Kevin Hyland,

OBE 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 ...

(born 1963) was the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

’s first

Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner is a position created by the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The role complements the existing role of Victims' Commissioner to ensure that modern slavery issues are tackled in a coordinated and effective manner ...

, leading efforts to tackle

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. He left the post in May 2018 and was succeeded by Dame Sara Thornton. He is the Chair of IHRB'
Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment
collaboration between leading companies and expert organisations to drive positive change in the way that migrant workers are recruited. He was formerly head of the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Metropolitan Police Service’s Human Trafficking Unit.

Police career

Hyland was a police officer for 30 years until retiring from the force as a

detective inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

in 2014. As a detective Hyland specialised in various crimes throughout his policing career including

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

gun crime Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...

anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measur ...

and then human trafficking and slavery. When working as a senior investigating officer, Hyland was responsible for the convictions of a large number of international organised crime groups, which included conducting multi-national JITs (joint investigation teams) bi-lateral prosecutions various criminal offences including

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

, corruption,

sexual exploitation Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership rights, right over one or more people with the intent of Coercion, coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activities. This includ ...

and

. In 2010 Hyland was appointed as the lead for the London Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking Unit. During Hyland’s tenure the London Metropolitan Police saw an increase in victim identifications and successful prosecutions of traffickers. He retired from the MPS in 2014 with the title of Detective Inspector, after some 30 years of service, in order to accept the position of "anti-slavery tsar".

Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

The creation of an Independent Commissioner is one of the main provisions of the UK's

Modern Slavery Act 2015 The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is designed to combat modern slavery in the UK and consolidates previous offences relating to human trafficking, trafficking and slavery. The act extends e ...

. Hyland was appointed to the role in November 2014 and acted as 'designate' Commissioner until the Bill received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

in March 2015, when he became Commissioner. He resigned in May 2018. Kevin Hyland alleged that young children are made to do

begging Begging (also known in North America as panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars m ...

pickpocketing Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...

and

shoplifting Shoplifting (also known as shop theft, shop fraud, retail theft, or retail fraud) is the theft of goods from a retail establishment during business hours. The terms ''shoplifting'' and ''shoplifter'' are not usually defined in law, and genera ...

in a manner similar to what happens in the novel, ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

. Hyland maintains 151 convictions for slavery-related offences occurred in 2014 which he felt was far too few. Hyland claims police are doing too little to prevent

contemporary slavery Contemporary slavery, also sometimes known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to exist in the 21st century. Estimates of the number of enslaved people range from around 38 million to 49.6 million, d ...

in the UK: Hyland wanted police forces to make dealing with slavery "one of the highest priorities". In 2016 Hyland urged members of the public in London to report any brothels and flats used for human trafficking. He highlighted risk of labour exploitation on high streets in car washes and nail bars. He also called on ministers to deport foreign diplomats found to be keeping staff in slave conditions, and to implement reforms intended to make it easier for victims to escape abusive employers. In 2015 he led efforts for inclusion of human trafficking and modern slavery in the 15-year UN Sustainable Development Goals. This was secured as SDG 8.7 on the final day of negotiations at the UN in New York in the summer of 2015. This has resulted in many global efforts focussed on fighting modern slavery and human trafficking, including Alliance 8.7, an initiative led by the International Labour Organisation.

Santa Marta Group

Hyland helped to establish the Santa Marta Group, a body comprising international law enforcement agencies, civil society,

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

and the Catholic Church. The Group was launched by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

at the Vatican in April 2014, and is named after the Papal residence, where delegates stayed during the first meeting. At the launch Pope Francis described human trafficking as "an open wound on the body of contemporary society; a

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

". The Group was developed by the

Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Overview The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is the permanent assembly of Catholic Bishop ...

in collaboration with the London Metropolitan Police and is led by Cardinal

Vincent Nichols Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Westminster since 2009. He was the Archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009 and is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference ...

, the

Archbishop of Westminster The archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

Honours

Hyland 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) for "services to Combating Human Trafficking" in the 2015 New Year Honours List.

References

External links

"Commissioner signs trafficking declaration at the Vatican"
crimeandjustice.co.uk, 4 October 2014; archived 19 January 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyland, Kevin Paul Metropolitan Police officers Modern slavery in the United Kingdom Human trafficking in the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1963 births Living people British people of Irish descent British Roman Catholics Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)