A new police commander will be appointed in the London borough where serious allegations of corruption and brutality are under investigation, The Times has learnt.
Enfield’s new commanding officer will take up the post as Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, introduces his doctrine of “intrusive supervision” across the force.
The officer will replace Chief Superintendent Adrian Hanstock, whose priorities included “increasing confidence in policing” and “making our community feel safer and secure”.
There is no suggestion that Mr Hanstock is implicated in any wrongdoing but Scotland Yard is determined that Enfield should have a fresh start.
The first months of Sir Paul’s stewardship of Scotland Yard have been a turbulent time. There have been allegations of racial discrimination among community support officers. His head of counter-terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, was forced to resign after being pictured carrying secret documents into Downing Street. The G20 protests in April led to hundreds of complaints of police misconduct. But the alleged events in North London are potentially the most serious crisis.
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If there is any truth in the allegations it would point to a serious cultural problem within the country’s biggest police force. However, many observers believe that Sir Paul’s problems are “teething troubles” inherited from Sir Ian Blair. They say that the investigation into the alleged wrongdoing has been instigated by the Met and conducted vigorously.
Sir Paul cannot comment on the investigation but he made clear that stamping out misconduct was a priority. “The Met’s officers are individually accountable for their actions and, like every other Londoner, they are not above the law,” he said.
A Met spokesman said that Mr Hanstock was moving from Enfield “into an extremely important role to lead on the Met’s work on organisational strategy and policy”.
The spokesman added that during Mr Hanstock’s 18 months in Enfield crime had fallen and youth violence was down by 10 per cent.