Mark Rowley

Sir Mark Rowley
QPM
Sir Mark Rowley QPM
	Rowley in 2023
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 12 September 2022
Monarch	Charles III
Deputy	Dame Lynne Owens
Home Secretary	Suella Braverman; Grant Shapps; Suella Braverman; James Cleverly; Yvette Cooper;
Mayor	Sadiq Khan
Preceded by	Dame Cressida Dick
Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations
	In office; 2014–2018
Preceded by	Cressida Dick
Succeeded by	Neil Basu
Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Crime and Operations
	In office; 2011–2014
Preceded by	Lynne Owens
Chief Constable of Surrey Police
	In office; 2009–2011
Preceded by	Bob Quick
Succeeded by	Lynne Owens
Personal details
Born	November 1964 (age 59)
Alma mater	St Catharine's College, Cambridge

Sir Mark Peter Rowley QPM (/ˈroʊli/; born November 1964^[1]) is a British senior police officer who has been the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis since September 2022.^[2]

He was the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for Specialist Operations of the Metropolitan Police Service and the concurrent Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee and National Lead for Counter Terrorism Policing.^[3]^[4] He was previously Chief Constable of Surrey Police (2009–2011), and also served as Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police between February 2017 and April 2017. He retired from the police in March 2018.^[5]

In July 2022, it was announced that he would return to policing in the role of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, replacing former Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.^[6] He was sworn in as Commissioner on 12 September 2022.^[7]

Early life

Rowley was educated at Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, an all boys state grammar school in Handsworth, Birmingham.^[8] In 1983, he matriculated into St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Having studied mathematics,^[9] he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1986.^[10]

Career

In 1987, Rowley began his policing career when he joined West Midlands Police as a constable.^[11] His early career centred on Birmingham, where he undertook a broad range of both uniformed and detective roles.^[12]

He joined the National Criminal Intelligence Service as a Detective Superintendent.^[12] During his time serving in the NCIS, he led the development of covert operations to combat organised crime.^[11] In 2000, he joined Surrey Police as a senior officer when he was appointed Chief Superintendent in command of the West Surrey Basic Command Unit.^[13]^[12]^[8] Starting in 2002, he led the five-year investigation into the murder of Milly Dowler.^[12]

In November 2003, he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable.^[8] His responsibilities originally included local policing, crime reduction and criminal justice, but in 2005 his role changed and he became responsible for major and organised crime.^[14] He was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2007.^[14] He served as temporary Chief Constable of Surrey Police from March 2008.^[8] He was appointed Chief Constable of the force in March 2009.^[11] From 2009 to 2011, he was a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers Cabinet.^[12]

He reached the short list of four candidates to become head of the new National Crime Agency, but lost out to Keith Bristow.^[15]^[16] He joined the Metropolitan Police Service as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in October 2011.^[17]^[18]

In January 2018, Rowley announced he would retire from the police in March.^[5] He was succeeded by Neil Basu.^[19]

In April 2022, he co-authored a counter-terrorism thriller, The Sleep of Reason, with journalist David Derbyshire.^[20]

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

On 8 July 2022, it was announced that Rowley would be the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, in succession to Cressida Dick.^[21]^[22] He was sworn in on 12 September 2022.^[7]^[23] He was formally appointed by the King on 21 September 2022 via a warrant under the royal sign-manual.^[24]

Shortly after assuming office, he oversaw the security operation of the state funeral of Elizabeth II, the largest security operation ever mounted in the UK.^[25] In May 2023, he oversaw the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.^[26] On 7 November 2023, he refused to ban the pro-Palestinian march in London,^[27] saying that the organisers of the march had shown "complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation's remembrance events".^[28]

Honours

Knight Bachelor	9 June 2018	^[29]
Queen's Police Medal	31 December 2010	^[30]
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	2002
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012
King Charles III Coronation Medal	2023
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal

Notes

^ Stephen House acted from 10 April 2022 to 12 September 2022

References

^ "Mark Peter ROWLEY - Personal Appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
^ "Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley swears allegiance to His Majesty the King". Retrieved 12 January 2023.
^ "Leadership". About the Met. Metropolitan Police. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
^ "Metropolitan Police – Leadership". Metropolitan Police website. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b Wright, Robert (9 January 2018). "Top UK counter terror cop Mark Rowley to retire". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 July 2018. to retire from policing in March
^ "Mark Rowley appointed new commissioner of the Met". The Guardian. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b Jessup, Sonja (12 September 2022). "Sir Mark Rowley: What changes do Londoners want to see in the Met?". BBC News. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Surrey Police Museum". Surrey Police. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
^ Evans, Martin; Hymas, Charles (2 July 2022). "Here's who could soon replace Cressida Dick as Met Police commissioner". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
^ "Proud to be policing" (PDF). Robinson College, Cambridge. 2011. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Mark Rowley appointed new Surrey Police Chief Constable". Epsom Guardian. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Mark Rowley QPM". Think Trial Advisory Panel Biographies. Think Trial. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
^ "Mark Rowley makes Met Police move". Get Surrey. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b "New Chief Constable For Surrey". Police Oracle. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
^ Warrell, Helen (10 October 2011). "Warwickshire chief to head National Crime Agency". The Financial Times. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
^ Travis, Alan (10 October 2011). "Warwickshire police chief to head national crime agency". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
^ "Metropolitan Police – Leadership". Metropolitan Police. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
^ "Lynne Owens is new Surrey Chief Constable". BBC News. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
^ "New counter-terrorism chief appointed". BBC News. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
^ "Legend Press to publish 'terrifyingly believable' thriller from former counter-terror chief". The Bookseller. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
^ "Sir Mark Rowley announced as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police". GOV.UK. Home Office. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
^ Dodd, Vikram (8 July 2022). "Mark Rowley appointed new commissioner of Met police". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
^ "No. 63829". The London Gazette. 30 September 2022. p. 18518.
^ "No. 63829". The London Gazette. 30 September 2022. p. 18518.
^ Dunne, John (12 September 2022). "New Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley faces biggest operation in the force's history". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ Boffey, Daniel (12 September 2023). "Anti-monarchy protester suing Met chief over coronation day arrest". theguardian.com. Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ "Pressure on Met to ban 'provocative' Armistice Day pro-Palestine march". The Independent. 7 November 2023.
^ "Foreign Secretary says Government favours 'humanitarian pause' over ceasefire". The Independent. 8 November 2023.
^ "No. 62310". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 9 June 2018. p. B2.
^ "No. 59647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2010. p. 26.

External links

Quotations related to Mark Rowley at Wikiquote

Police appointments
Preceded by Bob Quick	Chief Constable of Surrey Police 2009–2011	Succeeded by Lynne Owens
Preceded by Lynne Owens	Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Crime and Operations) Metropolitan Police Service 2011–2014	Succeeded by Abolished
Preceded by Cressida Dick	Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) Metropolitan Police Service 2014–2018	Succeeded by Neil Basu
Preceded by Stephen House (acting)	Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis 2022–present	Incumbent