Ali Dizaei Back in the Force

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Former local police chief reinstated by standards committee

Controversial police chief Ali Dizaei- once a well-known face in Chiswick – has been reinstated in his £90,000 a year job after a shock decision by a senior police standards committee. But the 49-year old Dizaei, who is a former Borough Commander in both Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham, is not out of the woods yet. He faces a trial next year on charges of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice.

The Iranian-born police officer, who once lived in Chiswick declared ; "I am delighted and really happy to be back in the police service. I intend to clear my name and I will do that irrespective of how long it takes."

While technically he has been reinstated as a Met commander on full pay and conditions, it is understood that Metropolitan Police Authority officials have decided to suspend him as a police officer pending his retrial on corruption allegations. He said he would appeal to the High Court against any decision to suspend him.

Last year he became the most senior policeman to be jailed for corruption in 30 years when he was convicted of misconduct. Mr. Dizaei, who is Iranian-born and whose father was a deputy commissioner of police in Tehran, joined the police in 1986 and was quickly promoted after he joined the Met in 1999- the year the Macpherson report accused the force of being “institutionally racist”. He became president of the Black Police Association and the most senior Muslim officer in the UK.

He became Borough Commander in Hounslow in 2005 before being transferred to Hammersmith and Fulham two years later. In 2000 he was the focus of a corruption inquiry by the Met and was cleared of all charges when the case came before the Old Bailey . The two-year investigation had cost over £4 million and his supporters accused the Met of conducting a racist witch-hunt against him. Mr. Dizaei won an apology from the then Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, a promotion and a five-figure payout. But in 2009 he was charged with misconduct following an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and convicted at South Crown Court in February of last year. Mr. Dizaei, who is married to his third wife and has three sons, now lives in Clapham.

 

September 30, 2011