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Mark Rowley

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For the actor, see Mark Rowley (actor). For the rugby union player, see Mark Rowley (rugby union).

Sir Mark Rowley
QPM
Rowley in 2023
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 September 2022
MonarchCharles III
DeputyDame Lynne Owens
Home Secretary
MayorSadiq Khan
Preceded byDame Cressida Dick[a]
Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations
In office
2014–2018
Preceded byCressida Dick
Succeeded byNeil Basu
Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Crime and Operations
In office
2011–2014
Preceded byLynne Owens
Chief Constable of Surrey Police
In office
2009–2011
Preceded byBob Quick
Succeeded byLynne Owens
Personal details
Born
Mark Peter Rowley

November 1964 (age 60)
Birmingham, England
Alma materSt Catharine's College, Cambridge

Sir Mark Peter Rowley (/ˈroʊli/; born November 1964[1]) is a British police officer who has been the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis since September 2022.[2]

He was the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for Specialist Operations of the Metropolitan Police Service and the concurrent Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee and National Lead for Counter Terrorism Policing.[3][4] He was previously Chief Constable of Surrey Police (2009–2011), and also served as Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police between February 2017 and April 2017. He retired from the police in March 2018.[5]

In July 2022, it was announced that he would return to policing in the role of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, replacing former Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.[6] He was sworn in as Commissioner on 12 September 2022.[7]

Early life

[edit]

Rowley was born in Birmingham. His father ran a small engineering business; his mother was a teacher.[8]

He was educated at Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, an all boys state grammar school in Handsworth, Birmingham.[9] In 1983, he matriculated into St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Having studied mathematics,[10] he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1986.[11]

Career

[edit]

In 1987, Rowley began his policing career when he joined West Midlands Police as a constable.[12] His early career centred on Birmingham, where he undertook a broad range of both uniformed and detective roles.[13]

He joined the National Criminal Intelligence Service as a Detective Superintendent.[13] During his time serving in the NCIS, he led the development of covert operations to combat organised crime.[12] In 2000, he joined Surrey Police as a senior officer when he was appointed Chief Superintendent in command of the West Surrey Basic Command Unit.[14][13][9] Starting in 2002, he led the five-year investigation into the murder of Milly Dowler.[13]

In November 2003, he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable.[9] His responsibilities originally included local policing, crime reduction and criminal justice, but in 2005 his role changed and he became responsible for major and organised crime.[15] He was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2007.[15] He served as temporary Chief Constable of Surrey Police from March 2008.[9] He was appointed Chief Constable of the force in March 2009.[12] From 2009 to 2011, he was a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers Cabinet.[13]

He reached the short list of four candidates to become head of the new National Crime Agency, but lost out to Keith Bristow.[16][17] He joined the Metropolitan Police Service as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in October 2011.[18][19]

In January 2018, Rowley announced he would retire from the police in March.[5] He was succeeded by Neil Basu.[20]

In April 2022, he co-authored a counter-terrorism thriller, The Sleep of Reason, with journalist David Derbyshire.[21]

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

[edit]

On 8 July 2022, it was announced that Rowley would be the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, in succession to Cressida Dick.[22][23] He was sworn in on 12 September 2022.[7][24] He was formally appointed by the King on 21 September 2022 via a warrant under the royal sign-manual.[25]

Shortly after assuming office, he oversaw the security operation of the state funeral of Elizabeth II, the largest security operation ever mounted in the UK.[26] In May 2023, he oversaw the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.[27] On 7 November 2023, he refused to ban the pro-Palestinian march in London,[28] saying that the organisers of the march had shown "complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation's remembrance events".[29]

In April 2024, Rowley faced calls to resign after Met officers described Campaign Against Antisemitism CEO Gideon Falter as "openly Jewish" during a request for him to move away from a pro-Palestinian protest. Some members of the Metropolitan Police suspected that Falter was looking for confrontation with the protesters, which Falter denies,[30] and was seeking to catch out the Met Police.[31] Rowley admitted that some of the words exchanged were "clumsy and offensive", but stated that the officers actions were "professional".[32] Following the incident Rowley reportedly had the "full confidence" of then Home Secretary James Cleverly and London Mayor Sadiq Khan[31] but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Rowley needed to regain “confidence and trust” with the Jewish community and also had to persuade the public that officers in future will not “[tolerate] behaviour that we would all collectively deem unacceptable” in order to retain his support.[30]

