Dean Haydon QPM, former Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Metropolitan Police Service<\/a> and Senior National Co-ordinator (SNC) for Counter Terrorism Policing<\/a>, retired this summer. We discuss the highlights from his policing career, including his international roles, his approach to leadership and today\u2019s terrorism challenge.<\/p>\n DAC Dean Haydon retired in July 2022 after 34 years in policing. Although his final role as the UK Head of Counter Terrorism involved a high degree of accountability, risk and being always on call, Dean calls it \u201cthe best job in policing\u201d.<\/p>\n His role included lead operational responsibility for delivery of the counter terrorism strategy CONTEST; strategic lead for high threat and high-risk terrorist operations; and lead police advisor to government through COBR in times of crisis. During his leadership, 34 terrorist plots have been disrupted.<\/p>\n Dean said: \u201cIt is a huge role: you can mobilise a nationwide network of resources and assets from across the UK, from the police officers in London to those nationwide, with access to 8,000 CT officers. You can support other countries around the world with the resources available. It is a fascinating, challenging and hugely fulfilling job.\u201d<\/p>\n An equivalent role does not exist in most countries. Dean says: \u201cThis role enabled me to take command and control of incidents across multiple force areas and this provided clear advantages when terrorists move across force boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout his career, counter terrorism has been his passion and Neil Basu (the previous SNC for Counter Terrorism) said: \u201cDean is one of, if not, the most experienced senior detectives in UK Counter Terrorism and major crime. He brings a wealth of operational and strategic wisdom to the role, which, from personal experience, I know is one of policing\u2019s most demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean\u2019s 34 years of police service have involved many of the most serious, challenging and well-known crimes and terrorist attacks in the UK and globally. For this article, this calm, resilient and popular leader reflected on some of the key moments in his career:<\/p>\n Dean is the first and only police officer in his family. Thirty-four years ago, aged just 17, he arrived in London to attend Hendon as a police cadet, where he had \u201cthe best year of his life\u201d, before becoming a police recruit a year later.<\/p>\n His career has spanned the length and breadth of London including his first two years at Wembley, trainee investigator in Harlesden and Kilburn, heading up the robbery and burglary team in Ealing, and roles in Lambeth and Brixton.<\/p>\n Dean always wanted to be a detective and has been in almost every conceivable detective role. He was a detective constable and detective sergeant for a dozen years before advancing his career.\u00a0 \u201cI wanted to secure a solid grounding and experience at these ranks before going for further promotion.\u201d<\/p>\n Once he began climbing the promotion ladder, he progressed quickly, eventually reaching one of the top jobs in British policing. He says this is down to \u201ca bit of luck, a bit of being at the right place at the right time, but also my own application and effectiveness\u201d. Additionally, he says he always went for promotion when the timing was right for him and he had the experience and credibility to succeed.<\/p>\n There is a thread of counter terrorism involvement throughout Dean\u2019s career. This began with him being the first officer on the scene at the Wembley High Street vehicle-borne bomb in May 1990 and two years later, responding to the massive car bomb at\u00a0Staples Corner.<\/p>\n Alongside his other roles, he trained in Disaster Victim Identification and was part of the team that traced and repatriated the remains of the 67 British people killed in 9\/11 \u2013 the terrorist attacks in September 2001 in the US.\u00a0 He led the negotiations to bring home the remains of those who died when Malaysian Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July 2014.<\/p>\n He joined SO13 Anti-Terrorist Branch the same year as the London bombings on 7 July 2005 and 21 July 2005.<\/p>\n Dean was appointed the Commander for SO15 (the Counter Terrorism command of the Metropolitan Police) in 2015. He maintained and led strategic oversight of the five terror attacks on the streets of the UK in 2017 in Westminster, Manchester Arena, London Bridge, Finsbury Park and Parsons Green.\u00a0 \u201cThis was a watershed moment for us and marked a surge in demand on counter terrorism policing which persists today.\u201c<\/p>\n Dean adds: \u201cWhen an incident occurs and our counter terrorism policing response kicks in,\u00a0 we see the best of people, everyone works really well together, it is a well-oiled machine and we are envy of the world for this capability.\u201d<\/p>\n On 4 March 2018, he was appointed Senior National Coordinator for the UK\u2019s Counter Terrorism Police network, coincidentally the same day as the\u00a0 Salisbury attack \u2013 where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned with Novichok nerve agent.<\/p>\n Dean\u2019s work has taken him all over the world, supporting the response to critical incidents and providing advice and guidance to others where he can. In recognition of this, he has won a number of international awards including the Spanish Police Medal of Honour,\u00a0 the FBI Director\u2019s Excellence Award and he was awarded the Queen\u2019s Police Medal, presented by Her Majesty the Queen in 2018<\/p>\n Dean was President of LINCT \u2013 Leaders in Counter Terrorism \u2013 also known as the Five Eyes \u2013 a global network of counter terrorism leaders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and the US. He became chair of the executive board on this retirement. And he has worked all round the world on terrorism and related projects.<\/p>\n Dean was Commander \u2013 Head of Homicide, Sexual Offences and Child Abuse, and worked on a number of highly difficult and sensitive long-running investigations including the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the murder of Milly Dowler by Levi Bellfield and the shooting of Mark Duggan. He was also Head of Trident, with pan-London responsibility for tackling gang violence, serious and organised crime, drugs trafficking, and shootings.<\/p>\n In the late nineties, Dean was asked to be part of the Ghost Squad \u2013 so called because everyone who was part it disappeared overnight from their normal roles \u2013 to investigate serious corruption across policing. The Ghost Squad has been the subject of books and in-depth newspaper articles, but at the time, it was highly secretive, involving undercover officers and working with retired military and MI5 personnel. He said: \u201cAlthough it was a privilege to be asked, it was a shocking experience to uncover the levels of corruption and links to serious and organised crime.\u00a0 It was uncomfortable at times investigating fellow officers, but in the end extremely satisfying to convict those involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean encapsulates his approach to his role and leadership into three golden rules: Firstly, work hard \u2013 Dean says: \u201cIt\u2019s important to build a reputation based on hard work, wanting to be involved and gaining credible experience. This enables you to become resilient and knowledgeable.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, Dean believes it\u2019s important to have fun and enjoy what you do \u2013 his second golden rule. \u201cPolicing work involves some fascinating projects.\u201d He is a demanding leader but wants to create teams and environment where people are happy and enjoy their work.<\/p>\n And, lastly, Dean\u2019s third golden rule is to do it with humility: \u201cAccept that things go wrong sometimes and learn from your mistakes and although you have your own expertise, you don\u2019t know everything. Don\u2019t hang people out to dry if they make mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n He describes his leadership style as calm, resilient, engaging and consultative, but in times of crisis, he is very comfortable stepping up into command and control mode.<\/p>\n He is collaborative, having regularly liaised with intelligence services, MI5 and MI6, with other forces around the country and with local and national stakeholders such as government, business, industry and local communities.<\/p>\n We discussed Dean\u2019s views on the current threat from terrorism. He reflected on the most significant change being the shift away from large terror cells with deep roots, towards the self-initiated terrorist. These are individuals who move to violence alone, often inspired by what they see online. They are present across all ideologies, are unpredictable and more difficult to detect. Dean says: \u201cOften, martyrdom is the desired outcome. They do not want to talk or negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to highlight that: \u201cThe police have over 800 live investigations running at any given time across the UK. The threat to our safety and security is very much real.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean further explained that in response, and in addition to pursuing terrorists and preventing others from becoming violent extremists, the police service carries out daily activities to help increase the protection and security of our people and places.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThis concerted effort, which includes highly visible, covert, armed or technical methods, is aimed at protecting the public from the threat of terrorism. It boosts the security of key sites, making the UK a hostile environment for terrorists to operate in and\u00a0we can all go about our daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean also expressed his concern about how the pandemic has created an environment in the UK in which extremists may find it easier to identify, target and potentially radicalise vulnerable people. \u201cPeople were isolated during lockdown \u2013 some of the supporting organisations were unable to provide the same level of support to vulnerable people and those with mental health issues. It is important that everyone looks out for changes in family and friends, as outlined in the ACT campaign. This can be difficult, but your call will be handled sensitively and it might save lives.\u201d (You can report in confidence at gov.uk\/ACT<\/a> or, in an emergency, dial 999).<\/p>\n Dean also believes that the challenging world we now live in is changing society: \u201cLack of rainfall, drought, wars, crop failure, all causing mass migration, movement across borders.<\/p>\n Added to this has been an increase in protest and anti-government feeling and more unruly behaviour generally. All of these can fuel terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean Haydon\u2019s career has included some of the most famous and infamous crimes and events from UK policing and crime from the past 34 years, most notably his role in\u00a0leading the response to terrorism in the UK since 2018.<\/p>\n At the conclusion of our discussions, Dean said: \u201cA lifetime career in policing is tough, challenging and not always an easy place to be with the public or politically. You do see the worst part of society, the vulnerable, death and destruction, but there are many experiences, challenges and fascinating work areas you just don\u2019t get in other job. For me, it has been the best job in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrea Berkoff<\/p>\n Editor,\u00a0City Security magazine<\/p>\n For more profiles of senior officers in policing and across the security sector, see you category Security Career Pr<\/a>ofiles.<\/a><\/p>\n See our Counter Terrorism<\/a> category for more information in this area, including our recent update Counter Terror Policing keeping us safe.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Profiling Dean Haydon QPM: Former DAC and Counter Terrorism Policing\u00a0SNC Dean Haydon QPM, former…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":12191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,54,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editors-choice","category-profiles","category-security-careers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBest job in policing<\/h4>\n
An early start at Hendon<\/h4>\n
Counter Terrorism roles<\/h4>\n
An international reach<\/h4>\n
Roles outside terrorism<\/h4>\n
Investigating serious police corruption with the Ghost Squad<\/h4>\n
Dean\u2019s approach to his role, career and leadership<\/h4>\n
Current threat from terrorism<\/h4>\n
The impact of COVID-19<\/h4>\n
The best job in the world<\/h4>\n