REACH Black History Month Event: Lessons from Leadership

Overview

Michael Fuller was the first Black Chief Constable in the United Kingdom, and is a pioneering law enforcement leader, distinguished public servant and inspirational figure.

In this talk, Michael will discuss his trailblazing career, and share how his commitment to justice and remarkable achievements have made a profound impact on policing and prosecution services throughout the United Kingdom.

Speaker

Michael Fuller's exceptional 34-year police career was defined by innovation, leadership and breaking barriers. He served in numerous uniformed and CID positions throughout London, including several postings as a senior detective at New Scotland Yard, where his strategic thinking and commitment to community safety consistently produced exceptional results.

Throughout his career, Michael demonstrated remarkable creativity and effectiveness in addressing complex crime issues. As a detective chief inspector at Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith, he developed an innovative burglary control programme that successfully reduced property crime, a forerunner to the London-wide Operation Bumblebee. At Paddington, his pioneering covert techniques under Operation Eagle Eye achieved significant reductions in street robbery.

Following the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in 1998, Michael helped establish the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force and developed the Metropolitan Police Action Plan in response to the Macpherson Inquiry's criticisms. He also set up and ran Operation Trident with community members, which successfully reduced gun crime within London’s black communities. His leadership in this sensitive area demonstrated his commitment to addressing systemic issues in policing diverse communities.

He was also the founding chair of the Met Police Black Police Association. This was established in London to support Black and Asian police officers who had been victims of discrimination. Michael’s continued advancement led to his appointment as Chief Constable of Kent Police in January 2004, making history as the first Black and to date, the only ethnic minority chief constable (Chief of Police) in the United Kingdom.

He improved the performance of Kent police and under his leadership, it was designated by the Police Inspectorate as one of the five most improved police forces in England and Wales. During his tenure as Chief Constable, Michael also studied and qualified as a barrister (Non-registered). He was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in July 2007, demonstrating his commitment to further education and the legal profession.

Following his distinguished police career, in 2010 Michael’s contributions to public service were recognized by the award of the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished police service. In 2010, Michael was appointed as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, where he was responsible for scrutinizing the work of both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office, reporting directly to the Attorney General and Parliament until his retirement in 2015.

He is currently the Managing Director and owner of his own Criminal Justice Consultancy.

Details

This is a hybrid event which will take place in-person in the Gatsby Room (Chancellor's Centre) and also on Teams.

If you would like to attend in person, please register your place.

If you would like to attend online, please register for the Zoom link.

Refreshments will be available for the in-person audience.

Access

This event will take place in the Gatsby Room on the first floor of the Chancellor's Centre. It has step-free access with a lift and there is an accessible toilet located each floor of the building.

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact our events team - events@wolfson.cam.ac.uk

REACH Hub

The REACH research hub at Wolfson is an interdisciplinary meeting place for the promotion and facilitation of culturally diverse research.