Terror specialist appointed new London police chief Britain
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Home Secretary Priti Patel announces the appointment of Mark Rowley as the next commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police.
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The newly appointed British London police chief Mark Rowley (AFP)
The British government announced Friday a new head for UK's biggest police force and ordered him to rebuild public trust after a spate of scandals.
Mark Rowley had been appointed as the next commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, Home Secretary Priti Patel said.
Rowley, a former head of the Met's "counter-terrorism unit," was described by Patel as a "distinguished and exceptionally experienced police officer".
The commissioner's job was "one of the most important and demanding jobs in policing," particularly given the force's recent "failings", she said in a statement, adding that "rebuilding public trust and delivering on crime reduction must be his priority."
Rowley, 57, said he was "deeply honoured" by the appointment. He will be in charge of more than 43,000 police officers and staff and a budget of £3.24 billion ($3.9 billion).
The Met polices a population of more than eight million people over 620 square miles (1,605 square kilometers) of Greater London.
Scotland Yard was last month placed in special supervision by a police watchdog body after failing to reach standards targets.
Former commissioner Cressida Dick resigned in February after losing the backing of London Mayor Sadiq Khan after months of pressure over her officers' misconduct involving racism, sexism, and the murder of a young woman by a London police officer.
Chief among them was imprisoning a diplomatic protection squad member for the kidnap, rape, and killing of a young woman Sarah Everard in march 2021 -- and the heavy-handed policing of a vigil for her.
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Other officers have been accused of taking unauthorized photographs of murder victims at crime sites, in addition to sharing racist and abusive messages on social media platforms and messaging apps.
Rowley promised to "lead the renewal of policing by consent which has been so heavily dented in recent years as trust and confidence have fallen," vowing to be "ruthless in removing those who are corrupting our integrity."
The officer has more than 30 years of experience and served as chief constable of Surrey Police in southeast England.
He joined the Met in 2011 and led its response to terror attacks in 2017.
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According to an official report from England's police watchdog, London police officers routinely made jokes about rape and exchanged racist messages, detailing a pattern of misogyny and bullying in the force, the latest blow to an embattled service that has faced intense scrutiny in recent months.
The findings reflected a troubling culture within the London Metropolitan Police Service, according to the report released by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog, which detailed the incidents were not isolated or the work of a few "bad apples".
