Stephen House
Sir Stephen House is a Scottish senior police officer who is currently Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
Early life
House was born in Glasgow in 1957 and grew up in Castlemilk, before moves to Bishopbriggs and Inchinnan in the metropolitan area of Glasgow. His father, William, worked for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, finishing his career as a senior manager. His mother, Alice, worked in a laboratory until becoming a full-time parent to her children. He has a younger brother, Jonathan, who was also a senior police officer, as Police Commander for Sheffield, and a trained hostage negotiator, before becoming a senior officer in local government in Bristol and Cardiff and currently, a Director with PwC.House was initially educated at the independent Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow but, when he was 11, his family moved to London, where he continued to be privately educated, in Hampstead. He has acknowledged that his Glasgow accent led to his being singled out and that this probably led to his adoption of an Estuary English voice, although he claims to feel himself Scottish and, particularly, Glaswegian. House returned to Scotland in 1976, to
study History and English Literature at the University of Aberdeen.
Early police career
House cites good experiences of the police in Aberdeen during his time as a student there, while also noting that he wanted a role in a disciplined, hierarchical environment.He joined Sussex Police in 1981, transferring in 1988 to Northamptonshire Police, where he was promoted to Sergeant. He remained a uniformed officer until 1992 and progressed to Chief Inspector before moving in 1994 to West Yorkshire Police where he worked as a Superintendent in the Performance Unit. He was promoted to Divisional Commander in Central Bradford prior to being appointed Assistant Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police in 1998.
Metropolitan Police Service
He joined the Metropolitan Police in December 2001, as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner, working in Policy Review and Standards. In early 2003, he moved to Territorial Policing, setting up the Territorial Support Group within the Central Operations Branch, where he was appointed Assistant Commissioner. In 2006, as Commander of the Specialist Crime Directorate, he had responsibility for a diverse commandincluding homicide, child abuse, economic crime, the Flying Squad, undercover policing, gun crime, forensics and the disruption of criminal networks.
In February 2018 he was re appointed as an Assistant Commissioner and later promoted to Deputy Commissioner in October 2018.
On 5 October 2018, House was announced by the Government as the new Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, a post he took up in December 2018 following the retirement of Sir Craig Mackey.
In July 2020, in an appearance before the London Assembly's police and crime committee, House defended the police officers who stopped, searched and handcuffed the athlete Bianca Williams earlier that month and the officers who fired a stun gun at an elderly man in his own home the previous month. House said the officers involved had been treated unfairly and that widely-shared videos of each event failed to present a "full picture". While House claimed that the Independent Office for Police Conduct had exonerated the officers in the latter case, the IOPC said it had not considered the case.
Strathclyde Police
House was appointed as Chief constable of Strathclyde Police in 2007 and joined the force formally in November that year, succeeding Sir Willie Rae, the retiring Chief Constable.His time in Strathclyde saw a substantial increase in officer numbers and a marked decrease in crime, most notably violent crime. Under his command, the Strathclyde force launched a major effort to combat the gang culture that had driven much of crime in Glasgow. This was carried out with a combination of aggressive and often outspoken policing. The Community Initiative to Reduce Violence proved successful in combating local gangs through a combination of persistent arrests and diversion tactics to steer youths away from crime.
During his time at Strathcyde Police, House also helped to establish the Scottish Government's Joint Action Group on Football, of which he was a member. He had called on the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond to host a football summit in March 2011. The summit was held following a number of high-profile incidents at Old Firm football games, and a steady increase in incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour taking place across the Force area on days when games between the two clubs were taking place. The Joint Action Group was established soon afterwards.
Application for appointment as Metropolitan Commissioner
While in post at Strathclyde, and after being contacted by Home Office officials, Stephen House applied to become the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. following the resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson. Bernard Hogan-Howe was eventually appointed to the post.House acknowledged that he was disappointed at being unsuccessful in his application. He was quoted as saying "You don't put yourself forward for a job like that lightly, and unfortunately you do it in the full glare of publicity, so it was a pretty difficult situation".
Police Scotland
Following roles of increasing responsibility and seniority in a number of police forces, he became first Chief Constable of Police Scotland in October 2012 and served in that role until November 2015. In February 2011, in advance of a conference on the future of policing, House commented that a national Scottish police force would be better equipped to deal with major incidents.On 25 September 2012 it was announced that House was to be appointed as the Chief Constable of the new Police Scotland, which came into operation on 1 April 2013. On 1 October 2012, he was sworn in as Chief Constable.
On 27 August 2015 it was announced he would stand down from the post in 3 months. His last day in the job was 30 November 2015. His replacement was Phil Gormley.
Armed police
His decision to use armed police officers for normal duties has been heavily criticised by many, including Scottish politicians, Police federation members and other senior police officers. This decision has however been reintroduced in Police Scotland.Police Roll of Honour Trust
In November 2013, House took up the role of Patron of the national police charity the Police Roll of Honour Trust. He joined Bernard Hogan-Howe and Hugh Orde as joint patrons.Personal life
House has been married since 1987, with three children, a boy and two girls, and currently lives in London with his family. He has few interests outside of his family and his job, although he enjoys hill walking, watching rugby and reading science fiction. He is a keen motorcyclist and was known to turn up unannounced at police stations on a motorcycle when he was Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.Honours
House was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2005 for distinguished service. He was knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to law and order.| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
| Knight Bachelor |
| |
| Queen's Police Medal | ||
| Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal | ||
| Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal | ||
| Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal |