Christine Jones

Christine (Chris) Jones joined the Metropolitan Police Service in November 1986, following a four-year management-training course with Harrods.

Between January 1998 and 2001 she worked as a uniformed Inspector at Tower Hamlets Borough, both as a Community Inspector and in charge of 24-hour response duties. As a result of the seminal partnership work she undertook with local communities, she was able to provide evidence of progressive Police / Community relations to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, an issue for which she was awarded an Assistant Commissioner’s commendation. Chris developed the first joint information exchange operation which led to the eviction of a racist family from Tower Hamlets, receiving a high profile and positive response from the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

On promotion to Detective Chief Inspector in August 2001, Chris ran a pan MPS project to introduce and implement the new national crime recording standard, working at both local and national level and representing the needs and interests of the MPS.

In May 2002 Chris joined the Serious Crime Directorate and was part of a team of detectives tasked to review the murder of 11-year-old Damilola Taylor. She then worked alongside the Oversight Panel, assisting them in the production of their public report in December 2002. Chris then took charge of implementation within the MPS of all the recommendations, on behalf of Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur.

In November 2003 she was promoted to Detective Superintendent and transferred to Specialist Operations. She was deployed to investigate and review Security pertaining to Royal Households following a high profile security breach, and gave evidence on behalf of the MPS at the ensuring Judicial Inquiry led by Dame Butler-Sloss.

From March 2004 Chris worked direct to DAC Specialist Operations in investigating and reviewing security, and worked alongside the Security Service. She also reviewed the role of Counter Terrorism liaison performed overseas. She then completed a further series of sensitive / confidential reviews of intelligence handling and operations within the CT environment.

In March 2006 Chris took over Specialist Operations support as A/Detective Chief Superintendent and devised and delivered the first MPS tasking team to proactively test security and security practices across the SO portfolio. She re-invigorated performance and audit processes for the business group, and participated heavily in the pan-MPS review of the use of Stop/Search powers under CT legislation.

In May 2007 she was promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent and took command of the MPS Diplomatic Protection Group, the largest firearms command in the UK. With a budget of £55m and just over 900 staff, she spent 3 years delivering a change programme to bring the whole command in line with CT and MPS objectives toward a Safer London and in driving efficiency through re-defining the patrol and deployment strategy, resulting in over £4m savings.

Chris successfully appeared at the senior police national assessment centre in October 2009 and subsequently completed the 2010 Strategic Command Course. She was appointed by the Metropolitan Police Authority as a Commander in June 2010, and took responsibility for 7 Boroughs across North West London. She is currently the Area Commander for Territorial Policing with responsibility for the delivery of policing services with regard to Protecting Vulnerable People. Chris is a CT Commander, leads for the MPS on the issue of Domestic Abuse and is currently leading an operation to reduce mobile phone theft across London.