View source for Peter Clarke (Police officer)

[[Image:Peter Clarke.jpg|right|thumb|Peter Clarke]]'''Peter John Michael Clarke''' (born 27 July 1955) is a former police commander who headed Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorism Branch from June 2002 and its successor organisation the Counter Terrorism Command, until his retirement in February 2008.  He became the face of the UK police’s counterterrorism operations following the July 2005 London bombings and has been one of the most widely quoted ‘terrorism experts’ in the media.

==Education and Career==
Peter Clarke was born on 27 July 1955.  He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1977 after graduating in Law from Bristol University. In the early part of his career he worked at a number of locations in London in both uniform and detective roles, including periods on murder enquiries and in international drugs intelligence. <ref>[http://www.met.police.uk/about/clarke.htm Peter Clarke, Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations] Metropolitan Police website (accessed 2 May 2008)</ref>

There followed postings in strategic planning, as operations head in a central London division, and as Staff Officer to the Commissioner. 

In 1993 he was appointed a staff officer to Met Commissioner Paul Condon, <ref>Sean O’Neill, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2506045.ece ‘Wanted, a new chief to fight al-Qaeda’], ''The Times'', 21 September 2007</ref> and in 1994 he became the Commander of Brixton Division in South London. <ref>[http://www.met.police.uk/about/clarke.htm Peter Clarke, Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations] Metropolitan Police website (accessed 2 May 2008)</ref> From April 1995 to January 1996 he was a director of Brixton Challenge Company Ltd, <ref>Companies House, Current, Resigned & Dissolved Appointments of Peter John Michael Clarke (Date of Birth 27 July 1955) (accessed 28 November 2008)</ref> which was set up in 1993 to manage a five-year regeneration programme for the Brixton area, funded by a £37.5 million ‘city challenge’ government grant. <ref>‘Letter: Taking a look beyond the violence and riots of Brixton’, ''The Times'', 22 December 1995</ref>

In 1996 Clarke was promoted to a Commander in Specialist Operations Department at Scotland Yard. <ref>Sean O’Neill, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2506045.ece ‘Wanted, a new chief to fight al-Qaeda’], ''The Times'', 21 September 2007</ref>  In 1997 he assumed command of the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department, with responsibility for the protection and security of the Royal Family and their residences, the diplomatic community in London and the Houses of Parliament. <ref>[http://www.met.police.uk/about/clarke.htm Peter Clarke, Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations] Metropolitan Police website (accessed 2 May 2008)</ref> 

In June 2000 he became the Deputy Director of Personnel for the Metropolitan Police, and in June 2002 was appointed as Head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch at New Scotland Yard and National Co-ordinator of Terrorist Investigations. <ref>[http://www.met.police.uk/about/clarke.htm Peter Clarke, Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations] Metropolitan Police website (accessed 2 May 2008)</ref> On 2 October 2006 the Anti-Terrorist Branch was merged with [[Special Branch]] to form the  Counter Terrorism Command, which was led by Clarke. <ref>[http://www.met.police.uk/about/clarke.htm Peter Clarke, Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations] Metropolitan Police website (accessed 2 May 2008)</ref> The new body developed closer relations with the secret service, <ref>Sean O’Neill, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2506045.ece ‘Wanted, a new chief to fight al-Qaeda’], ''The Times'', 21 September 2007</ref> with Clarke acting ‘as the interface between the police and MI5’. <ref>’[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jul/03/terrorism.world4 Profile: Peter Clarke], The Guardian, 3 July 2007</ref>

Clarke attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2002, was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 2001 and awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2003. In 2006 he was made an OBE. <ref>[http://www.met.police.uk/about/clarke.htm Peter Clarke, Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations] Metropolitan Police website (accessed 2 May 2008)</ref>

Clarke attended the International Terrorism and Intelligence conferences in [[International Terrorism and Intelligence 2005|2005]] and [[International Terrorism and Intelligence 2006|2006]]. Both conferences were held at the [[Royal College of Defence Studies]] on Belgrave Square, and hosted by the [[Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence]] of the [[terrorexpertise:University of St. Andrews|University of St. Andrews]]. <ref>[[Media:International Terrorism and Intelligence 2005.pdf|International Terrorism and Intelligence 2005 Conference Programme (PDF)]]; [[Media:International Terrorism and Intelligence 2006.pdf|International Terrorism and Intelligence 2006 Conference Programme (PDF)]]</ref>

