Hackney People
Steve Bending
For Chief Superintendent Steve Bending, being appointed Borough Commander of Hackney Police is bringing him back to an area he knows and loves.
He served here as a sergeant for four years from 1987, before moving on to a number of other roles in the Metropolitan Police – mainly in East London. Most recently, he was Deputy Borough Commander in Tower Hamlets, before coming back to Hackney at the end of last month.
So why did he return? He explains: “I always liked working in the East End. I thought if I was going to become a borough commander I wanted it to be somewhere that was a challenge, but where I could also see there was good partnership work with the local authority and community.
“I was in Hackney for four years and when I left I always wanted to come back if the opportunity presented itself.
“I like working in busy places where the officers are hardworking, always work as a team and try to get results. And I wanted to see how different Hackney is now from how it was 20 years ago.”
Although Steve has only been back a short time, he notices ‘there is a real willingness to get things done’ and that ‘people in the community want to make a difference and are prepared to stand up and be counted’.
He says: “What I like about Hackney is that it is a vibrant place with communities from all over the world – people are tolerant about each others’ communities and are keen to learn more about them.
“It’s got one of the youngest populations in the UK – there are more people aged under 25 here than anywhere else in the country. And it’s very vibrant in terms of regeneration – there’s been a lot of changes here in the 20 years since I was here with new buildings and development and there are plans for that to continue.”
He adds: “For the last five years this borough has had outstanding results in crime reduction and the main aim I have is to maintain that downward trend – that’s going to be a real challenge.”
Now 47, Steve joined the police in 1982 after 18 months working for the Midland Bank in Ilford. He’d always wanted to be a police officer, like his father John who was a sergeant at Barkingside, but the older man tried to dissuade him.
“I don’t know why,” Steve explains. “I think he just wanted me to try a different career.”
Within two months of working in the bank he realised he made the wrong choice, so re-applied to the Met Police – he’d already applied before getting the bank job – and was taken on in 1982 as a police constable in Ilford.
The father of two will now be in charge of around 1,000 staff, including 750 police officers, working from Stoke Newington Police Station.
Curriculum Vitae
- 1961 Born in London
- 1973-80 Attends Beal School, Redbridge
- 1980 Works at Midland Bank, Ilford
- 1982 Joins the Met Police as a constable at Ilford
- 1987-91 Is a sergeant in Hackney
- 1991-97 Employed at Met Directorate of Professional Standards
- 1997-2002 Inspector, then detective inspector at Barking and Dagenham
- 2002-04 Works as Detective Chief Superintendent at the Met’s Specialist Crime Directorate
- 2004-05 Second stint at Directorate of Professional Standards
- 2006 Serves in Territorial Policing Crime Squad
- 2007-09 Acting Borough Commander then Deputy Borough Commander at Tower Hamlets
- 2009 Takes over as Hackney Borough Commander
More information
In an emergency dial: 999. For news and local station contact details visit: www.met.police.uk/hackney
Page updated: 24 Aug 2009