{{short description|British police officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{BLP sources|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Helen Ball | honorific_suffix = QPM | image_size = | image = | office = Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis<br>''Acting''
| order = | predecessor = Sir Stephen House | successor = Lynne Owens (Acting) | term_start = April 2022 | term_end = 12 September 2022 | office1 = Assistant Commissioner (Professionalism) <br /> Metropolitan Police Service | predecessor1 = Helen King | successor1 = Barbara Gray | term_start1 = July 2017 | term_end1 = October 2022 | office2 = Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Territorial Policing) <br /> Metropolitan Police Service | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | term_start2 = 2012 | term_end2 = 2013 | office3 = Senior National Co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing <br /> National Police Chiefs' Council | term_start3 = August 2013 | term_end3 = October 2016 <!-- Personal --> | birth_name = Helen Elizabeth Ball | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1961|4}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | alma_mater = | profession = Police officer }}
'''Helen Ball''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|QPM}} (born April 1961) is a retired senior British police officer. During part of her final year in policing she served as Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/08/three-top-met-officers-depart-new-boss-prepares-take-over|title =Three top Met officers to depart as new boss prepares to take over}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/about-us/about-the-met/senior-management-team/|title = Senior management team: Who's who}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.fsmatters.com/page_870295.asp|title=Met police appoints new assistant commissioner|work=Fire Safety Matters|date=13 July 2017|access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/video/interview-with-helen-ball-assistant-commissioner-of-the-news-footage/1133017267|title=Assistant Met Commissioner accepts findings of hearing into Sean Riggs death|date=1 March 2019|access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref> At a national level she has been senior coordinator for counter terrorism policing (2013–2016) and strategic leadership advisor to the College of Policing (seconded 2016).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npcc.police.uk/ThePoliceChiefsBlog/DACHelenBallBlogReflectionsonLookOutsOctober2016.aspx|title = DAC Helen Ball Blog: Reflections on 'Look Outs'. October 2016}}</ref>
== Career == Ball first became a police officer in 1987 as part of the Metropolitan Police, rising to the rank of Operational Command Unit Commander in 2007 and remaining with them until 2010. She then transferred to become Thames Valley Police Assistant Chief Constable, leading on Crime and Criminal Justice,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Nke7TpewQ|title=Project Griffin|website=YouTube|date=20 August 2010|access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref> and remained there for two years before returning to the Met as Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing. She is the current trustee of the government-funded charity Police Now.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.policenow.org.uk/about-us/#team|title = About Us | POLICE NOW| date=14 July 2020 }}</ref>
In March 2019, Ball chaired a disciplinary hearing of PC Terry Malka, convicted of outraging public decency by masturbating while traveling on a train, which decided to issue a final written warning rather than sacking him. As of February 2023, Malka was still serving with the force; this is being reviewed by the Metropolitan Police as part of an internal review into historic sex allegations.<ref name=telegraph-20230221>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/21/met-police-officer-caught-masturbating-train-still-serving-officer/ |title=Met Police officer caught masturbating on train still a serving officer |last=Evans |first=Martin |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url-access=limited |date=21 February 2023 |access-date=21 February 2023}}</ref>
In December 2021, after a coroner's hearing into the 2014–15 murders by Stephen Port, Ball admitted that "a number of recent events" had damaged trust in the Metropolitan Police.<ref>{{cite news | author=Robert Wright | title=Trust in Met Police has been damaged, senior officer admits after inquest | newspaper=Financial Times | date=10 December 2021 | url=https://www.ft.com/content/944c0cd2-e56c-42cc-bd29-53116c8e8a0e | access-date=30 January 2022}}</ref> Later that month 2021 Ball chaired a misconduct panel which dismissed Jamie Rayner, a police constable already jailed for assaulting and strangling his partner during a 'controlling and coercive' relationship.<ref>{{cite web | author=Josh Bolton | title=Met Police officer sacked after strangling his partner and forcing her to lie about her injuries | website=MyLondon | date=5 January 2022 | url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/met-police-officer-sacked-after-22576179 | access-date=30 January 2022}}</ref> After the activist Kate Wilson won £229,471 civil damages from the Metropolitan Police in January 2022 for being deceived into a sexual relationship with an undercover police officer, Ball acknowledged the "gravity of the judgment" and that the police had breached Wilson's human rights.<ref>{{cite news | author=Rob Evans | author-link=Rob Evans (reporter) | title=Activist deceived into relationship with Met officer wins £229,000 compensation | newspaper=The Guardian | date=25 January 2022 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/25/activist-deceived-relationship-met-police-officer-wins-compensation-kate-wilson | access-date=30 January 2022 }}</ref>
Following the resignation of the incumbent Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in April 2022, Stephen House has acted as Commissioner and while Ball has acted as Deputy Commissioner while the Home Office and Mayor of London recruit a permanent replacement.<ref>{{cite news | author= Matt Frei | author-link= Matt Frei | title="We won't be releasing further evidence to the public" on Partygate investigation, Acting Deputy Commissioner at the Met | newspaper=Channel 4 News | date=19 May 2022 | url= https://www.channel4.com/news/we-wont-be-releasing-further-evidence-to-the-public-on-partygate-investigation-acting-deputy-commissioner-at-the-met | access-date=6 June 2022 }}</ref> In August 2022 she announced her intention to retire in October that year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weaver |first=Matthew |date=2022-08-08 |title=Three top Met officers to depart as new boss prepares to take over |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/08/three-top-met-officers-depart-new-boss-prepares-take-over |work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=2022-08-09}}</ref>
== Honours == <div class="center"> 100px <br /> 100px 100px 100px 100px </div>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;" |- style="background:silver;" align="center" |Ribbon || Description || Notes |- |40px || Queen's Police Medal (QPM) || * 2014 |- |40px || Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal || * 2002 * UK Version of this Medal |- |40px || Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal || * 2012 * UK Version of this Medal |- |40px || Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal || * 2022 * UK Version of this Medal |- |40px || Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal || |- |}
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Helen}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century British police officers Category:Assistant commissioners of police of the Metropolis Category:English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Category:Metropolitan Police recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Category:Counterterrorism in the United Kingdom Category:Women Metropolitan Police officers