Craig Mackey, the Met’s Deputy Commissioner, has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year’s honours list.
Mr Mackey joined the force in January 2012 having previously served five years as Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary.
His policing career began in 1984 when he joined Wiltshire Constabulary and in 2001 he transferred to Gloucestershire to become its Assistant Chief Constable, later being promoted to Deputy Chief Constable.
During his six years at the Met he worked alongside former Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe to deliver a wide-ranging reorganisation of the force following a series of cuts to its budget.
He’s also been responsible for overseeing an overhaul of the Met’s use of stop and search, with officers expected to use the power in a more intelligence-led and targeted fashion than had historically been the case.
Controversial at times with front line officers, the change came in response to growing concerns that BAME Londoners were being disproportionately targeted, harming the force’s relationship with some of London’s communities.
Mackey’s reforms have led to a doubling in the numbers arrested following a search, while simultaneously delivering a 70 per cent fall in the number of searches and complaints and a rise in public support for the use of stop and search powers.
He’s also led the Met’s drive to boost its number of BAME officers and in March of this year, following Hogan-Howe’s retirement, he was temporarily in charge of the force, including during its response to the attack at Westminster.
Commenting on his honour, Mr Mackey, said: “Receiving a knighthood has left me feeling both amazed and deeply honoured.
“I truly believe it is a recognition not just for me but for the dedication of all the men and women of the police service that I have had the privilege to serve with during the last 33 years.
“It comes at the end of what has been an extraordinarily difficult year, when so many of our officers have demonstrated huge courage, compassion and professionalism in the very worst of circumstances.”
Members of the London Assembly, which serves as the capital’s policing watchdog, have congratulated Mackey on his honour.
Len Duvall, Labour’s leader at City Hall, said the deputy commissioner has been “a great public servant in difficult times both in terms of policing challenges and financial constraints,” adding that the award was “well deserved.”
Liberal Democrat Assembly Member, Caroline Pidgeon, said: “Craig is an exceptional police officer, calm, thoughtful and a strong and dedicated Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolis.
“It is only right that his years of public service have been recognised.”
Mackey is one of ten Met and Scotland Yard figures to be honoured.
Other recipients include Acting Detective Inspector John Simm of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command who has been awarded an OBE for services to national security and counter terrorism, Sergeant Stephen Collingwood; former Inspector Rodney Paul Feichtinger; and Inspector Douglas Ian Thompson of the Royalty and Specialist Protection team, and Lambeth borough commander Chief Superintendent Richard Wood.
Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick, said: “I congratulate these extraordinary members of the Met who have dedicated their working life to policing and to protecting and serving London.
“They have achieved some amazing accomplishments. It is to their credit that they are role models to all, for their commitment, hard work and innovation.
“I am very proud of them all, as they should be of themselves. To be honoured in this way is so very special and richly deserved.”
