Ian Blair
history}} Sir Ian Warwick Blair, QPM MA (born 19 March 1953) was a senior British Police Officer who previously held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008. Before his resignation he was the highest ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service. Blair was responsible for the policing of Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, which is the responsibility of a separate force, commanded by its own Commissioner.
On 2 October 2008 Sir Ian Blair announced that he would officially step down from the post on 1 December after disagreements with Boris Johnson, the new Mayor of London. Until a successor is found, Sir Paul Stephenson, QPM has taken on the role of Acting Commissioner.»http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/02/damian-green-police
Education and career
After attending Wrekin College, Shropshire and Harvard High School in Los Angeles, Blair read English Language and Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, and was awarded a Second Class Honours Degree.Biography - Metropolitan Police Service website - »http://www.met.police.uk/about/blair.htm
Ian Blair originally joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974, under the High Potential Developer Scheme for Graduates. He joined as the rank of Constable, based in Soho, London. Eventually over the next 17 years serving as a Sergeant and Inspector in both uniform and CID in central London.
In 1985 he was promoted to Detective Chief Inspector in Kentish Town, North London. Sir Ian was responsible for identifying the victims of the King's Cross fire. In 1988 he reached the rank of Superintendent, heading a project designed to reorganise criminal investigations. He obtained the rank of Chief Superintendent in 1991, as Staff Officer in HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
In 1994, he transferred to Thames Valley Police as Assistant Chief Constable later becoming Deputy Chief Constable in 1997, and during the same year took charge of policing the protests over the construction of the Newbury bypass. He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 1999 and received a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours, 2003, for his service.
Blair was formerly Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police under the then Commissioner Baron John Stevens, and before that Chief Constable of Surrey Police.
While serving as Deputy Commissioner, he gained a reputation for being a "thinking man's policeman". He called for more female, ethnic minority and gay recruits. In 2002 he publicly stated that "Society cannot duck the fact that most muggers are black", and in response the National Black Police Association stated that black recruits could be deterred by such comments.»Next Met police chief announced, BBC News, 28 October 2004.
Controversies
Shooting of de Menezes
Several months into his tenure, he was heavily involved in an investigation into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by Armed police who mistakenly believed he was a suicide bomber. After Blair learned that the shooting of de Menezes had been mistaken, he briefly considered resigning.»"Police head 'considered quitting'", BBC, 22 September 2005 On 1 November 2007, a jury convicted the Metropolitan Police of violating health and safety laws, highlighting 19 "catastrophic errors" but said it was an "isolated breach under quite extraordinary circumstances".»De Menezes shooting: Police guilty of 'catastrophic errors' , The Independent, 2 November 2007 Blair rejected a vote of no confidence by the London Assembly a week later.»Sir Ian Blair defies no confidence motion, Times Online, 7 November 2007 Blair continued to receive the support of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the head of which said that he would not have accepted any resignation offered by Blair.
Operation Finnean
In 2005 and 2006 Sir Ian Blair was involved in Operation Finnean, a £280,000 investigation into supermodel Kate Moss's alleged possession and distribution of a Class A drug. It has been alleged that the operation was systematically sabotaged by officers eager to undermine Blair and Ghaffur's high profile stance on celebrity drug taking, and thereby erode their authority. Fred Vermorel, Addicted to Love: the Kate Moss Story, Omnibus Press, second edition, 2007, pp 198-206 (ISBN13:978.1.84609.755.3)
Bonus pay
Sir Ian Blair was criticised by senior colleagues at New Scotland Yard after he sought a £25,000 performance bonus during criminal proceedings over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, while on a salary of £228,000 and with rank-and-file officers facing the prospect of pay cuts. Blair wrote an angry letter to his deputy, Paul Stephenson, effectively accusing him of disloyalty after discovering that he had formally waived his own bonus. Colleagues accused him of behaviour which was “extraordinary”, of being “self-centred” and lacking judgment.
