Bernard Hogan-Howe, Baron Hogan-Howe

The Right Honourable
The Lord Hogan-Howe
QPM
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
In office
12 September 2011 – 22 February 2017
Deputy Tim Godwin
Craig Mackey
Preceded by Sir Paul Stephenson
Succeeded by Cressida Dick
Personal details
Born Bernard Howe
(1957-10-25) 25 October 1957
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Marion Hogan-Howe (née White), Baroness Hogan-Howe
Residence London
Alma mater Merton College, Oxford
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
University of Sheffield
Profession Police officer

Bernard Hogan-Howe, Baron Hogan-Howe, QPM (born 25 October 1957) is a former English police officer and was the head of London's Metropolitan Police as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2011 until 2017.

Born in Sheffield, Hogan-Howe joined the South Yorkshire Police in 1979, becoming District Commander of the Doncaster West area, as well as obtaining university qualifications in law and criminology. In 1997, he transferred to Merseyside Police as Assistant Chief Constable for Community Affairs, moving on to area operations. He then joined the Metropolitan Police as Assistant Commissioner for personnel, before being appointed Chief Constable of Merseyside Police.

After two years as an Inspector of Constabulary, Hogan-Howe was briefly Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police before being appointed Commissioner in September 2011. He once interrupted an interview in order to personally apprehend a criminal, and later made the controversial decision not to arrest protesters carrying an ISIS flag.

Hogan-Howe was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to policing.

Early life and career

Hogan-Howe was born in Sheffield, the son of Bernard Howe. He attended Hinde House School, a dual primary and secondary school, where he completed his A-levels. He was brought up single-handedly by his mother, whose surname of Hogan he later added by deed poll. After leaving school, he spent four years working as a lab assistant in the National Health Service.[1]

He began his police career in 1979 with South Yorkshire Police and rose to be District Commander of the Doncaster West area. In 1997, he transferred to Merseyside Police as Assistant Chief Constable for Community Affairs, moving onto area operations in 1999. Hogan-Howe then once again transferred this time to the Metropolitan Police as Assistant Commissioner for personnel, July 2001–2004.[2] He was then appointed Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, 2005-9.[3][4]

Whilst still with South Yorkshire Police, he was identified as a high-flier and selected to study for a MA degree in Law at Merton College,[5] University of Oxford, which he began at the age of 28.[6] He later went on to gain a postgraduate diploma in Applied Criminology from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the University of Sheffield.[7][8]

On Merseyside, Hogan-Howe had called for a "total war on crime"[3] and argued that the health and safety case which was successfully brought against the Metropolitan Police after the de Menezes shooting was restrictive of allowing the police to do their work.[9] He had also called for a review of the decision to downgrade cannabis from a class B to a class C drug.[10] He thereafter served as one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary, 2009–2011.[11]

On 18 July 2011, the Home Secretary announced Hogan-Howe's temporary appointment as Acting Deputy Commissioner following the resignation of the Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, and the appointment of the incumbent Deputy Commissioner as Acting Commissioner. During that period, a decision was made within the department of professional standards to use the Official Secrets Act to compel The Guardian to reveal its sources regarding the News International phone hacking scandal. The order was swiftly rescinded five days prior to Hogan-Howe's formal term of office.[12]

Commissioner

Hogan-Howe applied for the position of Commissioner himself in August 2011 along with other candidates,[13] and was successful in being selected for the post on 12 September 2011 after appearing before a panel of the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London and receiving the approval of the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, before he was formally appointed by the Queen, with effect from 26 September.[14]

In 2013, Hogan-Howe was criticised for defending police officers who had, according to an appeal court ruling, used "inhuman and degrading treatment", in breach of the Human Rights Act, when handling an autistic boy in a swimming pool. The criticism was specifically directed against the money spent on the appeal and his refusal to apologise and to improve training police officers for the humane treatment of disabled people.[15] In September 2012, Hogan-Howe did ask an independent commission headed by Lord Adebowale to review cases where people with a mental illness died or were harmed after contact with police. The report arrived in May 2013[16] and contained severe criticism; Hogan-Howe responded to the commission's recommendations with a plan for change, announced in June 2014.[17]

On 11 August 2014, Hogan-Howe made an arrest, a rare act for a commissioner. Hogan-Howe was making a recorded interview with Eddie Nester on BBC London 94.9 in Tottenham, when they were interrupted by a taxi driver. The driver reported that his passengers were refusing to pay their fares, at which point four men climbed out of the taxi and ran away. Hogan-Howe got into the minicab with another officer and pursued them. The other officer managed to arrest one suspect on suspicion of theft, handling stolen goods and making off without payment. Hogan-Howe then got into a police car in an attempt to embark on a search for three other suspects. He found one of them nearby and arrested him on suspicion of theft and making off without payment.[18][19]

The 'Total Policing' vision

Hogan-Howe outlined his vision for 'Total Policing' in 2011 shortly after becoming Commissioner. This vision sought to promote total professionalism from the workforce, a total war on crime and total care for victims. It was hoped that the 'Total Policing' vision would benefit from a commitment to 'total technology' - involving the roll-out of new technology across the Met, including tablet computers, body worn video and a major overhaul of the Met's existing IT systems.[20] In a question and answer session following his valedictory speech at the Royal United Services Institute in February 2017, Hogan-Howe expressed regret at having not embarked upon the IT programme earlier.[21]

Position on ISIS supporters

Hogan-Howe was criticised in the wake of the 2015 Sousse attacks, after a father and his young daughter paraded at Parliament Square with the flag of ISIS (ISIL). Hogan-Howe supported his officers after they had refused to arrest the pair,[22] and said that carrying an ISIS flag is 'not necessarily the worst thing in the world' and should not lead to an automatic arrest. This was contrary to an earlier statement by the then Prime Minister, who had written that "The position is clear. If people are walking around with ISIL flags or trying to recruit people to their terrorist cause, they will be arrested and their materials will be seized."

