murdered sisters, and Operation Midland, the botched investigation into fictitious allegations of VIP paedophilia.
Videos of police dancing with protestors sparked accusations that the force was not taking the Extinction Rebellion rallies seriously, and the force received harsh criticism for failing to prevent London from being shut down.
The Metropolitan Police Federation’s president applauded Sir Mark Rowley’s appointment as the force’s new Commissioner today.
Ken Marsh, who heads the union of the rank-and-file Met officers, said: ‘I welcome Sir Mark Rowley as the new commissioner, I think he’s the right man for the job.
‘I, and my colleagues, are pleased that the position has been filled because the void was harming us during a very difficult period, especially with the force being put into special measures.
‘What we would ask for now is for the Mayor and the politicians to back off and stop the incessant attacks and let Sir Mark get on with the job in hand to deliver results for the people of London.’
Sir Mark is a familiar figure after leading the Met’s counter-terrorism operations for four years. Although he resigned from the police in 2018, Sir Mark is still only 58 and has been tempted back by the biggest job in British policing.
He served as chief constable of Surrey for three years to 2011 before he joined the Met as an assistant commissioner for seven years having starting on the beat in Birmingham in 1987.
When at Surrey he was the lead officer in the hunt for Milly Dowler.
He later admitted that his detectives were aware at the time of Milly’s disappearance that her mobile phone was hacked by someone working at the News of the World.
Sir Mark said a call made from the paper to the operation room leading the investigation in 2002 made it clear her voicemail had been accessed.
But officers merely ‘focused on retrieving any evidence the NotW had that could assist in the investigation into Milly Dowler’s disappearance’ as that was the priority, he said.
Over the course of his more than 30 years in law enforcement, he has changed both policing and national security.
He increased public trust in Surrey to the greatest level in the nation while serving as Chief Constable.
Sir Mark changed the way the UK tackles counterterrorism and policing gangs after joining the Metropolitan Police Service. He also increased community involvement and workforce diversity, led the police response to the 2017 London terror attacks, and brought shootings and homicides in the city to an all-time low.
He oversaw changes to public order, organised crime, and fraud police and established the 200-person Op Falcon team to battle the rise of online fraud and cybercrime.
He has worked on specialised security initiatives, technology/data led transformation with “start-ups” and the largest professional services organisation in the world since leaving the police force in 2018. He has concentrated on fighting racism and extremism online, maintaining institutional integrity, and combating illicit finance.