Commander Robert James Broadhurst is a British police officer. He was the 2012 Olympics Gold Commander for the Metropolitan Police Service. He was formerly Commander for Public Order and Pan London Operational Support of London's Metropolitan Police Service.

Police career

Broadhurst served with the Metropolitan Police Service for 30+ years, primarily in South-East London. He was, for four years, Sutton Borough Commander and Lambeth deputy Borough Commander for a year. For four years he was the Link Commander for South East London, with responsibility overall for all eight Boroughs in that area. In July 2006 he was appointed Commander Public Order and Pan London Operational Support. He has experience as a hostage negotiator, during the

Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's third-busiest airport, Stan ...

Afghan Airlines hi-jack he was the Negotiator Team Leader. At the longest siege in the UK, the

Hackney Siege The Hackney siege was a criminal event that took place in Hackney, London, Hackney, in East London, England, for 15 days from 26 December 2002 to 9 January 2003. It ended with the death of the gunman, Eli Hall. Background Eli Hall, born in Jamaic ...

, which ended with the death of Eli Hall, he was the Gold Commander -operational chief officer,. He speaks at

National Siege Management National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

courses, and has contributed to the FBI Crisis Negotiator Course at the United States

FBI Academy The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Prince William County, Virginia. The academy occupies 547 acres (221 ha) on the US Marine Corps Base Quantico. It ...

. Between 1990 and his retirement, he commanded public order events, including many large-scale demonstrations. He commanded ceremonial events such as the

State Opening of Parliament The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of each Legislative session, session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At its core is His or Her Majesty's "Speech from the throne, gracious speech ...

, and

Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the King's Official Birthday, official birthday of the British sovereign, though t ...

. At the wedding of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall he was the Gold Commander. In 2007 he was in charge of policing for the London leg of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

and for the

2008 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China. The relay, a ...

. He also led operational planning for the

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

. He was involved in policing the 2009 Gaza Protests in London.

Honours

In the 2005 Queens Birthday Honours list, Broadhurst 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 ...

. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to the public order policing of the Olympics.

G20 protests

He was in overall charge (Gold) of Operation Glencoe, during the

2009 G-20 London summit protests 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

. On 9 April he said "The eyes of the world were focused on London. While it was extremely hard work, I am happy with the way the day progressed, as the overall mood of the event was good." With his team he faces questioning by the

Metropolitan Police Authority The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) (2000–2012) was the local police authority responsible for scrutinising and supporting the work of the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London (excluding the City of London Police ...

about the

death of Ian Tomlinson Ian Tomlinson (7February 1962– 1April 2009) was a newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after being struck by a police officer during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. After an inquest jury returned a verdict of unlawfu ...

, and also face questions about whether the stark warnings of violence he gave before the summit fuelled confrontation. He was accused of misleading MP's in a Select Committee report on the G20. He incorrectly informed them that no undercover police officers were operating after an MP raised concerns about the use of agent provocateurs. Later it was revealed that 25 undercover officers were deployed and were mixing with demonstrators. Once this was revealed, Broadhurst claimed that the deployment of undercover officers was unknown to him, and that the plainclothes officers (some of whom were filmed with extended batons) were "evidence gatherers".G20 police chief accused of misleading MPs about undercover mission
Paul Lewis ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 24 November 2009

References

External links

Police biography, with photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadhurst, Bob Living people Commanders in the Metropolitan Police Officers of the Order of the British Empire English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Metropolitan Police recipients of the Queen's Police Medal 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people)

Police career

Honours

G20 protests

See also

References

External links