Sir David Blackstock McNee (23 March 1925 – 26 April 2019) was a Scottish police officer who was Chief Constable of the

City of Glasgow Police The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to hire watchmen to guard the streets at night, augmenting a force of unpaid citizen constables. On 3 ...

(later

Strathclyde Police Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfre ...

) from 1971 to 1977, and then Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1977 to 1982.

Early life

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, McNee worked as an office boy at the

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank ( gd, Banca Dhail Chluaidh) is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank's holding company CYBG would acquire Virgin Money for ...

before joining the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

as a

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

in 1943. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he served as a telegraphist on several ships, including HMS ''Empire Mace''. He was involved in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

on D-Day. In 1946, McNee began his career in the police when he joined the

, serving as a uniformed constable before joining the force's Marine Division as a

Detective Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

in 1951. He rose up the ranks to Inspector and served in the

Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbreviat ...

and Special Branch, until attending a senior command course at the

Police Staff College, Bramshill The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, (near Hook) Hampshire, England, was until 2015 the principal police staff training establishment in England and Wales. History The need for a training college for the police w ...

, after which he was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of Dunbartonshire County Constabulary. In 1971 he took charge of the

, which, during his tenure as Chief Constable, was merged with six other local Scottish police forces to form

. He joined the Metropolitan Police in London in 1977 as the Met's Commissioner, the first time he had served outside Scotland as a police officer.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner

McNee had commanded the second largest police force in Britain in Strathclyde and was now in charge of the largest. His lengthy experience as a low-ranking beat officer in Glasgow, however, was at odds with the academic and theoretical training he had received at Bramshill in the Senior Officers's course. Determined to improve the working conditions of London's beat bobbies, McNee implemented several reforms to the Metropolitan Police, some of which would be further refined by his successors.

Iranian Embassy Siege

One of the most dramatic incidents to occur during McNee's time with the Metropolitan Police was the siege of the Iranian Embassy in 1980. McNee and the Met were praised for their response and actions during the siege, however, when the first hostage was shot, McNee immediately handed control of the operation over to the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, who deployed the Special Air Service to storm the building and resolve the situation.

Brixton Riots

One of the most serious riots in London of the 20th century took place in Brixton over 10, 11 and 12 April 1981. The riot resulted in almost 300 police injuries and 45 members' of the public being injured; over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; almost 150 buildings were damaged, with thirty burned. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved in the riot. McNee considered that it was unfair for the subsequent Scarman Inquiry into the riot to concentrate on policing and not extend in depth to the wider social, political and economic context. He believed the police were being set up as scapegoats for the riot. Initially McNee alleged the rioting was not spontaneous but organised outside the Brixton area by extremist left-wing militants; however, no evidence of a prior conspiracy to trigger the riot was uncovered by

Lord Scarman Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman, (29 July 1911 – 8 December 2004) was an English judge and barrister, who served as a Law Lord until his retirement in 1986. Early life and education Scarman was born in Streatham but grew up on the bo ...

. McNee was against the repeal of the sus law, believing that no evidence had been provided that arrests under that law did harm to the relationship between the police and black people. He did not believe pressure for repeal came from the law-abiding citizens of Brixton but instead from external extremists. He had earlier expressed his opinion that black people were disproportionately targeted by the sus law because there were indications that they were "over-represented in offences of robbery and other violent theft".

Buckingham Palace incident

On 9 July 1982, a man later identified as Michael Fagan broke into the private apartments at Buckingham Palace, where he spent ten minutes chatting to Queen Elizabeth II in her bedroom until he was apprehended by police and palace guards. 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 s ...

William Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...

, sent his Permanent Secretary to ask McNee to take responsibility for the incident and resign; a request McNee declined.

Operation Countryman

The investigation into corruption amongst City of London Police officers and Metropolitan Police officers known as

Operation Countryman Operation Countryman was an investigation into police corruption in London in the late 1970s. The operation was conducted between 1978–1982 at a total cost of £3 million and led to eight police officers being prosecuted, although none were convi ...

occurred predominantly during McNee's tenure. McNee was very critical of the conduct of the investigation, in particular that the investigation team would not pass him evidence relating to complaints made against his police officers. Asst. Chief Constable Leonard Burt told his investigation team not to pass any evidence it obtained against Metropolitan Police officers to the Met Commissioner, Sir David McNee. Shortly before his retirement in February 1980, the Chief Constable of Dorset Constabulary, Arthur Hambleton, the superior of Burt, made allegations that Countryman had been willfully obstructed by Commissioner McNee and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Sir Tony Hetherington.

Later life

McNee was knighted in 1978, and remained as Metropolitan Police Commissioner for five years until his retirement in 1982. He published his memoirs, ''McNee's Law'', in 1983.

Personal life

As an infant, McNee was baptized at

St George's Tron Church The St George's Tron Church, in Glasgow, Scotland, is a Church of Scotland church in the city centre, located in Nelson Mandela Place, previously known as St George's Place, fronting Buchanan Street at West George Street, along from Queen Stre ...

in Glasgow and became a committed Christian in his early teens. Retaining a strong Christian faith throughout his life, he was a member of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

and was on close terms with the minister of Saint George's Tron, the Rev Tom Allan, a leading figure in the Scottish evangelical movement of the mid-20th century. McNee served as the President of Glasgow Battalion,

The Boys' Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inceptio ...

between 1984 and 1987. McNee married Isabel Clayton Hopkins (later Isabel, Lady McNee) in 1952. They had one daughter. In his memoirs, McNee said of his wife: "During our marriage Isabel always put my needs as a police officer first. She has never failed me." Like her husband, she was a devout Christian, and was involved in several charitable endeavours. In her later years, Isabel suffered from various blood disorders, and she died of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in 1997. In 2002, aged 77, McNee married Lillian Campbell, 56, the widow of a close friend Norman Campbell who had died the previous year. McNee was an active freemason. McNee died at home in his 95th year.

Publications

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:McNee, David 1925 births 2019 deaths Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis British Chief Constables Knights Bachelor Metropolitan Police recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Scottish recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Scottish Freemasons Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Royal Navy sailors Police officers from Glasgow