Helen Mary King (born 26 April 1965) is a British

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some t ...

and retired police officer. Since April 2017, she has been Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford. Her previous career was as a police officer, serving with the

Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an are ...

, the

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

, and the Metropolitan Police Service. She retired from the police in 2017, having reached the rank of Assistant Commissioner.

Early life and education

King was born on 26 April 1965 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. She is the daughter of Robert King, a senior civil servant, and Mary King (''née'' Rowell). She was educated at

The Hertfordshire and Essex High School The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and since 2004 named as ''The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College'', commonly referred as Herts and Essex is a secondary level comprehensive single-sex school and a mixed-sex sixth form ...

, then an all-girls comprehensive school in Bishop's Stortford, and at the

Perse School for Girls The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of independent schools in Cambridge and Saffron Walden for students aged 1 to 18. The Foundation is made up of 3 nurseries (2 in Cambridge and 1 in Saffron Walden, Essex) for ages 1–5, 2 Junior Schoo ...

, an independent school in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Cambridgeshire. In 1983, she

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

into St Anne's College, Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). She graduated from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1986 with a lower second class (2:2) Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. King continued her studies in later life. In 1994, she completed a Master of Arts degree at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

. In 2003, she completed a

postgraduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award pos ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

Career

Police career

In 1986, King joined

as part of the Graduate Entry Scheme. Over her time serving with Cheshire, she rose from the most junior rank of constable to

chief superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Superintendent.pn ...

, and worked as both a uniformed officer and as a detective with the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

(CID). In 2005, King was appointed an assistant chief constable of

, thereby becoming a chief officer. From 2007 to 2012, she was additionally the

Association of Chief Police Officers The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established ...

(ACPO) lead for " cash and valuables in transit attacks". She took over the operations portfolio of Merseyside Police in 2009 and as such became responsible for

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

's six policing areas. In April 2012, King moved back to Cheshire Constabulary, having been appointed its deputy chief constable, and as such was "responsible for performance management, governance, standards and communications". From 2012 to 2014, she was additionally the national policing lead for

horizon scanning Horizon scanning (HS) or horizon scan is a method from futures studies, sometimes regarded as a part of foresight. It is the early detection and assessment of emerging technologies or threats for mainly policy makers in a domain of choice. Suc ...

;

GOV.UK gov.uk (styled on the site as GOV.UK) is a United Kingdom public sector information website, created by the Government Digital Service to provide a single point of access to HM Government services. The site launched as a beta on 31 January 2012, ...

states "Horizon scanning helps government to analyse whether it is adequately prepared for potential opportunities and threat". In June 2014, King joined the Metropolitan Police Service as assistant commissioner for territorial policing. As such, she had "oversight of policing in London's 32 Boroughs". In April 2016, she was appointed assistant commissioner for professionalism and as such oversaw training and professional standards. In October 2016, it was announced that she would be retiring from the police to take up a position at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 2017. She stepped down as assistant commissioner for professionalism in December 2016.

Academic career

In October 2016, it was announced that King had been elected the next Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford; she is the first police officer to head an Oxbridge college. She took up the appointment on 24 April 2017.

Personal life

King was previously married but is now divorced. She has two daughters.

Honours

In the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 ''New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

, King was awarded the

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

(QPM) in recognition of her service as an Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police.

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Helen 1965 births Living people British women police officers Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Women Merseyside Police officers Women Metropolitan Police officers Principals of St Anne's College, Oxford People educated at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School People educated at the Perse School for Girls Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Cambridge People from Bishop's Stortford