Brian Paddick, Baron Paddick

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Brian Paddick (2008)

Brian Leonard Paddick, Baron Paddick , (* 24. April 1958 in Balham , South London ) is a former British police officer and since 2008 politicians of the Liberal Democrats . He has been a Life Peer member of the House of Lords since September 2013 .

Life

Origin and education

Brian Paddick was born in South London. He spent the first years of his life in Mitcham and Tooting Bec . His grandfather was a police officer. His father was a sales representative for plastics , his mother worked as a secretary in a construction company. From 1969 to 1970 he attended Bec Grammar School in Tooting Bec in South London, then from 1970 to 1976 Sutton Manor High School in Sutton .

He earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in the subject Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Queen's College of the University of Oxford . During his university years at Oxford he was the captain of the University Swimming Team and vice-captain of the rugby team at Queen's College. In 1989/1990 he studied with a police scholarship at the Warwick Business School of the University of Warwick , where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration . In 2000, he earned a diploma Postgruaduierten at Fitzwilliam College of the University of Cambridge in the subjects of policing and Applied Criminology ( Policing and Applied Crimology ).

Police career (1976-2003)

In 1976, at the age of 18, he joined the police force. His police training was 1976-1977 at the Metropolitan Police Training School. His first job with the Metropolitan Police Service was as Police Constable (PC) in Holloway . From 1977 to 1980 he worked as a patrol officer and constable . He was then living in Highbury and Limehouse . In 1980 he was promoted to police sergeant . In 1981 he was at the forefront of the police operation during the riots in the Brixton district of London , known as the Brixton Riots . He was responsible for clearing individual streets where rebels had come together. This experience shaped Paddick and had a lasting influence on his later approach in daily police work. In 1983 he became Police Inspector in Fulham and in 1986 Chief Inspector of the Personnel Department of New Scotland Yard . In 1991 he became a staff officer, and in 1993 he became chief inspector in Brixton. During this time he was on duty in Deptford , Lewisham , Thornton Heath and Notting Hill ; at that time he lived in Sutton, Pimlico and Westminster , at times outside of London. 1995 Paddick was squad leader (officer in charge) at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Notting Hill; in this capacity he was responsible for police operations at the Notting Hill Carnival .

He then returned to New Scotland Yard and became Superintendent in the Personnel Department in 1996 and Chief Superintendent in 1997 . From 1997 to 1999 he was Borough Commander in the London borough of Merton ; In this capacity he was the police officer in charge of police operations at Wimbledon , Mitcham and Merton. In 2000 he graduated from the Police Staff College in Bramshill . In December 2000 he was appointed Police Commander of the London Borough of Lambeth ; he held this position until 2002. In this function he was the direct superior of over 900 police officers and around 250 police employees.

Paddick hit the headlines several times in his capacity as Commander of the London Borough of Lambeth. Under Paddick's responsibility as Commander of the London Borough of Lambeth, a pilot program in dealing with the use of cannabis was carried out in Brixton from 2001 . The idea for the pilot was often attributed to Paddick; however, this program had been managed by his superior, John Stevens , the Metropolitan Police commissioner. As part of the pilot, Paddick instructed his police officers and investigators not to arrest or prosecute anyone in possession of cannabis, only to issue a warning. Paddick wanted his staff to focus on prosecuting serious drug offenses such as heroin , cocaine or crack , street robbery and burglary . Critics of the program and parts of the press accused him of being too "soft" when dealing with drugs .

His statement in January 2002 that he personally always liked the concept of anarchy also caused a stir ; However, he was not sure that every citizen would behave decently and righteously if there were no laws and no state system. Paddick had posted his testimony during a three-week vacation in Australia and Asia under the nickname "Brian: The Commander" on the Internet forum Urban75 , a forum devoted to protests, anarchy and drug issues. After his vacation, he was summoned for an interview in March 2002 by his supervisor, John Stevens. The Metropolitan Police then stated that Paddick's statements had caused confusion; however, he never saw anarchy as an alternative to actual action. Therefore one does not consider any legal steps.

