Evening Standard comment: The policing legacy of Bernard Hogan-Howe

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, is resigning in February after five years in the job. Plainly the Mayor, Sadiq Khan, would like his own person in the job to reflect his priorities. Sir Bernard has been a decent and thoughtful Commissioner, though inevitably his record has been mixed. He took charge of the Met not long after the London riots of 2011 showed that law and order could not be taken for granted in the capital, and after controversy following the departure of an earlier Commissioner, Lord Blair, and the phone-hacking inquiry. On Sir Bernard’s watch crime has fallen, though there has been a worrying resurgence in knife crime recently.

If the measure of a commissioner’s effectiveness is how safe we feel, then Sir Bernard’s tenure has been a success. Public order, even at important large-scale events such as the Olympics, has been well-maintained. At any large gathering the police have been evident in big numbers. He has presided over the police adoption of body cameras, which has both improved the behaviour of police and greatly increased public satisfaction with their performance. Crucially, he has done all this while presiding over swingeing cuts in police budgets in the order of £600 million — a huge challenge. Many of his real successes have been invisible — in the cyber attacks that have not succeeded; the terrorist plots that have been foiled. Those “negative successes” are very real.

Inevitably there have been trickier aspects of his tenure, including his over-reaction to the Leveson Inquiry — the shutdown of contacts between police and journalists as a result of some abuses has been negative in its effect — and the poor handling of allegations about celebrity child abuse in Operation Yewtree. In some ways this was the police responding to perceived public concerns, but one measure of good policing is in part good judgment.

If you ask most people what they want from the Met the answer will be simple: more police on the streets. This was meant to happen under Sir Bernard yet it is an expensive policy and for many Londoners police on the beat are conspicuous by their absence. Providing that presence will be one of the priorities for Sir Bernard’s successor. The choice will be a delicate matter for negotiation between Sadiq Khan and the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd. London’s population is growing hugely: we need a police chief with vision as well as integrity.

Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth has provided a platform for public art for nearly two decades. Each of its 11 sculptures has, as deputy mayor Justine Simons puts it, “brought out the art critic in us all”. The latest installation is a giant thumbs-up by David Shrigley: the perfect symbol of London’s optimistic outlook and a reminder to be cheerful even as the dark nights of autumn draw in.