David Veness

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David Veness

Sir David Christopher Veness, CBE, QPM (born 20 September 1947) was Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations of the Metropolitan Police from 1994 to 2005 and Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security for the United Nations until 2008.


Career: Policing and counter-terrorism

  • Veness attended Raynes Park County Grammar School and joined the Metropolitan Police Cadet Corps in 1964. He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1966 and became a CID officer in 1969. In the early 1970s he attended Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1975.[1]
  • Veness trained as a hostage negotiator in 1979, he was a member of the negotiating team at the Iranian Embassy siege (1980) and led the negotiations at the Libyan Peoples Bureau incident in 1984. He was an instructor and then Director of the Scotland Yard Negotiators Course between 1980 and 1987.[2]
  • In early 1987 he reportedly set up a specialist unit SO10 (not to be confused with the undercover unit SO10 formed in 1989) whose official job was providing ‘logistical support for crime operations’ but in fact was set up to specialize in handling sieges and cases requiring delicate negotiating skills or special planning.[3]
  • In October 1987 Veness was appointed a Police Commander, and served with Royalty and Diplomatic Protection until 1990. During this period, he was also responsible for security arrangements at major State and ceremonial events. After attendance at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1990, he became Commander Public Order, Territorial Security and Operational Support.[2]
  • In 1991 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Commissioner and headed the specialist crime squads at Scotland Yard, which included serious, organised and international crime, the fraud squad, the Flying Squad, criminal intelligence and force firearms.[4] According to Veness the job involved 'responsibility within the Metropolitan Police area, effectively Greater London, for serious crimes, murders, kidnapping and other offences of that ilk.'[5]
  • In April 1994 Veness was appointed Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations), a position he held until 2005.[1] He assumed charge of all 'specialist operations' including protection, terrorism, security and organised crime.[4] Veness described this position as 'slightly more senior level and a broadened responsibility, which mainly encompassed security protection and counter-terrorism.'[5] However, as such he would have headed up the SO12 unit, better known as Special Branch.

In all these roles Veness worked closely with the UK Government and the Security Services. Appearing as a witness in the Diana Inquest, he provided a rare public admittance of collaboration between the police and the security services:

Q. You had pretty close connections with the security services, didn't you, during the whole of your career?
A. Particularly in relation to my duties in connection with terrorism, that was an implicit part of my duties.[6]


After 9/11

Following the events of September 11, 2001, Veness oversaw the response of the Metropolitan Police in reinforcing the national counter-terrorism capability. In this he was supported by Commander Bob Quick[7] and his Deputy Assistant Commissioner Barbara Wilding. In 2002, he established Operation Kratos under Wilding which sent officers around the world with the view to developing new tactics for dealing with suicide bombers, including training in Israel.[4] Kratos was taken over by ACPO's Terrorism and Allied Matters board in January 2003 and subsequently became national policy.[8]

Veness also took a role in countering dissident republican terrorism in London, from setting up CCTV and ANPR in Canary Wharf following the 1996 Docklands bombing[9] to warning against potential threats from the Real IRA in the city in 2001.[10]

In 2003 he was selected to represent the UK[11] on a seven nation Security Advisory Group for the 2004 Athens Olympics.[12]


Knighthood and retirement

On receiving a knighthood in 2005, it was said of Veness:

He is recognised nationally and internationally as an outstanding expert in the fields of combating terrorism, responding to organised and international crime, and hostage negotiation.[...]
AC David Veness has made an enormous contribution to the capital's fight against terrorism and is an important national police figure, central to combating terrorism and its associated threats. He has personally directed a significant number of complex and highly sensitive investigations into terrorism that have produced very significant high-profile prosecutions.
He was responsible for the co-ordination of the massive police response needed in the aftermath of the 11 September attack on New York and Washington, and through this work is an exemplary ambassador for the Police Service of the United Kingdom with an unparalleled knowledge in this specialist area.[13]

In February 2005, Veness retired from the Metropolitan Police.[14] He was succeeded as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations by his longtime colleague Andy Hayman.[15]


Oversight of undercover work

As head of Special Operations Veness oversaw various units including counter-terrorism and the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which targeted protestors. In this role Veness knew and worked closely with Bob Lambert of the SDS. The two men would have a long association, including through the work of the Muslim Safety Forum, and, after both had left the Police, at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (see below).

