Sir Hugh Orde joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1977 and served in central, south and west London before taking command of the Territorial Support Group as a Superintendent.
He was appointed Commander (Crime) for southwest London in June1998 and in April1999 was the officer in command of the racially motivated Brixton bombing in which 50 people were injured. As Commander, he also developed Operation Trident, an operation set up to deal with serious drugs related crime in London.
He was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner in October 1999 and was given day-to-day responsibility for the Commissioner’s Enquiry (Stevens III) into collusion and the murder of a prominent solicitor in Northern Ireland.
In September 2002 Sir Hugh was appointed Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), a position he held for seven years.
He was awarded an OBE in 2001 for services to policing, and in 2005 was knighted for his work. In 2010 he was awarded a Queen’s Police Medal for services to policing.