Terrorism
In November 2005, a controversy about detention without charge proposals led to Blair becoming involved in allegations of the police being "politicised", when he and other senior police officers were known to have lobbied MPs to support Government proposals to hold terrorist suspects for 90 days.»"'Political police' prompts questions", BBC, 11 November 2005
After the failure of the Forest Gate Raid, 2006, several sources once again called on Ian Blair to resign. Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed his support for the Commissioner.»"Met chief defended amid raid row", BBC, 12 June 2006
Conflicts of interest
IT contract
The Metropolitan Police Authority requested on 28 July 2008 that Ian Blair face an inquiry over a series of IT contracts with the Metropolitan Police worth £3 million won by Impact Plus, a consultancy owned by Andy Miller, who is a long-time friend of Ian Blair.»Sir Ian Blair to be investigated over £3m contracts to friend, Times Online, 29 June 2008 The commissioner denied any wrongdoing and said that he was "open and straightforward in informing both the Metropolitan Police Service and the MPA about »his relationship »Miller". He said that he had set out in writing his connection with Miller and had no part in the evaluation process. It has however been reported in the press that on one occasion another company was turned down for a contract won by Impact Plus, despite its bid being a third of the winning offer.
No bid PR contract
In October 2008 it was reported that Blair had used public money to pay an estimated £15,000 to Impact Plus, owned by a skiing partner and close friend of Sir Ian for 30 years Andy Miller.»BBC News 2 October 2008
Controversially no other company was invited to bid for the public relations contract. Martin Samphire of Impact Plus became Blair's 'image consultant'. Impact Plus received more than £3 million of police work from Scotland Yard over the six-year period of Ian Blair's rule.
Race relations
In January 2006 he attracted considerable controversy when he described the media as institutionally racist»"Met chief accuses media of racism", BBC, 26 January 2006 (a charge that has also been levelled at the police) for its allegedly unbalanced coverage of crimes against white people, such as in the murder of Tom ap Rhys Pryce as compared to that given to crimes against those from ethnic minorities.»The story of two murder victims, BBC, 27 January 2006 As an example, he had referred to the murder of two young girls in Soham in 2002. He said "almost nobody" understood why it became such a big story. However, he was forced to issue a hurried apology to the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.»"Blair apologises to Soham parents", BBC, 27 January 2006
During a passing-out ceremony of the Metropolitan Police held in December 2006, an unnamed female Muslim police officer refused to shake hands with Ian Blair on religious grounds. She also refused to have a picture taken with him, for fear of its being used for "propaganda purposes". According to Scotland Yard, Ian Blair questioned the validity of her refusal.»"Police respond to handshake snub", BBC, 21 January 2007»"Muslim Pc refused to shake hands", 21 January 2007
In June 2008, Commander Shabir Hussain alleged being repeatedly rejected for promotion owing to racial discrimination, explicitly suggesting that Ian Blair was using his influence to favour a "golden circle" of white officers and to turn down applications made by black and Asian candidates, who were better qualified for the promotion.»Ian Blair wouldn’t promote me because I am not white, says top Asian policeman, Times Online, 24 June 2008 In another case, the country's senior Asian police officer Tarique Ghaffur was considering commencing an employment tribunal over being sidelined by Sir Ian Blair in Olympics security planning, and being asked to keep quiet about his concerns about the new 42 days detention laws for terror suspects.»Top Asian officer in race claim, BBC News, 25 June 2008 In a subsequent press conference, Ghaffur claimed to have been victimised in a face-to-face meeting with Blair, who threatened to remove him from his post if he went ahead with his legal action.»Top Asian officer sets out race case and directly blames Met police chief, The Guardian, 29 August 2008. The National Black Police Association launched a boycott of the police soon after.
