The British Metropolitan Police鈥檚 Acting Deputy Commissioner, and Head of Counter Terrorism, Mark Rowley addresses the media outside New Scotland Yard in central London. AFP FILE PHOTO
尝翱狈顿翱狈鈥�The British government on Friday announced a new head for the country鈥檚 biggest police force, ordering him to rebuild public trust after a spate of scandals.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said Mark Rowley had been appointed as the next commissioner of London鈥檚 Metropolitan Police.
Patel called Rowley, a former head of the Met鈥檚 counter-terrorism unit, a 鈥渄istinguished and exceptionally experienced police officer鈥�.
But she said the commissioner鈥檚 job was 鈥渙ne of the most important and demanding jobs in policing鈥�, particularly giving the force鈥檚 recent 鈥渇ailings鈥�.
鈥淩ebuilding public trust and delivering on crime reduction must be his priority,鈥� she said in a statement.
Rowley, 57, said he was 鈥渄eeply honoured鈥� by the appointment, which puts him in charge of more than 43,000 police officers and staff, and a budget of 拢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, as the force is also known, was last month placed in special supervision by a police watchdog body for failing to hit standards targets.
Former commissioner Cressida Dick stood down in February having lost the backing of London mayor Sadiq Khan after months of pressure over the conduct of her officers.
Chief among them was the jailing of a diplomatic protection squad member for the high-profile kidnap, rape and murder of a young woman 鈥� and the heavy-handed policing of a vigil for her.
Other officers have been convicted of taking unauthorised photographs of murder victims at crime sites, as well as the sharing of racist and abusive messages on social media and messaging apps.
Rowley promised to 鈥渓ead the renewal of policing by consent which has been so heavily dented in recent years as trust and confidence have fallen鈥�.
He vowed to be 鈥渞uthless in removing those who are corrupting our integrity鈥�.
The officer has more than 30 years鈥� experience and previously 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, when a van smashed into pedestrians on London Bridge before three assailants went on a stabbing spree.
Eight people were killed and about 50 were hurt in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.
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