By October 2004, Veness was secretary of the ACPO's Terrorism and Allied Matters (TAM) board.[16] At the time, TAM was running the reorganised national domestic extremism units, including, including the National Public Order Intelligence Unit and its infiltration of protest movements during the time of Mark Kennedy and others. A number of Veness's subordinate officers would go on to join the TAM board, including his former deputy Bob Quick who was its chair in 2008-2009.[7]

In a notable incident earlier in his career, in July 1992, Veness along with Commander Roy Ramm seconded fellow DAC Ian Johnston's authorisation of the use of an undercover policewoman to get close to Colin Stagg in the Rachel Nickell murder enquiry.[17] Johnston would go on to act as Condon's trusted lieutenant in matters relating to the Stephen Lawrence murder, including delivering Condon's apology over the role of the Metropolitan police in the Lawrence murder inquiry, including his own 'obstinancy'[18], before heading up the British Transport Police.


Police corruption,the CIB and the Stephen Lawrence murder

1993 saw the start of a major push against police corruption particularly that associated with the South East Regional Crime Squad (some of whose members would be later implicated in the News of the World hacking scandal). This invesigation was run by the Complaints Investigations Branch (CIB), and part of this included the formation of a secretive anti-corruption unit even within this known as CIB3, or 'Ghost Squad'. Veness appears to have been integral to this anti-corruption drive, working closely with the Metropolitan Police's Professional Standards Unit. As such he was part of a group of officers that included all three of his subsequent successors as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations: Andy Hayman, Bob Quick and John Yates. These three would repeatedly interlink in subsequent scandals, including police corruption, the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry, the News of the World hacking and the domestic extremism units.

In 1996, Veness' deputy as part of anti-corruption operations was Det. Supt. Chris Jarratt, who headed up intelligence and covert operations at CIB. Jarrett had also taken over the inquiry into murder of leading informant David Norris (a different individual to the David Norris later convicted for the murder of Stephen Lawrence), whom at some point in in 1989-91 Veness had gone to meet in person to authorise the signing of payments.[19] Ian Crampton, one of the officers overseeing both the David Norris and Stephen Lawrence murder investigations, was godfather to one of Jarratt's sons. Jarrett was also later implicated in the smearing of Ali Dizaei, while he was answerable to Andy Hayman.[20]

Operation Athena was the name given to the strategic reponse of the Metropolitan Police's Racial and Violent Crime Task Force (headed by Dept Assist. Commissioner John Grieve) in the wake of the Macpherson report into the Stephen Lawrence murder.[21] Part of this was Operation Athena Tower, which targeted suspects in the murder. Veness played a role in this particular operation in the years 1999-2003, including sanctioning the bugging of one of the accused and insertion of an undercover officer to target him.[22] He seems to have taken a close interest in this project, appearing as a source in a 2001 paper on hate crime.[23]

However, as head of Specialist Operations, Veness was (through Bob Lambert) in the chain of command for the placing of Peter Francis and undercover officer N8I targeting the Lawrences[24], whilst simultaneously helping the anti-corruption drive targeting a number of officers around the Lawrence inquiry.[25]


The Muslim Safety Forum

As part of his counter-terrorism work following the September 11 attacks, Veness developed a keen interest in the Muslim community. In particular, from 2001-03, he or his deputy regularly chaired meetings of the monthly Muslim Safety Forum (MSF). As a forum it allowed leading representatives of the Muslim community in London to meet with senior officers from the Metropolitan police and APCO. From 2002, The MSF was also regularly attended by Bob Lambert and others of the "counter-terrorism focused" Muslim Contact Unit (MCU) (then part of Special Branch, which Veness oversaw).[26] From an article written by Lambert on the MSF, it appears that Lambert and Veness were in close contact at this point:

