David Spencer

David Spencer is the Head of Crime and Justice for the think tank Policy Exchange. He is a former Detective Chief Inspector at the Metropolitan Police

Has Mark Rowley made London safer?

Today marks a year since Sir Mark Rowley became Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. When Rowley took over, his predecessor Cressida Dick had been pushed out of office, the force had been placed into ‘special measures’ for the first time in its 200-year history, and public trust had cratered following the conviction of police officers for some

Mark Rowley is right to tell Met officers not to take the knee

The Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has hinted that the capital’s police officers are to be banned from activities such as wearing political badges on their uniforms, flying colourful flags from police stations and ‘taking the knee’ at protests. ‘Once you start having environmental and other subjects there are lots of people in the organisation

Mark Rowley’s Met honeymoon is well and truly over

Over the coming days we will see the Metropolitan Police at its very best. As the world descends on London for the coronation of King Charles, the force will execute a plan that has been decades in the making. As the past year has shown, there are few tasks the Met excels at more than protecting

Has the Met learnt anything from the case of David Carrick?

It’s another bad day for the Metropolitan police. The serial rapist former PC David Carrick has been given 36 life sentences and told he will not be released for at least 30 years. The details of the case are hard to believe: Carrick, known as ‘Bastard Dave’ to colleagues, has admitted using his status as