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Blair's 'good' job will be remembered by blunders
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent28 Nov 2008
ON the face of it Sir Ian Blair's record on tackling crime was remarkably good.
Over the four years he was in charge of the Metropolitan Police crime fell by eight per cent. There were reductions in crime every year, an achievement few of his predecessors, if any, can lay claim to.
His major legacy is the introduction of the Safer Neighbourhood teams in 630 wards across London - a return to local "bobby on the beat" policing that has undoubtedly proved a success.
There are more police, and community support officers, on the beat and confidence in the Met has risen as a result.
But none of this is how he will be remembered, much to his own annoyance.
Instead, it will be his string of high-profile gaffes, the police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell, and his politicisation of policing that will stay in the mind.
Even his record on crime was marred in the last two years by the rise in teenage murders.
Gun crime figures are now falling dramatically but only after a major increase and a series of terrible killings.
His record on terrorism is impressive - he took personal charge of his force after the 7/7 London bombs and set up a new Counter Terrorism Command.
He views one of his proudest achievements as the establishment of a Leadership Academy to train the Met's future commanders.
But the shooting of Mr de Menezes on 22 July 2005 will remain the defining moment in Sir Ian's tenure. While it was a terrible mistake by police it was more his ignorance of what was happening that eventually laid bare his shortcomings.
He admitted later that he did not know for 24 hours that his armed officers had shot the wrong man.
His ignorance revealed a lack of grip at the top that would not have been tolerated by his predecessor Sir John Stevens.
In his first interview on getting the job Sir Ian told the Standard privately that he wanted to make life easier for his senior officers.
He wanted to be more inclusive. But he missed the point. Stevens ruled with an element of fear - and got things done.
For some, Sir Ian's softer approach was a key failing of the liberal Oxford-educated English graduate who had the nickname the "PC Pc".
It led to disarray in the senior ranks and cost him the confidence of his commanders.
Reader views (1)
The only legitimate reason for shooting the man dead on the tube was if he was carrying a bomb. Within twenty minutes the scene was declared free of explosives. Whether or not Sir Ian Blair did not know for 24 hours that his officers had shot "the wrong man", he knew from the start that his men had shot the man wrongly.
- Steve Kay, Woodbridge, UK, 28/11/2008 23:54
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