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Lynne Owens

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Dame Lynne Owens
DCB CBE QPM DL
Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 February 2023
Interim: September 2022 – February 2023
CommissionerSir Mark Rowley
Preceded byStephen House /
Helen Ball (acting) /
Lynne Owens (interim)
Director-General of the National Crime Agency
In office
4 January 2016 – 4 October 2021
Preceded byKeith Bristow
Succeeded byGraeme Biggar
Chief Constable of Surrey Police
In office
February 2012 – December 2015
Preceded byMark Rowley
Succeeded byNick Ephgrave
Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
In office
December 2010 – February 2012
Preceded byChris Allison
Succeeded byMark Rowley
Personal details
Born (1969-01-29) 29 January 1969 (age 55)
ProfessionChief Police Officer
AwardsQueen's Police Medal (2008)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2015)
Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (2021)
a. ^ As First Deputy Director-General for Capabilities. b. ^ As Second Deputy Director-General for Operations.

Dame Lynne Gillian Owens, DCB, CBE, QPM, DL (born 29 January 1969) is a senior police officer in the United Kingdom. She was made interim Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in September 2022[1] before being confirmed as that role's permanent holder in February 2023,[2] the first-ever such female holder (Helen Ball previously held it on an acting basis in 2021-2022).

She was Assistant Commissioner of Central Operations, then Central Operations and Specialist Crime, with the Metropolitan Police Service from 2010 to 2012, and the Chief Constable of Surrey Police from 2012 to 2015. She then served as Director-General of the National Crime Agency from 2016 to 2021, making her one of the most senior law enforcement chiefs in the United Kingdom at the time.[3]

Life

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Early life and education

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Owens was born on 29 January 1969.[4] Her father, Edward Crew, was chief constable of West Midlands Police from 1996 to 2002.[5] She studied at the University of Exeter, graduating with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 2008.[4]

Rise

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Owens began her policing career when she joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1989. As a Constable, she was based in Catford, London.[6] On promotion to Sergeant, she transferred to Kent Police and began training to become a detective.[7] In the rank of Detective Chief Inspector, she became a senior investigating officer with the force's major crime department.[7][8]

In 2002, Owens transferred to Surrey Police.[8] She was appointed Divisional Commander of North Surrey in May 2003.[citation needed] In January 2005, she was promoted to temporary assistant chief constable responsible for specialist operations.[7] This was her first experience of a chief officer rank. She qualified as a Gold firearms Commander during that appointment.[9] Having completed the Strategic Command Course run by the National Policing Improvement Agency, she was made assistant chief constable responsible for territorial operations.[9] She became the youngest person to hold the rank of deputy chief constable when she was appointed to the rank temporarily in March 2008.[7] During that appointment, she headed an organisational change programme.[7]

DAC, AC and Chief Constable

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In April 2009, Owens returned to the Metropolitan Police as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner.[7] In that role she was responsible for operations within territorial policing.[9] She was promoted to Assistant Commissioner in December 2010, becoming only the second woman to hold that rank in that service.[6] In August 2011, she additionally became responsible for the Specialist Crime Directorate and became head of the Specialist Crime and Operations Directorate.[9] She was overall commander of the policing for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton that took place in April 2011,[citation needed] and the state visit by US president Barack Obama in May 2011.[10] She was also part of the Metropolitan Police's senior leadership team during the 2011 England riots, for whose handling they were heavily criticised.[11]

In December 2011, Owens was selected to become the next Chief Constable of Surrey Police.[8] She took up the appointment in February 2012, becoming the first woman to head the force.[12] In December 2012, her contract was extended until November 2017 by Kevin Hurley, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey Police.[12] However, in a meeting in September 2015, Hurley revealed he had been considering her dismissal for a "failure of leadership" in relation to concerns about her record on child protection.[13]

NCA and Deputy Commissioner

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On 26 November 2015 it was announced that Owens would be the next head of the National Crime Agency. She replaced the outgoing Director-General and former Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, Keith Bristow QPM, in January 2016.[14] Upon taking up the appointment, she became the then most senior woman in British law enforcement.[15] In September 2021 she announced that she would be retiring afrom that role on medical grounds.[16] She was succeeded by Graeme Biggar on an interim basis.[17]

She did not apply to succeed Cressida Dick as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police,[18] but in August 2022 Mark Rowley announced Owens would return to the Metropolitan Police on 12 September that year, holding a six-month post as Interim Deputy Commissioner whilst a permanent holder of that post was recruited at the start of Rowley's own commissionership.[1] Her confirmation as the permanent holder of that role was announced on 20 February 2023.[19]

Honours

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Owens was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in the 2008 New Year Honours for distinguished service.[12] She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to policing and criminal justice.[20] She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the 2021 New Year Honours for service to law enforcement.[21][22] In February 2023, she was appointed as a deputy lieutenant of Surrey.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Incoming Commissioner announces Dame Lynne Owens as Interim Deputy Commissioner". news.met.police.uk. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Dame Lynne Owens announced as Met Deputy Commissioner". Metropolitan Police. 20 February 2023.
  3. ^ "National Crime Agency appoints Lynne Owens as director general". The Guardian. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b 'OWENS, Lynne Gillian', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 4 Nov 2017
  5. ^ Perry, Alex (22 November 2018). "Organised crime in the UK is bigger than ever before. Can the police catch up?". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b Davenport, Justin (2 December 2010). "Woman officer takes over job of policing demonstrations". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Lynne Owens returns as Surrey Police chief". Get Surrey. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  8. ^ a b c "Lynne Owens is new Surrey Chief Constable". BBC News. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d "Chief Constable Lynne Owens". Our senior leaders. Surrey Police. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  10. ^ "Leveson inquiry: Lord Condon, Lord Stevens, Lynne Owens appear". The Guardian. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  11. ^ Woman police chief is appointed £214,000-a-year director-general of the 'UK's FBI'[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
  12. ^ a b c "Surrey Chief Constable Lynne Owens' contract extended". BBC News. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  13. ^ BBC News (2 February 2016). NCA head Lynne Owens faced criticism as Surrey Police chief.
  14. ^ "Surrey Chief Constable Lynne Owens to take over National Crime Agency". BBC News. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Lynne Owens announced as new head of National Crime Agency". GOV.UK. Home Office. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  16. ^ "Dame Lynne Owens announces her retirement as Director General of the National Crime Agency". National Crime Agency. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Graeme Biggar appointed Director General of the National Crime Agency". National Crime Agency. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  18. ^ Dodd, Vikram (3 May 2022). "White, male field likely in search for new Met head as frontrunner steps aside". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Dame Lynne Owens announced as MPS deputy commissioner". Police Professional. 20 February 2023.
  20. ^ "No. 61256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2015. pp. B8–B10.
  21. ^ "NEW YEAR HONOURS 2021 – HIGH AWARDS" (PDF). GOV.UK. Cabinet Office. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  22. ^ "No. 63218". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N3.
  23. ^ "Surrey Lieutenancy - Deputy Lieutenant Commissions". London Gazette. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
Police appointments
Preceded by Assistant Commissioner (Central Operations)
Metropolitan Police Service
2010–2011 		Appointment merged
New title Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Crime and Operations)
Metropolitan Police Service
2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Constable of Surrey Police
2012–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Director-General of the National Crime Agency
2016 		Succeeded by
Graeme Biggar
(acting)
Preceded by Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
2022–present 		Incumbent
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