Another scandal occurred a few days later, also in March 2002. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper , James Renolleau, a former friend and significant other of Paddicks, stated that Paddick himself had used drugs on several occasions; They smoked cannabis over 100 times in their shared apartment in Westminster. Cannabis was also kept and stored in the apartment several times.

As a result of the scandal, Paddick was transferred to the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police, which investigates murder, kidnapping, hostage-taking and fraud in serious crimes. Thereupon solidarity events for Paddick took place in Lambeth. The allegations have been formally investigated by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). In late 2002, the CPS ruled that no charges would be brought against Paddick. In December 2003 the Mail on Sunday newspaper admitted in an out-of-court settlement that their story was wrong, publicly apologized and paid damages .

In late 2002 Paddick resumed a post as Borough Commander, but never returned to Lambeth. Instead, he took over responsibility for the boroughs of Barnet , Brent , Camden , Ealing , Hammersmith and Fulham , Harrow , Hillingdon and Islington in north-west London from 2002 to 2003 . In this role he was also responsible for the Police Community Support Officers and for volunteer police auxiliaries ( Neighborhood Policing ) throughout London.

Police career (2003-2007)

In November 2003, Paddick was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. In April 2005 he took over the management of the entire Territorial Policing (Territorial Policing) in all 32 London Boroughs ; He was thus responsible for over 20,000 police officers and police employees. Paddick acted as chief police spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Service at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales and after the terrorist attacks on July 7, 2005 in London .

After the death of Jean Charles de Menezes , who as part of an anti-terrorist use of the London police on 22 July 2005 by the London police in the subway station Stockwell of the London Underground was shot to Paddick met on July 24, 2005 with politicians, officials, neighborhood officials and representatives of religious groups in the Stockwell neighborhood . He expressed his condolences to the relatives and family of the victim and assured the residents of Stockwell that a recurrence of such an incident was extremely unlikely; Of course, he could not give a guarantee, but he could promise improved presence, cooperation and communication.

In March 2006, it became known that Paddick had entrusted defamation lawyers to pursue his legal interests in relation to statements made by Scotland Yard . Paddick had stated in oral and written testimony to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigating the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes that a member of Sir Ian Blair's private office team , the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, was already there six hours after the shooting believed that an innocent man had been killed. This contradicted public announcements by the Metropolitan Police Service; Blair himself kept saying that he didn't learn the truth until the following day. After information leaked that a senior police officer had made the statement to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, Paddick told a BBC journalist that he was the police officer who made the statement. The Metropolitan Police then stated that this information was "simply untrue". Paddick interpreted this statement to mean that the Metropolitan Police portrayed him as a liar. Finally, in a further statement dated March 28, 2006, the Metropolitan Police regretted misunderstandings and stated that the Metropolitan Police had no intention of accusing a senior police officer of a lie as part of the investigation. Mr. Paddick has meanwhile accepted the clarification and considers the matter closed.

Paddick was subsequently transferred to a purely administrative post after the widespread and publicly known controversy with Blair; he became "Group Director of Information Management", a position Paddick described in a 2007 interview with the term "non-job". In the interview, Paddick further stated that he had to accept that his police career was de facto over and that he would no longer be able to achieve his goal of becoming Chief Commissioner one day.

After the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the subsequent investigation and in the course of his involuntary transfer, Paddick suffered from severe depression , sought psychotherapeutic help and was treated with antidepressants for a period of three months . After completing therapy, he decided to change his life.

On May 31, 2007, Paddick resigned from the police force. He was then visiting fellow at Ashridge Business School near Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire ; there he taught personnel management and leadership techniques, change management and diversity .

politics

In August 2006 the British daily The Observer reported in its Pendennis column that Paddick was considering running for Mayor of London in the 2008 election ; he had been asked by representatives of the Liberal Democrats. The BBC finally confirmed this in August 2007. He received support in his application from British MP Lynne Featherstone , a former member of the London Assembly , on their blog. In September 2007, Paddick presented his election program in the online newspaper Pink News, which is aimed primarily at a gay and lesbian reading audience .

