The Met ‘could have its first black chief within the next 10 years’

London could have its first black police commissioner within a decade, Scotland Yard’s chief declares today.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe used an interview with the Standard to outline his vision to change the face of the Met as it approaches the 20th anniversary of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.

He backs moves to change the law to make it easier to recruit more black and Asian officers to senior roles. Asked how long it would be until London had a black Met commissioner, he said: “Within 10 years is realistic.”

Sir Bernard added: “I keep going to meetings in Lambeth and Hackney. They turn around and say: ‘You still look like white men at leadership level. When is it going to change?’ It’s pretty hard to keep saying: ‘Wait 20 years.’”

The Met has four black or ethnic minority officers out of the 34 at commander rank or above.

Sir Bernard said the investigation into the murder of 18-year-old Stephen in Eltham on April 22, 1993, remained “live”. Two members of a gang of white racists, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were convicted of murder last year but other “prime suspects” remain at large.

“We know there are people who were involved in Stephen Lawrence’s murder who have not been prosecuted. We are determined to catch them”, Sir Bernard said.“It’s only recently that we managed to get that successful prosecution. That was based on patience and work in the background, not shouted out in public, very methodical work. That is what we will do again.”

More than 3,000 of the Met’s 30,000-plus officers are from black and ethnic minority communities, compared to 600 at the time of Stephen’s killing. Sir Bernard said: “It’s improving but it’s not ideal.”

He said a recruitment freeze had frustrated attempts to increase the Met’s diversity but hoped many of the Met’s 5,000 recruits in the next three years would be drawn from its more racially-mixed teams of police community support officers. Greater diversity should also result from the fast-tracking of university graduates as superintendents, without them having to serve as PCs.

Asked whether another investigation could be bungled as badly as Stephen’s — which led to the Met being described as “institutionally racist” in Sir William Macpherson’s 1999 public inquiry — Sir Bernard said: “I don’t believe so. I would hope not. We do make mistakes... I can’t guarantee it because we employ human beings who sometimes make mistakes, and occasionally we employ people we would want to get rid of.”

He also pointed out the use of stop and search, one of the biggest concerns of the black community, had been dramatically reduced.

Mike Fuller, Britain’s first black chief constable, said of the possibility of returning to the Met as Commissioner: “If the opportunity arose it’s something I would consider.”

He left the Met in 2004 to head Kent police and is now with the Crown Prosecution Service.