New London police chief named
Baku, September 13 (AZERTAC). The acting deputy commissioner of London`s Metropolitan Police, Bernard Hogan-Howe, was appointed the new head of Britain`s biggest police force on Monday, AFP reported.
Hogan-Howe, who made his name by cutting crime as head of the Liverpool force in northwest England, will oversee one of Scotland Yard`s biggest security challenges yet, the 2012 London Olympics.
He must also rebuild the Met`s reputation after his predecessor Paul Stephenson quit over the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World tabloid, and will seek to reassure Londoners after riots tore across the city in August.
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 Hogan-Howe had "an excellent track record as a tough single-minded crime fighter".
"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," she said.
Facing the cameras for the first time in his new job, Hogan-Howe said it was "the highest accolade that any police officer could have".
He beat off competition from outspoken former Northern Ireland police chief Hugh Orde, the Met`s acting commissioner Tim Godwin and the head of Glasgow-based Strathclyde Police, Stephen House.
Orde upset ministers by criticising their actions over the riots.
Prime Minister David Cameron`s original choice for the job is believed to have been Bill Bratton, the former New York and Los Angeles police chief, who was brought in to advise the British government after the riots.
But Bratton was ruled out after May insisted candidates for the job must be British.
Stephenson stood down after a long-simmering scandal over alleged phone hacking at the News of the World newspaper spiralled into a crisis which prompted the closure of the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid on July 7.
The Met had long faced accusations that an initial 2006 investigation into hacking was inadequate amid suspicions that some of its officers were too close to executives at Murdoch`s News International.
The final straw was the arrest over phone hacking of former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis, who it emerged had worked as a public relations consultant for the Met shortly after leaving the tabloid.
Stephenson denied any wrongdoing but stepped down on July 17, saying he feared that the controversy could distract the force ahead of the Olympics.
He has since been cleared by the police watchdog of misconduct over the phone-hacking probe.
Yates, who took the decision in 2009 not to reopen the hacking inquiry and also allegedly helped Wallis` daughter get a job with the Met, announced his resignation a day after Stephenson.
Other news in this section
