Mark Rowley

Sir Mark Peter Rowley (; born November 1964 ) is a British police officer who has been the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis since September 2022.

He was the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for Specialist Operations of the Metropolitan Police Service and the concurrent Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee and National Lead for Counter Terrorism Policing. He was previously Chief Constable of Surrey Police (2009–2011), and also served as Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police between February 2017 and April 2017. He retired from the police in March 2018.

In July 2022, it was announced that he would return to policing in the role of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, replacing former Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick. He was sworn in as Commissioner on 12 September 2022.

He was educated at Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, an all boys state grammar school in Handsworth, Birmingham. In 1983, he matriculated into St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Having studied mathematics, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1986.

Career In 1987, Rowley began his policing career when he joined West Midlands Police as a constable. His early career centred on Birmingham, where he undertook a broad range of both uniformed and detective roles.

He joined the National Criminal Intelligence Service as a Detective Superintendent. He was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2007. He joined the Metropolitan Police Service as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in October 2011.

In January 2018, Rowley announced he would retire from the police in March.

In April 2022, he co-authored a counter-terrorism thriller, The Sleep of Reason, with journalist David Derbyshire.

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

On 8 July 2022, it was announced that Rowley would be the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, in succession to Cressida Dick. He was sworn in on 12 September 2022. He was formally appointed by the King on 20 September 2022 via a warrant under the royal sign-manual. In May 2023, he oversaw the coronation of Charles III and Camilla. On 7 November 2023, he refused to ban the pro-Palestinian march in London, saying that the organisers of the march had shown "complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation's remembrance events".

In April 2024, Rowley faced calls to resign after Met officers described Campaign Against Antisemitism CEO Gideon Falter as "openly Jewish" during a request for him to move away from a pro-Palestinian protest. Some members of the Metropolitan Police suspected that Falter was looking for confrontation with the protesters, which Falter denies, and was seeking to catch out the Met Police. Rowley admitted that some of the words exchanged were "clumsy and offensive", but stated that the officers actions were "professional". Following the incident Rowley reportedly had the "full confidence" of then Home Secretary James Cleverly and London Mayor Sadiq Khan

A Sky News reporter asked Rowley in August 2024 about posts made by Elon Musk. Rowley responded: "We will throw the full force of the law at people and whether you're in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online we will come after you."

Honours