Sir Mark Rowley will be the new Metropolitan police chief
(Picture: PA Wire)New Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has a comprehensive blueprint for overhauling his force’s culture and restoring Londoners’ trust in police, Mayor Sadiq Khan has said.
Mr Khan said he was confident that Sir Mark — who will take over as the next head of Scotland Yard in the coming weeks — understood the scale of the problems facing the Met and was the right person to take on the challenge of transforming it from day one in his new job.
The Mayor added that a “raft of reforms” were “urgently needed” but he believed Sir Mark would work with City Hall to dramatically improve his force’s performance and to “rebuild the trust of Londoners in the police and get the basics right”.
“Sir Mark understands the depths of the cultural issues facing the Met and already has a comprehensive plan to sort this out and win back public confidence and is ready to be the reforming commissioner Londoners need and deserve,” Mr Khan added.
“I will work closely with Sir Mark to bear down on crime, make London safer and deliver a bigger and better Met that all Londoners and officers can be proud of.”
Claire Waxman, London’s victims’ commissioner, said women’s safety should be “an absolute priority” for Sir Mark but that other crime victims also needed reassurance that police efforts on their behalf would improve.
“The new Met Commissioner needs to very quickly engage with the community groups and victims who have been failed by the police to rebuild their trust and confidence, and to be transparent about his plans for reform,” she said.
“It is vital that he reassures women in London that their safety is an absolute priority and I expect to work closely with him to drive forward the much-needed changes to the way that the Met Police responds to victims.”
Today’s comments follow Sir Mark’s appointment on Friday in a joint announcement by Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Mayor.
Sir Mark, who retired from policing in 2018 after a long career in which he spent the final four years as the national head of counter-terrorism, said he was “deeply honoured” to be returning to lead the Met.
He pledged to “fight crime with communities – not unilaterally dispense tactics” and is expected to boost neighbourhood policing in an effort to rebuild trust in the force, particularly among black Londoners and others whose confidence has been damaged by the scandals that have engulfed the force.
Sir Mark said he also wanted to reform the Met’s “culture and policing approach” and develop the use of technology and data and was “determined to support the urgent reforms we need to deliver successful community crime fighting”.
His appointment comes in the wake of a succession of scandals which have hit the Met over the past year and more including the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, the failures in the Stephen Port murder investigations, the strip searching of Child Q and the racist and misogynistic conduct of some officers at Charing Cross police station.
Those problems and others prompted Mr Khan to say that he had lost confidence in the then Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, who quit as a result.
The force has since been placed under special measures by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services because of its poor performance in a number of key areas in a further blow to its reputation.
Mr Khan said before Sir Mark’s appointment that he wanted a candidate who understood the need to overhaul the Met’s culture and is understood to have been impressed by the fact that the new Commissioner has spent the four years outside policing and should be able to bring a fresher perspective to his new job.
