Neil Basu

Anil Kanti "Neil" Basu QPM (born 1968) is a former senior British police officer.

Neil Basu QPM
Basu (rear) in 2019
Born	1968 (age 55–56) United Kingdom
Police career
Country	United Kingdom
Department	Metropolitan Police
Service years	1992–2022
Rank	Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations)
Awards	Queen's Police Medal

From March 2018 to September 2021, he served as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in the Metropolitan Police and the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Counter Terrorism Policing.^[1][2]

Basu left the Metropolitan Police at the end of November 2022. ^[3]

Career

Basu became a police officer in 1992, and has spent his whole career serving with the Metropolitan Police Service.^[4][5] He was the most senior serving British police officer of Asian heritage: his father was from Kolkata, India and his mother was from Wales.^[6][7]

During the George Floyd protests, Basu spoke out about racism in policing, stating he was "horrified" by George Floyd's murder.^[8]

Basu has stated he believes British policing is institutionally racist, criticising other senior British police officers for their reluctance to agree.^[9][10]

Following the resignation of Lynne Owens as Director-General of the National Crime Agency, Basu was one of the final candidates under consideration to replace Owens, until the Home Office restarted the selection process in May 2022.^[10]

Honours

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Queen's Police Medal (QPM)	For Distinguished Service 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours[11]
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	2002 UK Version of this Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012 UK Version of this Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal	2022 UK Version of this Medal
	Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal

References

1. "Reconnecting the global security industry at International Security Expo – International Security Journal (ISJ)". 2 February 2022. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
2. "About the Met – Senior management team". Metropolitan Police. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
3. "Meghan Markle faced credible threats to her life". Channel 4 News. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
4. "Basu, Anil Kanti, (Neil)". Who's Who 2020. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2019. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U290682. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
5. "New counter-terrorism chief appointed". BBC News. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
6. Shaw, Danny (21 May 2019). "Top Asian officer's 'daily' racial abuse". BBC News. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
7. Evans, Martin (15 July 2019). "Profile: Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the man who quietly rose to become Britain's anti-terror chief". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
8. Basu, Neil (9 June 2020). "Police must view legitimate anger with care – we need to listen to our communities". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
9. Basu, Neil (26 May 2022). "British policing is institutionally racist. Until we admit it we'll never win back trust". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
10. Dodd, Vikram (25 May 2022). "Neil Basu's bid for crime agency top job ends after alleged No 10 intervention". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
11. "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B35.

Police appointments
Preceded by Mark Rowley	Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) Metropolitan Police Service 2018 to 2021	Succeeded by Matt Jukes