Kevin Barry Hurley, TD (born September 1953) is a British politician and former police officer. He was the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner between November 2012 and May 2016. He previously served in the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

, reaching the rank of Detective

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

. He was also an officer of the Territorial Army, serving first in the Parachute Regiment and then in the

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operation ...

Early life

Hurley attended St Mary's primary school in Eltham from 1959 to 1965. He then went to St. Joseph's Academy in Blackheath, South London from 1965 to 1972. He studied at the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

from 1972 to 1976. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Civil Engineering.

Career

Military service

On 16 January 1974, Hurley was commissioned into Section B of the

Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. The Army Reserve was known as the Ter ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

(on probation). He was given the

service number A service number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they may be used in civilian organizations as well. National identification numbers may ...

497343. Section B is the non-deployable category of reserves. On 1 June 1974, he transferred to the Parachute Regiment, Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve, with seniority in the rank of second lieutenant (on probation) from 16 January 1974. He joined

4 PARA The 4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment (4 PARA), is an Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve unit of the British Army. Now recruiting across the United Kingdom originally the Battalion covered the North of England, with its headquarters loc ...

and his commission was confirmed. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 1 June 1976, and to

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 8 April 1978. On 1 January 1980, he transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers in the rank of lieutenant. This ended his first period of active reserve service. On 18 November 1985, he transferred to the

, Territorial Army, as a lieutenant with seniority in that rank from 17 April 1982. He was promoted to Captain on 1 July 1986, and to

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 1 May 1989 with seniority in that rank from 15 May 1988. On 1 April 1991, he transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers in the rank of Major. This ended his second period of active reserve service. On 1 February 1993, he transferred once more to the Royal Military Police, Territorial Army, as a Major with seniority from 2 March 1991. He was

mobilised Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...

for the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. He first served as the

CBRN Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence (CBRN defence) are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warfare (including terrorism) hazards may be present. CBRN defence consi ...

advisor to Brigadier

Jacko Page Lieutenant General Jonathan David "Jacko" Page, (born 25 February 1959) is a retired senior British Army officer. Early life Page was born in Norwich, Norfolk on 25 February 1959. Military career Page commissioned into the Parachute Regiment ...

, the commander of

16 Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...

Police

Hurley served in the

from 1979 to 2011, when he retired with the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent, having served in his last three years as

Borough Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

for

Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The bor ...

. From 2001 to 2005 he was the Head of the Counter Terrorism and Public Order Department for the

City of London Police The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, including the Middle and Inner Temples. The force responsible for law enforcement within the remainder of the London region, ou ...

Politics

Hurley sought the nomination as

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner of

Surrey Police Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in South East England. The force is currently led by Chief Constable Gavin Stephens. Previously the force was led by Nick Ephgrave who left the force ...

in the 2012 Police and Crime Commissioner elections. However, he was defeated in the selection process by Julie Iles. He stood as an independent, appearing on the ballot paper as the Zero Tolerance Policing ex Chief candidate, a registered political party in the United Kingdom of which he is the leader. On 15 November 2012, he won the election with a majority of 7,725. During his term as PCC Hurley became involved in a public dispute with his then Chief Constable,

Lynne Owens Dame Lynne Gillian Owens, (born 29 January 1969) is a senior law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom. She served as Director-General of the National Crime Agency from 2016 to 2021, making her one of the most senior law enforcement chiefs ...

, following an external report which criticised Surrey Police for failings around organised crime and child protection. Upon Owens' appointment as Director-General of the

National Crime Agency The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's lead agency against organised crime; human, weapon and drug trafficking; cybercrime; and economic crime that goes across regional and in ...

he clashed with the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

, over his criticism of Owens. Hurley demanded an apology after May described his "attacks" on Owens as one of a "number of incidents" which had given PCCs a bad name. In 2016 Hurley gained national attention for saying he wanted to "batter and break the legs" of a man convicted of a stabbing. In the 2016 England and Wales PCC elections, Hurley's party, Zero Tolerance Policing ex Chief, stood candidates in the Surrey,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

police authorities with Hurley himself standing for re-election in Surrey. None of the party's candidates were elected and Hurley was defeated by David Munro in the second round of vote counting.

Honours and decorations

Hurley was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (Territorial) (TD) in November 1997. He was awarded the

Volunteer Reserves Service Medal The Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) is a medal which may be awarded to members of the Volunteer Reserves of all branches of the British Armed Forces - the Royal Naval Reserve, the Royal Marines Reserve, the Army Reserve and the Royal Auxil ...

in November 2005, and was awarded a clasp to the medal in April 2011. He was awarded the

Civilian Service Medal (Afghanistan) The Civilian Service Medal (Afghanistan) is awarded by the British government to civilians (and members of the UK Armed Forces in certain non-combat roles) to recognise service since 19 November 2001 in the transition to democracy in Afghanistan. ...

in April 2019.

References

External links

Kevin Hurley candidate for Surrey PCC website

Surrey PCC website

Interview with the International Business Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurley, Kevin 1953 births Living people Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Metropolitan Police officers British Parachute Regiment officers Royal Military Police officers Conservative Party (UK) politicians Police and crime commissioners in England Independent police and crime commissioners