...Veness emphasized on the small MCU team the importance of investing time at MSF meetings, ("be the first to arrive and the last to leave")...[26]


After retirement

In January 2005, the United Nations announced that Veness had been appointed Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security by the Secretary-General Kofi Annan.[27] On 24 June 2008,

On 24 June 2008, Veness resigned his position after the publication of an inquiry into the suicide bombing of the UN office in Algiers on 11 December 2007 that killed 17 UN staff. The inquiry had found that the bombing came after numerous internal UN warnings about a terrorist attack by the al-Qaeda affiliate in the Maghreb. Veness stated that he 'was willing to shoulder full responsibility for any security lapses' that preceded the bombing.[28]

Veness subsequently joined the Chertoff Group, a US based firm working in the intelligence, security and risk management industries. Its directors and advisors lists some of the highest ranking former US government officials from intelligence and security agencies.[29] On the board with him is former Home Secretary and Minister of Defence, John Reid. Also associated with this company is Graham Carvell Love, the former CFO of Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, and CEO of QinetiQ. Their UK offices are based at 33 St. James Street, London.[30]

He is also Chairman of the Advisory Board, Security & Resilience Network for London First, a business lobby organisation.[31] His role includes promoting relationships between police and large business, and disseminating police security alerts.[32] A colleague on this board is Andrew Trotter who had been deputy and subsequently succeeded Ian Johnston as Chief Constable of the British Transport Police.[33]

Think tanks and policy world

The Metropolitan Police area and the City of London are exemplary in terms of the good relations which exist and are developing between the business community and the police. It has been David Veness, Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at the Met, who brought the two together.[39]

Affiliations


Other interests

  • Chairman of the Advisory Board, Security & Resilience Network for London First
  • Principle, Chertoff Group

