| The Right Honourable The Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington KStJ QPM DL FRSA |
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|---|---|
| Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police | |
| In office 1 January 2000 – 31 December 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Paul Condon |
| Succeeded by | Sir Ian Blair |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Arthur Stevens 21 October 1942 |
| Profession | Police officer |
John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington KStJ QPM DL FRSA (born 21 October 1942) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service) from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northumbria Police before being appointed one of HM Inspectors of Constabulary in September 1996. He was then appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Met in 1998 until his promotion to Commissioner in 2000.
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Stevens was educated at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate, the University of Leicester where he took an LL.B and the University of Southampton, where he did his MPhil. Before becoming Chief Constable of Northumbria, he served as Assistant Chief Constable of the Hampshire Constabulary (1986–88) and Deputy Chief Constable of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary (1988–91).
He was knighted in the New Year Honours of 2000 and made Deputy Lieutenant of London in 2001. In 2002 he was made a Knight of Saint John and given Freedom of the City of London.
He presided over an external police inquiry into allegations in Northern Ireland of collusion between the British Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and loyalist terrorists in the murders of Irish nationalists. Stevens's third report, published on 17 April 2003, upheld the claim and explicitly said that collusion leading to the murder of nationalists (and some unionists wrongly thought to be Catholic or nationalist) had taken place. In the aftermath of his shock report, David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, called for a parliamentary inquiry into the collusion, while the leaders of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin called for a full public inquiry.
After his retirement as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, on 6 April 2005 he was created a life peer as Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, of Kirkwhelpington in the County of Northumberland.
He headed a Metropolitan Police inquiry, Operation Paget, into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed, which reported its findings on 14 December 2006.
Lord Stevens was asked by the Conservatives, under David Cameron, to be their candidate for the London Mayoral elections. He declined this offer.[1]
On 29 June 2007, having become one of the Uk’s leading security experts, in-coming Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Lord Stevens as his Senior Advisor on International Security Issues.[2]
David Cameron also appointed Lord Stevens as Chair of the Borders Policing Committee in 2007 a position he held for 9 months focussing on the reorganisation and policing of the UK’s borders, Lord Stevens continues as an advisor for the committee.
In 2011 Lord Stevens was appointed by Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP of the opposition government to Chair the Policing Commission to conduct an inquiry in to the future of policing in England and Wales.
Lord Stevens is the Executive Chairman of Monitor Quest a London based Corporate Intelligence, Investigations and Risk Mitigation Company Lord Stevens is Chairman of Monitor Quest, a global specialist risk consultancy. In this role, he led the Inquiry for the Premier League into alleged irregular payments in football player transfers and Chaired the Federation Equestre Internationale Ethics Panel on behalf of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein. Lord Stevens is also Chairman of forensic experts Axiom International, of Skills for Security, a skills and standards setting body for the security business sector and Buddi an organisation providing technology to improve the safety and security of the elderly.
He also holds a number of non-executive directorships. He is a non-executive director of Travelex and also sits on the board of LGC, the UK’s leading analytical laboratory providing chemical, biochemical and DNA-based analysis.
In addition to his commercial activities Lord Stevens is actively involved in numerous public interest and charitable organisations. He is the patron of the UK Defence Forum and the Security Institute. He has upheld over the years his duties as a Patron to a number of charitable organisations including, a North East Charity which has built schools and care centres for mentally and physically handicapped children and Convoy, a charity which Lord Stevens set up to improve the quality of life of Romanian orphans, Aids sufferers and disabled children and for which he was awarded the Star of Romania, by the President of Romania.
In April 2007 Lord Stevens became Honorary Air Commodore of No 3 (Royal Auxiliary) Air Force Police Squadron. He is Honorary Colonel of the Northumbria Army cadets.
On 28 November 2005 he was appointed Chancellor of Northumbria University. He holds an Honours Degree in Law, a Master Degree of Philosophy, a Doctor of Law, Honorary Degrees of Doctor in Civil Law, Doctor of Letters and a Doctor of Philosophy. He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge and was a visiting Professor at City University New York.
Lord Stevens holds a Commercial Pilot's Licence and part owns a Cessna light aircraft.[3]
| Police appointments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Paul Condon |
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis 2000–2005 |
Succeeded by Sir Ian Blair |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Glenamara |
Chancellor of Northumbria University 2005–present |
Incumbent |