On November 13, 2007 it was officially announced that Paddick had been selected as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats for the office of Mayor of London. In the election for nomination, he received 73% of the first preference votes. Paddick joined the election on May 1, 2008 a. a. against Ken Livingstone , the Labor Party candidate , and Boris Johnson , the Conservative Party candidate . In a poll conducted by the daily newspaper The Guardian and the election research institute ICM and published on April 3, 2008, Paddick was given little chance. Paddick came in third behind Johnson and Livingstone, with 9.8% of the votes cast and a total of 236,685 votes.

On June 16, 2011 it was announced that Paddick would run again for the Liberal Democrats as a candidate for mayoral in the nominations for the mayoral elections on May 3, 2012. On September 2, 2011, he was officially nominated as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats.

Paddick received 91,774 votes, representing 4.16% of the first preference votes. He came in 4th behind Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone and Jenny Jones from the Greens . He lost more than half of the supporter votes compared to 2008. The loss was mainly due to the political performance of the Cameron-Clegg government and the general loss of popularity of the Liberal Democrats in Great Britain.

Membership in the House of Lords

In 2010, speculation arose for the first time that Paddick should be appointed a life peer and become a member of the House of Lords for the Liberal Democrats . However, Paddick was not given a seat in the House of Lords in 2012.

On August 1, 2013, it was announced that Paddick would be made a Life Peer and a member of the House of Lords. He was appointed as a so-called “working peer”. With letters patent dated September 16, 2013 he was raised to life peer as Baron Paddick , of Brixton in the London Borough of Lambeth , and has been a member of the House of Lords since then. On October 28, 2013, with the assistance of Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker and Kenneth Macdonald, Baron Macdonald of River Glaven , he was officially inducted into the House of Lords. On November 28, 2013, in the House of Lords, he was a keynote speaker in a debate on public confidence in the police and the police system.

Paddick mentions the following political priorities on the House of Lords' official website: criminal law , civil law, justice , housing and urban planning as well as social security and pensions . Of particular political interest to him are Norway , South Africa and the United States .

Private

v. r. Left to right: Brian Paddick at the London Gay Pride in June 2007 with presenter John Barrowman and his husband Scott Gill

Paddick had been aware of his homosexuality since childhood and adolescence . The awareness of being homosexual weighed heavily on him in his youth, especially since he was bullied by classmates who sensed or recognized his orientation.

From 1983 to 1988 he was married to Mary Stone in his first marriage. Paddick commented, “It was a serious attempt to live as a straight man. It was what my Christian faith expected of me. It was what my parents wanted me to do. It was what the police wanted me to do. It was the sincere attempt to deny my true sexuality and to do ' the right thing ' ”(in the original:“ It was a genuine attempt to live as a straight man, […] It's what my faith as a Christian expected of me. It's what my parents expected of me. It's what the police service expected of me. […] It was a genuine attempt to try and deny my sexuality and to 'do the right thing' ”).

His wife didn't know about his homosexuality. It was an ordinary marriage in Paddick's opinion. Towards the end of his marriage, Paddick's internal conflicts between his true sexual orientation and social expectations grew stronger. He first confessed his homosexuality to his wife over dinner in a Chinese restaurant. The separation finally took place by mutual agreement. Paddick and his ex-wife are still occasionally in contact today and have good relationships.

Paddick didn't really come out fully until he was Commander in Lambeth. Since then, Paddick has been openly gay. He was the highest-ranking openly gay police officer (“highest-ranking openly gay cop”; “Britain's most senior openly gay policeman”) in Great Britain.

From the mid-1990s, he had a love affair with model and bank clerk James Renolleau that lasted about five years ; the relationship ended in 2000.

In January 2009 he married his long-time partner Petter Belsvik, a Norwegian civil engineer, in Oslo . Both met in 2006 in a bar on Ibiza . In Great Britain, the marriage was initially not recognized and was downgraded to a registered partnership .

In June 2007 he took part in the London Gay and Lesbian Parade, the London Gay Pride . In November / December 2008, he was a candidate on the television show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! . He left the jungle camp on December 1, 2008 as the 6th candidate. Paddick caused a sensation on the show in particular because he was the only candidate who always used the (camera-monitored) showers completely naked.