In August 2024 amid then ongoing far-right riots across Britain, Rowley was caught on camera grabbing a Sky News journalist’s mic and throwing it to the ground after being asked if the Met would “end two-tier policing.”.[33][34]

Honours

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Knight Bachelor 9 June 2018 [35]
Queen's Police Medal 31 December 2010 [36]
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal 2002
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012
King Charles III Coronation Medal 2023
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal 2009

Notes

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  1. ^ Stephen House acted from 10 April 2022 to 12 September 2022

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mark Peter ROWLEY - Personal Appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley swears allegiance to His Majesty the King". Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Leadership". About the Met. Metropolitan Police. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Metropolitan Police – Leadership". Metropolitan Police website. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b Wright, Robert (9 January 2018). "Top UK counter terror cop Mark Rowley to retire". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 July 2018. to retire from policing in March
  6. ^ "Mark Rowley appointed new commissioner of the Met". The Guardian. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b Jessup, Sonja (12 September 2022). "Sir Mark Rowley: What changes do Londoners want to see in the Met?". BBC News. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Sir Mark Rowley: Met's new commissioner 'tougher than he looks'". 11 September 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d "Surrey Police Museum". Surrey Police. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  10. ^ Evans, Martin; Hymas, Charles (2 July 2022). "Here's who could soon replace Cressida Dick as Met Police commissioner". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Proud to be policing" (PDF). Robinson College, Cambridge. 2011. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  12. ^ a b c "Mark Rowley appointed new Surrey Police Chief Constable". Epsom Guardian. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Mark Rowley QPM". Think Trial Advisory Panel Biographies. Think Trial. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  14. ^ "Mark Rowley makes Met Police move". Get Surrey. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  15. ^ a b "New Chief Constable For Surrey". Police Oracle. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  16. ^ Warrell, Helen (10 October 2011). "Warwickshire chief to head National Crime Agency". The Financial Times. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  17. ^ Travis, Alan (10 October 2011). "Warwickshire police chief to head national crime agency". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  18. ^ "Metropolitan Police – Leadership". Metropolitan Police. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Lynne Owens is new Surrey Chief Constable". BBC News. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  20. ^ "New counter-terrorism chief appointed". BBC News. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Legend Press to publish 'terrifyingly believable' thriller from former counter-terror chief". The Bookseller. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Sir Mark Rowley announced as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police". GOV.UK. Home Office. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  23. ^ Dodd, Vikram (8 July 2022). "Mark Rowley appointed new commissioner of Met police". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  24. ^ "No. 63829". The London Gazette. 30 September 2022. p. 18518.
  25. ^ "No. 63829". The London Gazette. 30 September 2022. p. 18518.
  26. ^ Dunne, John (12 September 2022). "New Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley faces biggest operation in the force's history". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  27. ^ Boffey, Daniel (12 September 2023). "Anti-monarchy protester suing Met chief over coronation day arrest". theguardian.com. Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Pressure on Met to ban 'provocative' Armistice Day pro-Palestine march". The Independent. 7 November 2023.
  29. ^ "Foreign Secretary says Government favours 'humanitarian pause' over ceasefire". The Independent. 8 November 2023.
  30. ^ a b Gibbons, Amy; Evans, Martin (22 April 2024). "Met chief must rebuild trust with Jewish community, says Sunak". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  31. ^ a b Dodd, Vikram; Weaver, Matthew (21 April 2024). "Met chief likely to survive calls to quit over officer's 'openly Jewish' comment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  32. ^ PA Reporters (23 April 2024). "Met boss defends officer in row over 'openly Jewish' antisemitism campaigner at Palestine demo". The Independent.
  33. ^ Evans, Martin; Barton, Alex (5 August 2024). "Watch: Met Police chief grabs journalist's microphone after 'two-tier policing' question". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  34. ^ "Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley bizarrely grabs journalist's microphone after being quizzed on 'two-tier policing'". LBC. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  35. ^ "No. 62310". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 9 June 2018. p. B2.
  36. ^ "No. 59647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2010. p. 26.
[edit]
Police appointments
Preceded by Chief Constable of Surrey Police
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Crime and Operations)
Metropolitan Police Service
2011–2014 		Succeeded by
Abolished
Preceded by Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations)
Metropolitan Police Service
2014–2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Stephen House (acting)
 Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
2022–present 		Incumbent
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