Chief officer team
Commissioner Angela McLaren
The head of the City of London Police traditionally holds the rank of Commissioner. With the exception of the Metropolitan Police Service, which has its own Commissioner, all other UK police forces have a Chief Constable at their head.
Angela started her career with Fife Constabulary in 1996 where she served in several operational and community roles up to the rank of Chief Inspector.
In 2013, she was appointed Project Manager for the Pathways to Policing Project at the Scottish Police College and, on promotion to Superintendent in 2014, was posted to D Division, Tayside where she held various portfolios.
In 2015, she was promoted to Chief Superintendent and appointed Divisional Commander of Fife Division where she led various operations and events. She was later selected to lead a team to produce the first long term strategy for policing in Scotland.
In June 2018, she was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable responsible for Operational Change and Resilience, a portfolio which included the Digitally Enabled Policing Programme and Strategic Design Authority.
In June 2019, ACC McLaren became the Executive Lead for Organised Crime, Counter Terrorism and Intelligence within Police Scotland.
In December 2020, she joined City of London Police in the newly created role of Assistant Commissioner responsible for Economic Crime and Cybercrime.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Betts
Paul Betts joined the City of London Police as Assistant Commissioner for operational policing on 4 January 2022.
Paul joined the force from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) where he is currently Commander and Head of Professional Standards and Recognition.
He joined the MPS in June 2020 from Sussex Police where he spent over a decade in public order and public safety and he has a particular interest in change management and developing people.
Assistant Commissioner Peter O'Doherty
Peter O'Doherty joined the City of London Police as Assistant Commissioner responsible for fraud and cyber crime on 4 January 2022.
He joined the force from the South East Regional Crime Unit (SEROCU), the body responsible for regional crime and counter terrorism functions, where he was previously Assistant Chief Constable.
Commander Umer Khan
Umer Khan joined the City of London Police as Commander for Policing Operations and Security, supporting Assistant Commissioner Paul Betts.
Commander Khan joined the force after nearly 27 years with Greater Manchester Police, where he started out his career aged 21 as a Police Constable.
On the path to his previous role as a Chief Superintendent, Commander Khan worked in a wide range of areas, from the Commercial Fraud Unit to introducing the National Reassurance Programme to Oldham, following the 2001 riots. Commander Khan also served as Territorial Commander for the City of Manchester and led on consequence management for the Manchester Arena Terror attack in 2017.
Commander Nik Adams
Nik Adams was appointed as Commander responsible for fraud and cyber crime in March 2022, having spent four years as the National Coordinator for Prevent and the lead for Safeguarding within Counter Terrorism Policing based at CTPHQ in New Scotland Yard.
In that role, Nik is proud to have built a diverse team from across the UK; delivering the first national Prevent policy and guidance, a training programme for Prevent specialists, a national risk assessment and case management system, and performance and governance that aligns mainstream and CT policing contributions to Prevent.
Nik has also developed and led the Counter Terrorism Advisory Network of around 150 people from across the UK, galvanising a diverse range of voices and including victims and survivors of terrorist attacks, to shape national policy improvements. Nik passionately believes that understanding the impact of crime on victims and involving them in shaping our response is crucial to building trust and ensuring the criminal justice system meets their needs.
Nik has been a police officer for 20 years and spent most of his service with West Yorkshire Police working in Leeds, where he was the Leeds City Centre Commander and Neighbourhood Policing lead for South Leeds, before moving into Counter Terrorism Policing.
As Commander for fraud and cyber crime at City, Nik coordinates national portfolios, including Financial Investigation, Economic and Cyber Crime.
Service Delivery Director Chris Bell
Chris oversees the delivery of the services within the context of the National Fraud and Cyber-crime Reporting and Analytics Service. Working closely with the force executive and heads of operations to run the existing service, he will also lead on the design, procurement, implementation and delivery of the next generation national service to victims of Economic Crime. Day to day responsibility will include the contract and commercial management of the service and all aspects of its supply chain.