Peter Imbert, Baron Imbert
Encyclopedia
Peter Michael Imbert, Baron Imbert CVO
QPM
(born 27 April 1933) was Commissioner
of the Metropolitan Police Service
from 1987 to 1993, and prior to that appointment Chief Constable
of Thames Valley Police
from 1979 to 1985.
He was the Lord Lieutenant of Greater London
until 2008. He was made a Life peer
as Baron Imbert, of New Romney in the County of Kent
in 1999.
, Imbert was educated at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone
, spent his National Service in the Royal Air Force Police and worked for a short time with Kent County Council, before joining the Metropolitan Police in 1953 at Bow Street Police Station
.
, learning shorthand
and Russian
during his 17 years with the unit. In 1973, he was made deputy head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch
, where he became an expert on European terrorist groups such as Baader-Meinhof
, and gave lectures on hostage negotiation and counter-terrorism tactics.
barricaded themselves in a flat in Balcombe Street, Marylebone
with two hostages. The men had been responsible for a wave of bombings in London
, but had been intercepted by armed police while attacking a restaurant.
Imbert was the chief negotiator over the six days of the Balcombe Street Siege
, and when the situation ended peacefully with no lives lost and the terrorists under arrest, Imbert was noted as a possible high-flyer in the police force.
. In 1979, he became Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police
, the youngest Chief Constable in the country at that time.
During his time at Thames Valley, Imbert allowed the BBC to make Police
, a 1982 fly-on-the-wall documentary series about the police at work. The opposite of a public relations exercise, Thames Valley and the police in general came under sustained criticism when an episode of the programme showed three detectives interrogating and dismissing a rape
victim. Shocked at the attitude and behaviour of his officers, and the public reaction, Imbert instigated improvements to the handling of rape cases to Thames Valley which were adopted throughout the country.
Building on the reforms to the Met implemented by his predecessor, Sir Kenneth Newman
, Imbert began his own set of reforms called the PLUS program, aiming to improve the corporate image and quality of service of the Met. The programme saw the Met renamed from the "Metropolitan Police Force" to the "Metropolitan Police Service", the name it has retained to this day. In addition, a Statement of Common Purpose and Values was devised.
Imbert suffered a heart attack
in 1990, and took six months off duty. Further illness in 1992 led to his retirement from the police on 31 January 1993.
in 1999, becoming Baron Imbert of New Romney in the county of Kent.
He was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
(CVO) in the 2008 New Year Honours
.
Between 1983 and 2001 Baron Imbert served on the academic consulatative committee at Cumberland Lodge
.
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
QPM
Queen's Police Medal
The Queen's Police Medal is awarded to police officers in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for gallantry or distinguished service. Recipients may use the post-nominal letters "QPM", although the right to use these was only granted officially on 20 July 1969...
(born 27 April 1933) was Commissioner
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, classing the holder as a chief police officer...
of the Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
from 1987 to 1993, and prior to that appointment Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
of Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....
from 1979 to 1985.
He was the Lord Lieutenant of Greater London
Lord Lieutenant of Greater London
The Lord Lieutenant of Greater London is Her Majesty's representative in Greater London, including the 32 London boroughs.This is a complete list of Lord Lieutenants of Greater London in the United Kingdom....
until 2008. He was made a Life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Imbert, of New Romney in the County of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in 1999.
Early life
Born in KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, Imbert was educated at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
, spent his National Service in the Royal Air Force Police and worked for a short time with Kent County Council, before joining the Metropolitan Police in 1953 at Bow Street Police Station
Bow Street Magistrates' Court
Bow Street Magistrates' Court was the most famous magistrates' court in England for much of its existence, and was located in various buildings on Bow Street in central London close to Covent Garden throughout its history.-History:...
.
Metropolitan Police
In 1956, Imbert joined Special BranchSpecial Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
, learning shorthand
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
during his 17 years with the unit. In 1973, he was made deputy head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch
Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch
The Anti-Terrorist Branch was a Specialist Operations branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service, formed to respond to terrorist activities within the capital....
, where he became an expert on European terrorist groups such as Baader-Meinhof
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
, and gave lectures on hostage negotiation and counter-terrorism tactics.
Balcombe Street Siege
On 6 December 1975, four members of the Provisional IRAProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
barricaded themselves in a flat in Balcombe Street, Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
with two hostages. The men had been responsible for a wave of bombings in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, but had been intercepted by armed police while attacking a restaurant.
Imbert was the chief negotiator over the six days of the Balcombe Street Siege
Balcombe Street Siege
The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Metropolitan Police Service of London, England lasting from 6 December to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA volunteers and the release of their two hostages...
, and when the situation ended peacefully with no lives lost and the terrorists under arrest, Imbert was noted as a possible high-flyer in the police force.
County forces
In 1976, Imbert left the Met and became Assistant Chief Constable, and later Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey ConstabularySurrey Police
Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in the south of England.The force is led by Chief Constable Mark Rowley and has its headquarters at Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey...
. In 1979, he became Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....
, the youngest Chief Constable in the country at that time.
During his time at Thames Valley, Imbert allowed the BBC to make Police
Police (TV series)
Police was a BBC Television documentary television series about Thames Valley Police, first broadcast in 1982. Produced by Roger Graef and directed by Charles Stewart, it won the BAFTA award for best factual series....
, a 1982 fly-on-the-wall documentary series about the police at work. The opposite of a public relations exercise, Thames Valley and the police in general came under sustained criticism when an episode of the programme showed three detectives interrogating and dismissing a rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
victim. Shocked at the attitude and behaviour of his officers, and the public reaction, Imbert instigated improvements to the handling of rape cases to Thames Valley which were adopted throughout the country.
Return to London
Imbert returned to London in 1985 as Deputy Commissioner, becoming Commissioner in 1987.Building on the reforms to the Met implemented by his predecessor, Sir Kenneth Newman
Kenneth Newman
Sir Kenneth Leslie Newman, GBE, QPM was Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1982 to 1987 and Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary from 1976 to 1980...
, Imbert began his own set of reforms called the PLUS program, aiming to improve the corporate image and quality of service of the Met. The programme saw the Met renamed from the "Metropolitan Police Force" to the "Metropolitan Police Service", the name it has retained to this day. In addition, a Statement of Common Purpose and Values was devised.
Imbert suffered a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1990, and took six months off duty. Further illness in 1992 led to his retirement from the police on 31 January 1993.
Honours
Imbert was created Deputy Lord Lieutenant of London in 1994, and Lord Lieutenant in 1998, an office he held until 2008. He was made a life peerLife peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in 1999, becoming Baron Imbert of New Romney in the county of Kent.
He was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
(CVO) in the 2008 New Year Honours
New Year Honours 2008
The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008....
.
Imbert Prize
Lord Imbert is a patron of the Association of Security Consultants (ASC), which has awarded the Imbert Prize annually since 2005. The prize is awarded for the development of ideas for the advancement of risk and security management in the UK. It consists of three categories: 1) Best academic dissertation, 2) Most notable contribution in the security industry in the preceding year and 3) The ASC member that has made the most significant contribution to independent security consultancy.Between 1983 and 2001 Baron Imbert served on the academic consulatative committee at Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge is a 17th century country house in Windsor Great Park located 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. It is now occupied by a charitable foundation which holds residential conferences, lectures and discussions concerning the burning issues facing society. The primary beneficiaries of...
.
External links
- Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 23 February 1999
- Announcement of his retirement in the House of Commons, House of Commons Hansard Debates, 23 October 1992