With the departure of a Commissioner who is seen as an intellectual New Labour-style cop, there will be a desire for a copper’s copper at the head of the Met: someone who has risen up through the ranks, commands respect on the beat and is seen as focused on crime, not convention. But the Commissioner’s job has become very political, requiring not only the support of one’s Bobbies but of a range of ‘stakeholders’.
There are, of course, serious inside candidates who fit this bill – like Northern Ireland’s Hugh Orde or the Met’s own Paul Stephenson – and outsiders such as David Veness, who used to work for the Met and is shortly leaving his job as the UN’s security chief. But perhaps it’s time to think a little differently about the post. Not only about whom the Met Commissioner works for – the Mayor or the Home Secretary? – but what kind of person is needed: a cop or a manager?
The job used to go to a civil servant, recognising that this is one of government’s largest managerial mandates. Sir Richard Mayne, a barrister by background, was the longest-serving Commissioner in the force’s history serving from 1829 to 1868. Before the Police Act 1856 determined that there would only a single Commissioner, Mayne shared the job with a military man, Captain William Hay. It was not until 1953 that a career police office—John Nott-Bower—held the post. Nott-Bower’s successor, Joseph Simpson was the first Commissioner to start his service as a constable.
The government has previously discussed introducing civilians who have management expertise or specialist skills into at least the middle ranks of the police. Richard Thompson, currently head of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, is a former Foreign Office counter-terrorism expert is a good example (and perhaps a good Met candidate?).
Then there is the question of reporting lines. Boris Johnson rightly wants the Commissioner to report to the Mayor. But as long as the Met has a national role for counter-terrorism, this is not a realistic option. So, a counter-terrorism force needs to be set up to take over these national responsibilities from the Met. Creating a national police force does not sit comfortably with the received wisdom that British policing is best provided by local units allied to traditional boundaries, but opposition may be overcome if the force was to focus narrowly on counter-terrorism or if the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) were to be expanded to have an anti-terror remit.
This government is not known for thinking strategically so expect these tricky organisational questions to be ignored and a standard selection procedure initiated. But there is much for a Tory party—that is already pledged to be radical about policing—to ponder.
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