On 20 September 2007 Scotland Yard announced that Clarke would step down in January 2008. <ref>Sean O’Neill, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2506045.ece ‘Wanted, a new chief to fight al-Qaeda’], ''The Times'', 21 September 2007</ref> Clarke’s retirement was delayed for a month as he stood in for his immediate superior [[Andy Hayman]] who retired amid allegations of an improper relationship with an official of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.  <ref>John Steele, ‘[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1571559/Profile-Andy-Hayman.html Profile: Andy Hayman]’, Telegraph.co.uk, 6 December 2007</ref> Clarke retired in February 2008. <ref>Andrew Porter, ‘[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2066861/Terror-law-should-allow-42-days-detention-says-former-police-chief-Peter-Clarke.html Terror law should allow 42 days' detention, says former police chief]’, Telegraph.co.uk, 3 June 2008</ref>

===After retirement===
On 29 April 2008 Clarke was appointed a director of the [[Crimestoppers Trust]], <ref>Companies House, Current, Resigned & Dissolved Appointments of Peter Clarke (Date of Birth 27 July 1955)  (accessed 28 November 2008)</ref> the website of which is sponsored by the [[Security Industry Authority]]. 

Clarke is a Fellow of the [[Center on Law and Security]] at the New York University School of Law.  Other Fellows include the terrorism expert [[Peter Bergen]] and his collaborator [[Paul Cruickshank]] – both of whom are affiliated to the [[Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies|School of Advanced International Studies]] at [[Terrorexpertise:Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins University]] – and [[Sidney Blumenthal]], a journalist and former advisor to Bill Clinton.

==Electoral Intervention==
In May 2010 Clarke was a signatory of a letter to ''[[The Times]]'' criticising Liberal Democrat defence and security policies two days before the General Election.  The letter criticised the Liberal Democrats for threatening a ‘long-standing cross party consensus about national security.’  In particular it criticised the Liberal Democrats for making ‘no reference to North Korea’ or to Nato in their manifesto, for allegedly advocating ‘a much more distant relationship’ with the US, and for suggesting that they might scrap control orders (under which suspects can be kept under effective house arrest without charge) and Britain’s commitment to developing new nuclear weapons.

The letter argued that, ‘An enhanced European defence and security posture, however welcome, cannot substitute for American power.’ <ref>‘[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article7115062.ece Letter: Lib Dems and national security]’, ''The Times'', 4 May 2010.</ref>  The letter was also signed by [[Richard Dearlove]], the former head of MI6, and [[Charles Guthrie]], a former Chief of Defence Staff and [[SAS]] Colonel Commandant. <ref>‘[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article7115062.ece Letter: Lib Dems and national security]’, ''The Times'', 4 May 2010.</ref>

==Media presence==
At an event hosted by the right-wing think-tank [[Policy Exchange]], Clarke recalled how after the July 2005 London bomb attacks he had become, "the face of the investigation," and described how he saw his role as, "explaining to the public what had happened. Not speculating, but describing the facts as I knew them, but only when we knew them to provable standards." <ref>Metropolitan Police website, [http://cms.met.police.uk/news/major_operational_announcements/terrorism/dac_peter_clark_s_speech_on_counter_terrorism DAC Peter Clark's speech on counter terrorism], at the first Colin Cramphorn Memorial Lecture hosted by [[Policy Exchange]], 24 April 2007</ref> 

As Clarke's comments suggest, he has had a substantial presence in the media, both as a commentator on specific police investigations and as a commentator on terrorism and security issues more generally. We tracked the names of 435 Terrorism Experts for appearances in major world newspapers between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2007. Of the 435 'experts' we tracked, Clarke was the fourth most cited, with his name returning 1180 articles. <ref>see [[Terrorexpertise:Major World Newspapers List|Major World Newspapers List]]</ref> 

Terrorism Spin portal editors also tracked appearances by Terrorism Experts on UK Television during the same period. <ref>435 names from the [[Terrorexpertise:Bulk_List| Bulk List]] were searched at the archives of the [http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com/Infax/Advanced.aspx BBC Motion Gallery] and [http://www.itnsource.com/en/Search/Advanced-Search/ ITN Source] for appearances on ITN, Channel 4, BBC News and BBC Current Affairs programmes. Only appearances relating to terrorism were recorded. Any items referring to ‘terror’, ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, ‘extremism’ or ‘suicide bombing’ were treated as relating to terrorism.</ref> Of the 435 'experts' we tracked, Clarke was the most cited on British TV, appearing a total of 151 times; 85 on ITN and Channel 4 News Items and 66 times BBC News and Current Affairs programmes. <ref>see [[Terrorexpertise:UK Television List|UK Television List]]</ref>

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Terrorologist|Clarke, Peter]][[Category:UK Police Intelligence|Clarke, Peter]][[Category:Metropolitan Police|Clarke, Peter]][[Category:Terrorism Spin|Clarke, Peter]]