Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe was the most senior police officer in the UK. As Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (from 2011 to 2017), he led the Metropolitan Police, an organisation of nearly 50,000 people with a budget of £3.2 billion. He reported directly to the Home Secretary, was supervised by parliamentary committees and had national responsibilities, including leading counter terrorism policing throughout the UK and protecting the Royal Family and senior members of the government both at home and abroad. He has used his expertise to report for Dispatches on Channel 4. In 2018, he presented Dispatches – Cannabis: Time to End the Ban?. In the programme, Bernard travelled to Colorado, to investigate whether the UK should follow in Colorado’s...
Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe was the most senior police officer in the UK. As Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (from 2011 to 2017), he led the Metropolitan Police, an organisation of nearly 50,000 people with a budget of £3.2 billion. He reported directly to the Home Secretary, was supervised by parliamentary committees and had national responsibilities, including leading counter terrorism policing throughout the UK and protecting the Royal Family and senior members of the government both at home and abroad.
He has used his expertise to report for Dispatches on Channel 4. In 2018, he presented Dispatches – Cannabis: Time to End the Ban?. In the programme, Bernard travelled to Colorado, to investigate whether the UK should follow in Colorado’s footsteps and legalise cannabis. After filming, Bernard called for the UK government to establish an expert commission to examine the evidence provided by the programme.
In 2019, he presented Dispatches – Britain’s Knife Crime Crisis: Young, Armed and Dangerous. In the programme, Bernard came face to face with a masked gang member carrying a blade.
Bernard continues to make regular appearances on television (ITV, Sky), radio (LBC), and podcasts.
Bernard’s career has been characterised by high achievement, having successfully delivered numerous strategic objectives and efficiency improvements while holding weighty appointments with substantial responsibilities. He has a wealth of experience in creating cultural change as well as developing and implementing new strategies to transform corporate identities. He has built his success on the simple strategy of Total Policing. This involves a war on crime and care for victims.
During his five-year tenure as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and as Chief Constable of Merseyside he delivered significant reductions in crime. In London, 20% and Merseyside, 36%. In both regions he reduced the murder rates, in London by 25%. Despite a £600 million decrease in police budget, Bernard maintained police officer numbers in the capital – while the rest of England and Wales lost 20,000.
Bernard faced significant challenges when he took command in 2011. London had been rocked by large-scale riots only a month prior, and the organisation was in crisis, having lost half the management board. In spite of these, he planned and delivered a safe city, a safe Olympics and saved £600 million.
During the next five years, the national threat level was set at ‘severe’ and attacks occurred throughout Europe. In the UK, only one terrorist attack got through during his command. He has continued to build the UK police and Security Service partnership, which is recognised as the best in the world with its profound links to neighbourhood-based community policing.
Bernard has extensive experience of policing major public events. These include the successful 2012 Olympics Games, 2008 Liverpool European City of Culture, state visits, the state opening of parliament, many major sporting events, and multiple large-scale political protests on the streets of London.
Bernard was made a life peer in October 2017 and has since taken up his role as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.
Bernard enjoys horse riding and football – he plays five-a-side and supports Sheffield Wednesday. He also loves opera.
