New Commissioner appointed to lead City of London Police

The appointment, which is subject to Royal Assent, will see him become the 17th Commissioner at City of London Police.

Mr O’Doherty has served as T/Commissioner of the City Police since October 2023, leading the force in the absence of previous Commissioner, Angela McLaren, who retired from her post on medical grounds in June.

He started his policing career in the City of London and was previously assistant chief constable at Thames Valley Police where he was the Southeast Regional Lead for Counter Terrorism, and Serious and Organised Crime.

Pete returned to the City and was promoted to Assistant Commissioner for economic, fraud and cybercrime in January 2022.

Chair of the City of London Corporation’s Police Authority Board, Tijs Broeke, said:

“Pete is a distinguished and exceptionally experienced police officer. He has strong knowledge of the Square Mile and its resident, worker and visitor populations.

“He has a clear vision and an excellent understanding of what is required in leading the City Police, both here in the City, and as National Lead Force for tackling fraud.

“Pete has been dedicated to delivering a service that achieves the very highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and compassion.  He is determined to ensure that the City of London is the safest business district in the world, and to realise the ambition for the City of London Police to be one of the most inclusive and trusted police services in the country.

“In welcoming Pete O’Doherty into his new position, my colleagues and I must also pay tribute to Angela McLaren for her outstanding and dedicated work as City of London Police Commissioner, before her retirement from policing in June this year.”

Mr O’Doherty, said: “I am incredibly proud to be appointed as Commissioner of a police force with such an important remit to protect our thriving City, and to lead the national policing response to fraud and cybercrime.

“Victims are at the heart of all our activity, alongside the wellbeing of our police officers and police staff in order to deliver the very highest standards of service possible.

“We have much to progress, including a new three-year Policing Plan and our five-year National Policing Strategy for Fraud, Economic and Cyber Crime, which includes the phased introduction of a new service to replace Action Fraud.”

“We will continue our work with the City of London Police Authority, government and industry to deliver all of our services to protect, pursue and improve outcomes for victims of crime.”

The force is unique in policing, because of its dual role as the local service for the Square Mile, whilst leading the UK policing response to economic, cyber and business crime.

It plays a key role in anti-terrorism and community policing for the City, carrying out fraud, cyber and economic crime activity nationally in collaboration with other police forces, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, the private sector, and government departments.