The world changed after Westminster

A talk by former New Scotland Yard Chief Officer Mak Chishty on the need for a new national strategy to combat extremism.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of terrorist attacks at Westminster, Manchester, and London Bridge, Commander Mak Chishty said to the international media ‘the world has changed’. Having served as a Chief Officer at New Scotland Yard, with experience of leading frontline operations and investigations, Mr Chishty speaks, post-retirement, on the challenges of tackling violent extremism. Reflecting on both his police leadership experience and his personal identity as a British Muslim, he will set out how a new strategy is required in order to defeat extremist thought and formations.

Born and bred in inner-city Birmingham, Mak Chishty was the highest-ranking police officer of Muslim faith in the United Kingdom until his retirement from the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday 6 June 2017. He joined Warwickshire Police at the age of 18 and commands over 31 years’ experience in British policing and law enforcement.

In 2014, he was appointed by then Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to lead on community relations, working at the intersection of counter-terrorism and public order operations, in which capacity he spent years at the heart of London’s communities, cooperating on issues as diverse as radicalisation, extremism, race relations and anti-Semitism. He led the MPS Hate Crime Unit and was the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for tackling Honour-Based Violence (HBV), Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Forced Marriage.

Commander Chishty also led London’s response to the Manchester Arena attack, as well as working with Muslim communities across the country, using his networks to help reassure, increase vigilance, and encourage reporting in the immediate aftermath.