Sir William Ian Ridley Johnston

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

QPM DL (born 1945) was the Chief Constable of

British Transport Police , nativename = , abbreviation = BTP , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg , logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police , badge = , badgecaption = , f ...

. He became Chief Constable on 1 May 2001 when he succeeded David Williams QPM, who had served as Chief Constable for three and a half years.

Police career

Johnston joined 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 ...

in 1965 and served as Staff Officer to former Metropolitan Police Commissioner,

Peter Imbert Peter Michael Imbert, Baron Imbert, (27 April 1933 – 13 November 2017) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service from 1987 to 1993, and prior to that appointment Chief Constable of Thames Va ...

. In 1982, he graduated from

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

with a first in

Social Administration Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

. Having completed the Senior Command Course at Bramshill, Johnston moved to

Kent Constabulary Kent Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the and approximately 1.8 million inhabitants of Kent, a county in the south east of England. History On 14 January 1857, a 222-strong 'Kent County Constabulary' was formed u ...

in 1989, where he served as Assistant Chief Constable in charge of first Administration and Supply, and then Operations, before moving back to the Metropolitan Police in 1992 as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner. In 1994, he was appointed Assistant Commissioner for the South East London area, but in 1999 moved to Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Territorial Policing in 2000. In September 2009, Sir Ian retired from the British Transport Police and was succeeded by Andrew Trotter

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

QPM. Johnston came to media attention having given evidence before the enquiry and following the publication of the

Macpherson Report Stephen Lawrence (13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was a black British teenager from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham on the evening of 22 Apr ...

into the murder of

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

. On behalf of the Metropolitan Police, Johnston apologised to the Lawrence family for institutionalised racism; but argued that race can legitimately be used by police as a basis for stop and search. Johnston reiterated this argument in the aftermath of the London Tube bombings in 2005. Johnston had been mooted as being the next

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed to the post on 8 July 2022 after Dame Cressida Dick announced her resignation in February. The rank of Commissione ...

after the retirement of

Sir John Stevens John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, (born 21 October 1942) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service) from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northum ...

in 2005. Sir John had described Johnston as a "substantial figure" at the Met, and noted that following his departure for British Transport Police Johnston was missed. The role of Commissioner went to

Sir Ian Blair Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, (born 19 March 1953) is a law enforcement in the United Kingdom, British retired police officer, policeman who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was t ...

Later life

After retiring from BTP, Ian Johnston was appointed Director of Security and Resilience at

LOCOG The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Gov ...

, for the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, responsible for signing the contract with

G4S G4S is a British Multinational corporation, multinational private security company headquartered in London, England. The company was set up in 2004 when London-based Securicor amalgamated with Danish firm Group 4 Falck. The company offers a ran ...

, which, in July 2012, led to the announcement that British troops would be deployed at the Olympics to cover shortfalls. According to an insider from LOCOG talking to

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

, "there was inadequate scrutiny", "the management of security at Locog was "thoroughly amateurish and incompetent"", and "It was the wrong strategy, to use only one company", compared with the approach of LOCOG's event services division. Ian Johnston currently holds the chair (since April 2005) of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Crime Business Area, and is chairman of Orpington Rovers Football Club, Bromley.

Awards

In the 1995 New Years Honours list he 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 of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...

. On 16 June 2001, as part of that year's

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

, he was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

"for services to the Police". He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 2009 Birthday Honours. He was Appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the

Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs ...

on 1 January 2008.

Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ian English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Metropolitan Police recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Chief Constables Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis 1945 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Living people Knights Bachelor Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London