Why am I so optimistic for 2023?

As many of us do, I have been reflecting as we enter 2023. Yesterday, the last of 2022, confirmed to me why we should be optimistic about the future of policing - our extraordinary people.

They are typified by the quote that to my mind captures the best of policing perfectly - I will finish with that quote. My optimism was prompted by three groups of people.

First, I was pleased to congratulate those 14 fellow Met officers, staff and volunteers who were honoured in the New Year’s Honours.

They ranged from community volunteer Nicola Baboneau for her work with communities in Hackney to Det Insp Jonathan Mearns, who has worked with counter terrorism partners all over the world and from cyber-crime expert Suzanne Grummer to complex case specialist investigator Det Insp Nikki Owen.

Second,?I spent the first part of the evening with officers in several police stations across London. I met teams in Wembley and Hammersmith and was struck by their dedication.

The teams of officers going out on patrol to keep London safe had a sense of calm resolve whilst preparing for a busy night ahead of the sadly inevitable celebrations that get out of hand and domestic violence.

It was also great to see the palpable enthusiasm of young detectives, such as the two who had just got an offender to admit to sharing ‘revenge porn’ or another pair excited to be close to getting a nasty blackmail case over the charging line.

Third, I hosted frontline officers and their partners at a New Scotland Yard reception. They were nominated from across the Met as having shown extraordinary commitment over the past year - many despite extraordinary adversity.

Seeing the fireworks from the eighth-floor balcony, opposite the London Eye, feels like standing in the midst of them.

Hearing from a top thief-taker who after 28 year's service and now fighting terminal cancer still wants to be back on the streets helping new recruits learn the tricks of the trade is humbling. It’s a privilege to lead such people and an honour to be able to thank them.

My thanks to thousands of officers who helped keep those who flocked to central London to view the fireworks safe last night. I was disappointed to see two colleagues were assaulted.

It’s also been an unusual year for me both personally and professionally - wrapping up my work with several exciting tech companies, publishing my first novel, and of course returning to policing four years after retiring.?To be appointed the 29th Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the greatest privilege.

We are a great organisation admired across the world. Regardless of the problems we must confront, I am optimistic that with candour and determination we will grow the trust of Londoners.?

My optimism is nourished by days like yesterdays and is grounded in the excellence and dedication of tens of thousands of men and women - the police officers, support staff and community volunteers who go above and beyond every day.?

Regardless of daily frustrations, they always demonstrate extraordinary commitment to the policing mission - working 24x7x365 without ever a thought of strike.

Finally that quote. Theodore Roosevelt was not only the 26th President of the USA but before that he was NYPD Police Commissioner.

Hence I like to think that the best of policing was in his mind when he made his Citizenship in a Republic speech in Paris in 1910.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

It is humbling to lead tens of thousands of men and women in the arena whose unswerving commitment to the mission of protecting and serving is truly indomitable.

?I wish them and you all the very best for 2023.