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 ‘VENESS, Sir David (Christopher)’, Who's Who 2008, A & C Black, 2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 United Nations Press Release, SG/A/903, BIO/3632, ‘Secretary-General appoints David Veness of United Kingdom’
  3. ↑ Robert Fisk, ‘Hostage deal gives gunmen safe passage’, The Times, 21 April 1988.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 ‘Sir David Veness: Mr Security’, BBC News Online, 31 December 2004.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Coroner’s Inquests into the Deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed, Hearing transcript 15 January 2008 - Morning session
  6. ↑ Coroner’s Inquests into the Deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed, Hearing transcript 15 January 2008 - Morning session paragraphs 67-68.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Robert Quick, Witness Statement of Robert Quick to the Leveson Inquiry, 13 February 2012.
  8. ↑ Evidence of Sir Michael Wright, Jean Charles de Menezes inquest hearings], 5 November 2008.
  9. ↑ Kevin Smith, Head of ANPR, in Influencing and Managing Change: Celebrating Black History Month 2013, Metropolitan Black Police Association, 2013, accessed March 2014
  10. ↑ Real IRA: Met fears worse to come, BBC News Online, 10 May 2001, accessed March 2014.
  11. ↑ Paul Kelso, Nowhere will be safer than London says Livingstone, The Guardian, 9 July 2005.
  12. ↑ Combating Terrorism: Interagency Framework and Agency Programs to Address the Overseas Threat (GAO-03-165), United States General Accounting Office, May 2003. 'Security planning for the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens is a multilateral effort. The Greek Government requested Olympic security expertise from seven countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Israel, Germany and Australia. These countries make up the Olympic Security Advisory Group, which reports to the Greek Minister of Public Order on security issues at the strategic level. The group also provides advice on technical support issues at the operational level. The range of issues includes intelligence, planning, training and exercises, technology, command and control coordination, and venue security.'
  13. ↑ Metropolitan Police, Met personnel honoured by the Queen, press release, 10 January 2005, accessed 12 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Coroner’s Inquests into the Deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed, Hearing transcript 15 January 2008 - Morning session
  15. ↑ Mark Tran, Anti-terror chief dogged by controversy, The Guardian, 4 December 2007, accessed 12 March 2014.
  16. ↑ EU Counter Terrorism Arrangements, Examination of Witnesses (Questions 33-39), Select Committee on European Union, 27 October 2004.
  17. ↑ Michael Sean Gillard, Geoff Seed and Laurie Flynn, I was set up, says Nickell detective, The Guardian, 2 September 1999. For more information on this case see Wikipedia.
  18. ↑ The Runnymede Bulletin, August 1998, p.5, accessed March 2014.
  19. ↑ Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn, Untouchables: Dirty cops, bent justice and racism in Scotland Yard, Bloomsbury 2012, p. 66.
  20. ↑ Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn, Untouchables: Dirty cops, bent justice and racism in Scotland Yard, Bloomsbury 2012, p. 281.
  21. ↑ Operation Athena, Report 11, Metropolitan Police Authority, accessed 1 Mar 2014.
  22. ↑ Stephen Wright, Police bugged Lawrence killers' homes, cars, pubs and snooker halls, The Daily Mail, 4 January 2012, accessed March 2014.
  23. ↑ Joseph Kibitlewski and Kelly B. Shaw, Hate, Hate Groups and Hate Crimes: Fighting Xenophobia in the European Union, 2001.
  24. ↑ Mick Creedon, Operation Trinity - Allegations of Peter Francis, Operation Herne - Report 2, 6 March 2014, p. 18. It is explicitly noted that the SDS came under the aegis of the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch, part of Specialist Operations, run by Veness during the timeframe concerned. See also: Mark Ellison, The Stephen Lawrence Independent Review, Vol. 1, p. 233, which quotes from Commander Barry Moss, head of Special Branch at the time, that he both oversaw the SDS and was answerable to AC Veness.
  25. ↑ Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn, Untouchables: Dirty cops, bent justice and racism in Scotland Yard, Bloomsbury 2012. Veness is named as part of the inner circle who under Commissioner Paul Condon were responsible for setting up the unit CIB3 to target corrupt police (p.25). Among their targets was Sgt. John Davidson who was part of the original Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry (p. 170). See also: Mark Ellison, The Stephen Lawrence Independent Review, Vol. 1, Chapter 5.4.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Robert Lambert, The Muslim Safety Forum: Senior Police and Muslim Community Engagement during the War on Terror, published in Preventing Ideological Violence: Communities, Police and Case Studies of "Success", P. Daniel Silk, Basia Spalek & Mary O'Rawe (editors), 2013.
  27. ↑ United Nations Press Release, SG/A/903, BIO/3632, ‘Secretary-General appoints David Veness of United Kingdom’. Veness would formally take up his post on 28 February 2005.
  28. ↑ James Bone, Sir David Veness quits as head of UN security over Algiers bombing, The Times, 25 June 2008.
  29. ↑ Chertoff Group Team Mmbers, ChertoffGroup.com, accessed 1 March 2014.
  30. ↑ The Chertoff Group Expands International Reach with Opening of London Office Chertoff Group press release, 18 March 2010, accessed 1 Mar 2014.
  31. ↑ London First biography, LondonFirst.co.uk, accessed 1 March 2014
  32. ↑ London First Security and Resilience Network online library, LondonFirst.co.uk, accessed 1 March 2014.
  33. ↑ LondonFirst.co.uk, accessed 1 March 2014.
  34. ↑ John Upton, ‘In the Streets of Londonistan’, London Review of Books, 22 January 2004.
  35. ↑ Screengrab of CSPTV's website created 19 November 2008, 15:31:02.
  36. ↑ Maxwell Taylor, John Horgan, (eds.) The Future of Terrorism (Routledge, 2000) p.1.
  37. ↑ Studies in Conflict and Terrorism Volume 24, Number 5, 1 September 2001.
  38. ↑ Terrorism and Political Violence, Volume: 17 Issue: 1-2 Pages: 1-2, 2005.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Rachel Briggs (Ed.), The Unlikely Counter-terrorists (PDF) (Foreign Policy Centre, 11 December 2002) p.64.
  40. ↑ Security Studies Institute Staff, accessed 7 February 2011.
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