Ian Blair
Sir Ian Blair | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 March 1953 |
Sir Ian Warwick Blair, QPM (born 19 March 1953) is a senior United Kingdom police officer who currently holds the office of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, or head of the Metropolitan Police Service.
Blair is responsible for the policing the metropolitan area of the capital city of London, with the notable exception of the City of London itself. The relatively small area of the City of London, essentially London's financial district, is policed by its own City of London Police, under the command of its own Commissioner.
As the head of the Metropolitan Police, Blair is often regarded as the most senior police officer in the United Kingdom, though technically his authority is confined to his own force.
Education and early career
After attending Wrekin College, Shropshire and Harvard High School, Los Angeles, Blair read English Language and English Literature at Christ Church, Oxford. He was awarded a second-class degree.[citation needed]
He commenced his police career in 1974, joining under the graduate entry scheme. He started as a Police Constable in the Soho area of London, and served in both uniform and CID in central London over the next 17 years. In 1985, he was Detective Chief Inspector at CID in Kentish Town, north London, in which role he was responsible for identifying the victims of the King's Cross fire. He reached the rank of Chief Superintendent in 1991, and then spent two years outside the Met as Staff Officer in HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.[citation needed]
In 1994, he moved to Thames Valley Police as Assistant Chief Constable, and that same year took charge of policing the protests over the construction of the Newbury bypass. Blair became Deputy Chief Constable for the Thames Valley Police in 1997. He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 1999 and received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2003 for services to the Police.[citation needed]
Blair was formerly Deputy Commissioner, and before that Chief Constable of Surrey Police.[citation needed]
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Blair took up his current post as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on 1 February 2005, taking over from Sir John Stevens (now Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington). Several months into his tenure, he was heavily involved in an investigation into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by anti-terrorism police who thought he was a suicide bomber. After Blair learned that the shooting of de Menezes had been mistaken, he briefly considered resigning.[1] On 1 November 2007, a jury convicted the Metropolitan Police of violating health and safety laws, highlighting 19 "catastrophic errors" but said it was an "isolated breach under quite extraordinary circumstances".[2] Blair rejected a vote of no confidence by the London Assembly a week later.[3] Blair continued to receive the support of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the head of which said that he would not have accepted any resignation offered by Blair.[4]
Ranks & Honours
- Mr Ian Blair (1953-1974)[citation needed]
- PC Ian Blair (1974-various ranks-1985)[citation needed]
- DCI Ian Blair (1985-1988)[citation needed]
- Supt. Ian Blair (1988-1991)[citation needed]
- Ch. Supt. Ian Blair (1991-1994)[citation needed]
- Asst. Ch. Const. Ian Blair (1994-1997)[citation needed]
- Dep. Ch. Const. Ian Blair (1997-1999)[citation needed]
- Dep. Ch. Const. Ian Blair QPM (1999-?)[citation needed]
- Chief Constable Ian Blair QPM (?-2000)[citation needed]
- Dep. Comm. Ian Blair QPM (2000-2003)[citation needed]
- Dep. Comm. Sir Ian Blair QPM (2003-2005)[citation needed]
- Commissioner Sir Ian Blair QPM (2005-)[5]
The various ranks that Blair would have held between 1974 and 1985 are Sergeant/Detective Sergeant and Inspector/Detective Inspector.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Police head 'considered quitting'", BBC, 22 September 2005
- ^ De Menezes shooting: Police guilty of 'catastrophic errors' , The Independent, 2 November 2007
- ^ Sir Ian Blair defies no confidence motion, Times Online, 7 November 2007
- ^ Sir Ian Blair defies no confidence motion, Times Online, 7 November 2007
- ^ Biography - Metropolitan Police Service website - http://www.met.police.uk/about/blair.htm
Bibliography
- Investigating Rape: A New Approach for Police (1985)