In 2008 he published his autobiography under the title Line of Fire with the publishing house Simon & Schuster . In 2013, pictures of Paddicks, in which he poses in an elegant suit with Big Ben in the background, and parts of his biography were misused for a fake Facebook profile.

Paddick lives with Belsvik in Vauxhall , London.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Brian Paddick biography. lambeth4paddick.com. Retrieved January 26, 2014
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Guardian profile: Brian Paddick Portrait and Vita in: The Guardian from November 28, 2003. Retrieved January 26, 2014
  3. ↑ a b c d e Trials and errors of controversial cop in: The Guardian of March 19, 2002
  4. ^ The Battle for Brixton ; BBC2 documentary dated April 2006.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h The man who would be mayor Interview with Brian Paddick in: The Guardian, September 18, 2007
  6. ↑ a b c d e Police chief rebuked over 'anarchy' remark BBC News, March 11, 2002
  7. ^ Newspaper pays damages to officer . BBC News, December 19, 2003
  8. ^ Police chief wins damages from Mail on Sunday in: The Guardian, December 19, 2003
  9. ^ Emergency Services Prepare for Princess Diana's Funeral . Associated Press Archives, September 6, 1997; Retrieved January 26, 2014
  10. ↑ a b Met’s Paddick in Stockwell visit . BBC News, July 24, 2005.
  11. ↑ a b c d Menezes claim sparks libel talks . BBC News, March 17, 2006
  12. ↑ a b c d Met Police 'regret' Menezes claim . BBC News, March 28, 2006
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Brian Paddick: Truth, lies and happy pills . In: The Independent of April 13, 2008
  14. ↑ Who's a busy boy? in: The Observer of August 27, 2006
  15. ^ Ex-Met officer may run for mayor . BBC News, August 11, 2007
  16. ↑ Don't vote for me! Lynne Featherstone blog post on August 2, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2014
  17. ↑ Paddick Lib Dem mayoral hopeful . BBC News, Nov. 13, 2007
  18. ↑ Johnson wins London mayoral race . BBC News, May 3, 2008
  19. ^ Brian Paddick Selected as Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate ( Memento from January 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Official website of the Liberal Democrats from September 2, 2011.
  20. ^ Coalition plotting 44 new peers to foil Labor in Lords in: Daily Mail of October 24, 2010.
  21. ↑ Former Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick is kept from seat in the House of Lords in: The Daily Telegraph of June 26, 2012
  22. ↑ Working peerages announced Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street on August 1, 2013
  23. ^ Crown Office , London Gazette, September 16, 2013, issue 60628, p. 18217; Retrieved January 26, 2014
  24. ↑ Introduction: Lord Paddick Minutes of the House of Lords meeting of October 29, 2013
  25. ↑ Police: Public Trust minutes of the House of Lords meeting of November 28, 2013
  26. ↑ Petter and Brian gifted seg . Gaysir.no, January 9, 2009; Retrieved January 26, 2014
  27. ↑ a b I'm A Celebrity star Brian Paddick gets married in Norway Pink News from January 12, 2009
  28. ↑ My marriage is downgrad in Britain . September 22, 2010
  29. ↑ It's I'm a Celebrity time ... and here are your contestants . The Guardian newspaper blog from November 12, 2008
  30. ↑ I'm A Celebrity: Brian Paddick voted out of the jungle . In: The Daily Telegraph , December 2, 2008
  31. ↑ I'm a Celebrity: Brian Paddick braves a naked jungle shower in: The Daily Telegraph, November 18, 2008
  32. ↑ Brian Paddick and the 'Silver Fox' dating con: Identity of former police chief stolen by fraudsters so they can lure lonely hearts - then steal their cash . In: Daily Mail , November 23, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Paddick, Brian, Baron Paddick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paddick, Brian Leonard; Paddick, Brian Leonard, Baron Paddick (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British police officer and politician (Liberal Democrats)
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Balham , South London, England, United Kingdom