Hogan-Howe was later supported by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who said that 'we live in a free country' and that he did not support the banning of iconography associated with the extremist group.[23]

Staff Confidence in Senior Leadership of MPS

In 2014, an internal staff survey was conducted. In response to the question “I have confidence in the leadership provided by the senior leaders in the Met” only 1 in 5 respondents agreed, whilst 3 in 5 disagreed with this statement.[24]

Institutional racism

In June 2015, Hogan-Howe said there was some justification in claims that the Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist.[25]

Retirement

In September 2016, Hogan-Howe announced that he planned to retire in February 2017.[26]

Police Roll of Honour Trust

In November 2013, Bernard Hogan-Howe took up the role of Patron of the national police charity the Police Roll of Honour Trust. He joined Stephen House and Hugh Orde as joint patrons.[27]

Honours and awards

Hogan-Howe was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in the 2003 Birthday Honours[28]

Hogan-Howe was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to policing,[29][30] being invested with the honour on 21 May 2013.[31]

Hogan-Howe's honours and decorations include:


RibbonDescriptionNotes
Knight Bachelor (Kt)
  • 2013
Queen's Police Medal (QPM)
  • 2003
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
  • 2002
  • UK Version of this Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • 2012
  • UK Version of this Medal
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal


On 14 November 2012, Hogan-Howe was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of the University (D.Univ) by Sheffield Hallam University.

On 15 July 2013, Hogan-Howe was awarded an honorary doctorate of Laws (LLD) by the University of Sheffield.[32]

On 7 November 2017 Hogan-Howe was created a Life Peer taking the title Baron Hogan-Howe, of Sheffield in the County of South Yorkshire.[33]

References

  1. ↑ Sanderson, Frank; Doran, Clare (13 July 2010). "Bernard Hogan-Howe". Liverpool John Moores University. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "MPA appoints two Assistant Commissioners: DAC Tarique Ghaffur and ACC Bernard Hogan-Howe". Metropolitan Police Authority. Archived from the original on 1 April 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  3. 1 2 "'Evict gun thugs' families' call". BBC News. 26 February 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  4. ↑ "Temporary Chief Constable takes up the baton". Merseyside Police. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  5. ↑ Sands, Sarah; Davenport, Justin (15 September 2011). "Bernard Hogan-Howe: Dixon of Dock Green is my role model... police officers are not social workers". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Johnston, Philip (13 September 2011). "Bernard Hogan-Howe: a tough cop for a tough job at the Metropolitan Police". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "Who might be next Met Police commissioner?". BBC News. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "The Sheffield Executive MBA: Case study: Bernard Hogan-Howe". University of Sheffield. Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  9. ↑ Hogan-Howe, Bernard (5 May 2007). "No more brave policemen". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 March 2008. (Subscription required (help)).
  10. ↑ Owen, Jonathan (8 April 2007). "Cannabis is wrecking lives, says public school head". The Independent. London. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  11. ↑ "Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary". Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  12. ↑ Freedland, Jonathan (21 September 2011). "The new Met chief's U-turn is welcome – he had made a gross misjudgment". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Four in running to be next Met Police commissioner". BBC News. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Bernard Hogan-Howe new Metropolitan Police commissioner". BBC News. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  15. ↑ Trauma of autistic boy shackled by police, by Yvonne Roberts, The Observer, Sunday 17 February 2013
  16. ↑ Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing Report
  17. ↑ "The Met's New Approach To Recognising Mental Health". This is our town Wimbledon. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  18. ↑ "Met Police Commissioner stops interview to make arrest". BBC News. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  19. ↑ "London police chief interrupts interview to nab suspected thief". CTV News Channel. Bell Media. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  20. ↑ "'About the Metropolitan Police Service' (p.4)".
  21. ↑ "Fiona Hamilton on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  22. ↑ telegraph.co.uk: "Police let pair fly Isil flag outside Parliament", 6 Jul 2015
  23. ↑ telegraph.co.uk: "Extremists are 'free' to fly Isil flags in London, says Boris Johnson", 8 Jul 2015
  24. ↑ Dodd, Vikram (2015-06-07). "Majority of Met police officers lack confidence in force's leadership". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  25. ↑ "Met acknowledges 'some justification' to claims the force is 'racist'". BBC News. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  26. ↑ "Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to retire". BBC News. 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  27. ↑ "New Patrons". Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  28. ↑ "No. 56963". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2003. p. 27.
  29. ↑ "New Year Honours: Kate Bush Heads Arts Field". Sky News. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  30. ↑ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1012. p. 1.
  31. ↑ "No. 60593". The London Gazette. 9 August 2013. p. 15795.
  32. ↑ "Summer Graduation Ceremonies 2013". University of Sheffield. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  33. ↑ "No. 62106". The London Gazette. 13 November 2017. p. 20838.
Police appointments
Preceded by
Sir Norman Bettison		 Chief Constable of Merseyside Police
2004–2009		 Succeeded by
Bernard Lawson (Acting)
Preceded by
Sir Paul Stephenson		 Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
2011–2017		 Succeeded by
Cressida Dick
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