Miscellaneous issues
Secretly taped telephone conversations
In March 2006, pressure was again put on Sir Ian to resign after it was revealed that in late 2005 he had secretly taped several telephone conversations, most notably with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith. »"Met chief in phone recording row", BBC, 13 March 2006 Although Blair received widespread criticism, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, while describing his actions as "totally unacceptable", said it was not a resigning matter. »"Met chief taping 'unacceptable'", BBC, 13 March 2006 Much of the latest furore may be attributed to Blair's recent track record of courting controversy with his publicly expressed views. In his defence it has been pointed out that the recording was not illegal and it was said to be simply to enable an accurate record to be taken for him in the absence of a note taker. [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1730290,00.html "Media humbug over phone recording"], The Guardian, 14 March 2006
Single police force
Blair has stated that he would prefer to see a single police force for the whole of London, an opinion shared by Ken Livingstone, with the functions of both the City of London Police and the British Transport Police absorbed by the Metropolitan Police.»"Met Chief outlines merger talks of London police", Association of London Government, 20 October 2005 Already, the duties and functions of one police force (the Royal Parks Constabulary) have been taken by the Met. However, both the City of London Police» "For City of London, police merger is a crime", International Herald Tribune, 20 March 2006 and BTP»Future of the British Transport Police HoC Transport Committee. 16 May 2006 have expressed their strong objections to this proposal, while the Home Office has stated that reorganisation of policing in London is not on their agenda. The publication of reviews into the operation of the British Transport Police,»Review of the British Transport Police DfT 20 July 2006 and the national review of fraud by the Attorney General,»National Fraud Review Final Report LSLO, 24 July 2006 combined with the ending of the police merger proposals for England and Wales, appear to rule out any possibility of police mergers in London for the foreseeable future.
Alleged corruption cover up
On 31 August 2008, The Independent reported that Blair may be facing another inquiry related to an alleged cover-up of the corruption of a senior officer, murdered Special Constable Nisha Patel-Nasri and her partner, turning a blind eye over accusations (in 2003) that the couple were running a prostitution racket. Sir Ian Blair was then in charge of the Metropolitan Police's anti-corruption unit.»Accusations of Met cover-up put more heat on Ian Blair, The Independent, 31 August 2008
Brian Haw
Blair received further criticism when 78 police officers were involved in an operation to confiscate placards displayed by protester Brian Haw. After he initially told the Metropolitan Police Authority that the operation had cost £7,200, it later emerged that it had in fact cost £27,000.[http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,,1786523,00.html "Farce as peace campaigner has another day in court"], The Guardian, 31 May 2006
Haringey comments
In comments to The Times,»http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article614723.ece The Times Ian Blair claimed that the London Borough of Haringey is a safe enough place to leave doors unlocked. However, Metropolitan Police Authority member Damian Hockney has described Sir Ian's remarks as "truly extraordinary".[http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?sortBy=2&threadID=3361&&&&edition=2&ttl=20070222181401#paginator] BBC News
Resignation
It had been widely reported in the press, as of May 2008, that Ian Blair's contract as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service would not be renewed when it expired in 2010.[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1984019/Met-police-chief-Ian-Blair-on-way-out,-say-rumours.html], Telegraph.co.uk, 19 May 2008 Sir Ian was allegedly alerted to this by the Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Len Duvall.
The Telegraph reported that his "job had been in peril since firearms officers mistakenly killed the innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes on 22 July 2005. Just before the mayoral election which established Boris Johnson as the new Mayor of London, Duvall told Sir Ian that his five-year contract would not be renewed upon its expiration.
On 2 October 2008 Blair announced he would resign as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, with effect from 1 December 2008. He blamed a lack of support from London mayor Boris Johnson, saying that "without the mayor's backing I do not think I can continue". Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to Blair's service. Sir Paul Stephenson took over on the 28th of November 2008.»BBC News, 2 October 2008»http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/02/ian.blair.resigns, The Guardian, 2 October 2008
Pay package
Blair is entitled to a full police pension, estimated to be worth about £160,000 per year, based on his £240,000 commissioner’s salary. Blair could receive his £234,000-a-year salary until his contract expires in February 2010. However, Sir Ian will lose his chauffeur-driven car and use of a £1 million flat in south-west London.
- PC Ian Blair (1974-various ranks-1985)
- DCI Ian Blair (1985-1988)
- Supt. Ian Blair (1988-1991)
- Ch. Supt. Ian Blair (1991-1994)
- Asst. Ch. Const. Ian Blair (1994-1997)
- Dep. Ch. Const. Ian Blair (1997-1998)
- Chief Constable Ian Blair (1998-1999)
- Chief Constable Ian Blair QPM (1999-2000)
- Dep. Comm. Ian Blair QPM (2000-2003)
- Dep. Comm. Sir Ian Blair QPM (2003-2005)
- Commissioner Sir Ian Blair QPM (2005-2008)
The various ranks that Blair would have held between 1974 and 1985 are D/Constable, D/Sergeant and D/Inspector.
- Investigating Rape: A New Approach for Police (1985)
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