Stephenson joined the police service in 1975, aged 21 and spent much of his early service as a constable attached to the Lancashire Underwater Search Unit. In 1982 Stephenson attended the
Bramshill police training college near
Hook in Hampshire as a sergeant on the Special Course at the same time as
Sir Hugh Orde,
Peter Clarke, Tim Brain, Paul Kernaghan, Frank Whitely, Jane Stitchbury and numerous other chief police officers. He became a sergeant in Bacup (1983), then an inspector in
Burnley (1984) and a
Chief Inspector in
Colne Traffic Department (1986). He became a
superintendent at the age of 34 in February 1988 when in
Accrington as sub-divisional commander before being appointed to a Headquarters research and planning post where he also acted as staff officer to his then Chief Constable, Brian Johnson CBE, QPM, who was professional advisor to Sir Peter Taylor during the course of him undertaking the Hillsborough Inquiry (1989–1990). Stephenson was thus party to all the material submitted to and considered by the Taylor Inquiry, albeit in a relatively junior position. He took a six-month secondment to the (former)
RUC in the early 1990s as a sub-divisional commander, a posting that ended in some acrimony. He returned to Lancashire to a further Headquarters support post before being appointed in 1994 as a sub-divisional commander then divisional commander in Preston. He has also served as
Assistant Chief Constable in
Merseyside Police starting in 1994 until 1999 and
Deputy Chief Constable in Lancashire from May 1999 under Chief Constable
Pauline Clare. Stephenson succeeded Pauline Clare and was appointed as
Chief Constable of
Lancashire Constabulary in July 2002. He was appointed
deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in February 2005. In September 2008 it was announced he would become
acting commissioner of the Met from 1 December, following the resignation of
Sir Ian Blair. In January 2009 it was announced that he had been appointed as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. and also that in early 2011 Stephenson received £12,000 of free hospitality from a
Champneys health spa, where Wallis was working at the time whilst Stephenson was recovering from surgery for the removal of a non-malignant tumour in his femur. On 14 July 2011, Wallis was arrested by the Metropolitan Police investigating the
News of the World phone hacking scandal. in which he defended his actions, Stephenson announced his intention to resign as commissioner, saying that questions surrounding his integrity would otherwise become detrimental to the Met as a whole. The Deputy Commissioner,
Tim Godwin, became Acting Commissioner in the interim between Sir Paul's resignation and the appointment of his successor,
Bernard Hogan-Howe. This is an excerpt from Stephenson's statement:
Honours Stephenson was awarded the
Queen's Police Medal for services to policing in the
2000 New Year Honours, followed in 2007 by an
Honorary Fellowship from the
University of Central Lancashire in
Preston. He was
knighted in the Queen's
2008 Birthday Honours. ==See also==