Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, the 26th person to hold the position of Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, begins his first day in office today (26 September) by meeting as many officers and staff delivering policing and services to the people of London as possible.
The Commissioner started his day at 05.30hrs in Romford where he met officers parading before their morning shift. From there he is working his way west through London, predominantly along the Thames on one of the police boats; stopping at Barking & Dagenham, Woolwich, Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Westminster, Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth, from where he will make his way to New Scotland Yard for approximately 20.00hrs. Various modes of transport are being used between visits including walking on patrol, police cars and the Docklands Light Railway.
During the day he is meeting and speaking to officers and staff from across the organisation including uniformed officers, detectives, police staff, officers from the Marine Support Unit, Diplomatic Protection Group, Mounted Branch, and Territorial Support Group. The day also includes a large meeting with 1,000 officers and staff in central London.
During the day the Commissioner will be telling staff: “I want to make the Met the best police service in the world. It is my intention to build on public trust in the Met and lead a service that criminals will fear, and staff will be proud to work for.
“As Commissioner, I have three simple aims: I want us to cut crime, cut costs, and continue to develop the culture of the organisation, and to do all that based on simple but important values of humility, transparency and integrity. We will do that through what I call ‘Total Policing’.”