Bob Quick (police officer)
Robert Quick, QPM is a former Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) of London's Metropolitan Police Service responsible for counter-terrorism within the United Kingdom.[1]
Police career
Quick joined the police service in 1978, first serving in Lambeth.
In December 2002, he took charge of a police operation in east London to deal with a gunman who had taken a hostage at a flat in Hackney. For this operation he was widely praised for the restraint shown, in what was at the time London's longest armed siege.[2]
He later became Chief Constable of Surrey. In 2008 he was succeeded by Mark Rowley as Chief Constable.[3] Quick then returned to London to become an assistant commissioner.
Controversy
In 2008, Quick ordered the arrest of Conservative MP Damian Green and a search of his House of Commons offices for allegedly leaking government documents, causing immense political controversy. In the aftermath, Quick accused the Conservative party of campaigning to undermine him, an accusation he subsequently withdrew.
On 8 April 2009, when Quick arrived at a briefing at 10 Downing Street he inadvertently exposed a document marked Secret[4] dealing with "Operation Pathway" to photographers[5] which compromised the counter-terrorist operation which the document concerned, forcing police in the North West of England to strike sooner than planned, making twelve arrests within hours.[6] He resigned the following day and was replaced by John Yates.[7]
References
- ↑ "Biography page for Bob Quick". Metropolitan Police Service. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
- ↑ "Profile: Bob Quick". BBC News. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
- ↑ Police Oracle website
- ↑ Vikram Dodd; David Batty (2009-04-09). "Police chief Bob Quick steps down over terror blunder". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ↑ "Zoomed photograph of document". The Guardian. 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ↑ "Terror raids follow files blunder". BBC News. 8 April 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
- ↑ "Police chief quits over blunder". BBC News. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
External links
| Police appointments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Denis O'Connor |
Chief Constable of Surrey Police 2004 – 2008 |
Succeeded by Mark Rowley |
| Preceded by Andy Hayman |
Metropolitan Police Service Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) 2008–2009 |
Succeeded by John Yates |