Sir David Christopher Veness,

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 is a British former senior police officer and United Nations official. He served as Assistant Commissioner for

Specialist Operations The Specialist Operations directorate is a unit of the Metropolitan Police of London, UK responsible for providing specialist policing capabilities including national security and counter-terrorism operations. The Specialist Operations Directorate ...

in the Metropolitan Police from 1994–2005, leaving to serve as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security.

Early life and police career

Veness was educated at

Raynes Park High School Raynes Park High School is a co-educational comprehensive school which educates students aged 11 to 19. It is located in Raynes Park, England, coming under the London Borough of Merton. Location Raynes Park High School is situated at the junc ...

, London, and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he gained

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degrees. After two years as a police cadet, he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1966, transferring to 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 ...

in 1969, serving in various roles across London and at the Met's headquarters, Scotland Yard. Veness trained as a negotiator in 1979, directing the Met's negotiator course from 1980–87, a role which placed him on the negotiating team at the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege and in which he was lead negotiator in the siege of the Libyan embassy following the

murder of Yvonne Fletcher The murder of Yvonne Fletcher, a Metropolitan Police officer, occurred on 17 April 1984, when she was fatally wounded by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy on St James's Square, London, by an unknown gunman. Fletcher had been deployed to mo ...

as well as advising on other incidents worldwide. Promoted to commander in 1987, Veness went on to head the Protection Command, responsible for the protection of royalty and politicians before assuming the role of Commander Public Order, Territorial Security and Operational Support followed by promotion to Deputy Assistant Commissioner at

in November 1991. Veness was further promoted to Assistant Commissioner, Specialist Operations on 5 April 1994. 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 countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, appointed

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 ...

in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, and knighted in the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; an ...

. He received the accolade from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

United Nations

On 13 January 2005 the UN announced that Veness was to become the first

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under ...

for Safety and Security. He left the Met later in 2005, succeeded in his role by Andy Hayman. Veness resigned his UN post in June 2008 after an internal investigation into a terrorist attack on Algiers in which his department was heavily criticised.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veness, David Living people People educated at Raynes Park County Grammar School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Metropolitan Police recipients of the Queen's Police Medal British officials of the United Nations Year of birth missing (living people)