Europe

Europe

New London police chief is named

12 September 2011 19:24 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The acting deputy commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, Bernard Hogan-Howe, has been appointed the new head of the country’s biggest police force, the government said Monday, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.

Hogan-Howe, who made his name by cutting crime as head of the Liverpool force, must now rebuild the Met’s reputation after his predecessor resigned over the phone-hacking scandal.

He will oversee one of Scotland Yard’s biggest ever security challenges, the 2012 London Olympics, and must also seek to reassure a capital scarred by August’s riots, the worst unrest seen in England for decades.

The no-nonsense Hogan-Howe was parachuted in to his current role after former commissioner Paul Stephenson and former assistant commissioner John Yates quit in the space of 24 hours in July.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: "I am delighted to announce Bernard Hogan-Howe as the new commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

"As you would expect for such a prestigious position, we had an exceptional field of candidates, but Bernard Hogan-Howe impressed us all with his vision for the Metropolitan Police, his commitment to cutting crime and the important work he has done for the public."

Hogan-Howe beat off competition from Hugh Orde, a former Northern Ireland police chief; the Met’s acting commissioner Tim Godwin and the head of Glasgow-based Strathclyde Police, Stephen House.