Sir Craig Thomas Mackey, (born 26 August 1962) is a former British police officer who served as

Deputy Commissioner A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Aust ...

of London's Metropolitan Police Service from 2012 until his retirement in 2018. He previously held senior roles as Chief Constable of

Cumbria Constabulary Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering the unitary authority areas of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. As of September 2017, the force had 1,108 police officers, 535 p ...

, in addition to chief officer posts in Wiltshire Constabulary, Gloucestershire Constabulary, and a specialist staff officer role in Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

Early life and education

Mackey was born on 26 August 1962 in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. Having studied with the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

, he has a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(BSc) degree and

postgraduate diploma fILE:Prédio Pós Graduação IMECC Unicamp.jpg, The State University of Campinas, as well as many Brazilian universities, offer Postgraduate courses in Brazil A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PGD) is a postgraduat ...

s in economics and criminal justice.

Police career

Mackey joined Wiltshire Constabulary in 1984. In 2001, he transferred to Gloucestershire Constabulary to become its Assistant Chief Constable, and then Deputy Chief Constable. In September 2007, Mackey joined

as its Chief Constable, a post he remained in until his appointment as the Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner in 2012. Mackey served as the Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police between 22 February and 10 April 2017. On 22 March 2017, while acting as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Mackey was on a routine visit to the Palace of Westminster. He was there during the

2017 Westminster attack On 22 March 2017, a Terrorism, terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, British Parliament. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old British people, Briton, Vehicle-ramming attac ...

and was described as a "significant witness". As a result of this, it was claimed he could not issue any public statements, including any responses to negative commentary regarding his conduct. Much of that negative commentary compared Mackey’s actions unfavourably with those of the armed protection officer who shot Khalid Masood (the attacker) dead. Gaby Hinsliff wrote in ''The Guardian'': "A Met chief stayed in his car during an attack. That’s not leadership." Her article stated that "… what apparently most enrages those officers now condemning Mackey is a sense that their own leaders wouldn’t do what is asked of them every day, and that perhaps speaks to a more deep-rooted sense of betrayal going back years. It’s horribly unfair to call Craig Mackey a coward, particularly from the safety of civilian armchairs. He made what was in all probability the cowardly decision. But it does not, somehow, look like the decision of a leader. In fact it stinks of the 'do as I say, not as I do' double standards of today's politically sensitive police service management". Subsequently, at the inquest into the death of Masood, the chief coroner of England and Wales, Mark Lucraft QC, described Mackey’s actions as "sensible and proper and intended to protect others in the car". Lucraft said Mackey did not flee the scene. "You may well think that it was important for the most senior police officer in the country to be at New Scotland Yard, where he could take command and control of what, at that time, could potentially have been part of a much larger attack". Mackey retired from the police service in December 2018. On 5 October 2018, Sir Stephen House was announced by the Government as Sir Craig's successor as Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.

Honours

Mackey 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 ...

for Distinguished Service in the 2009 New Year Honours and appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for services to policing.

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackey, Craig Living people Deputy Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal British Merchant Navy personnel British Chief Constables People from Cumbria 1962 births Alumni of the Open University