John Yates (police officer)

John Yates (born 17 February 1959) is a former Assistant Commissioner in the London Metropolitan Police Service (2006–2011). As leader of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)'s Special Inquiry Squad (often called the "Celebrity Squad"), Yates was dubbed "Yates of the Yard" by the British press following his involvement in a number of cases with high media profiles. Yates came to particular prominence for heading the Cash for Honours investigation. Yates also coordinated the UK police response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, heading "Operation Bracknell", for which he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in January 2006. He resigned in July 2011 over criticism of a July 2009 review he carried out of the 2006 police investigation of the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal. He now works for the government of Bahrain advising it on reform of its security forces.

Yates was born in Liverpool "to a family of doctors". Yates was educated at Marlborough College, and went on to study at King's College London (BA Hons Medieval and Modern History, 1981) and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (Dip. Applied Criminol.)

Yates joined the Metropolitan Police in 1981. He served as a senior detective in North and West London and was the senior investigating officer on over 20 murders. He led 'Operation Russia', an inquiry into corruption in a regional crime squad in East Dulwich, which led to the imprisonment of six serving detectives for sentences totalling 46 years.

He has served on the Association of Chief Police Officers committee on rape.

As leader of the MPS's Special Inquiry Squad (often called the "Celebrity Squad"), Yates was dubbed "Yates of the Yard" by the British press following his involvement in a number of cases with high media profiles. He headed "the investigation of Lord Archer for perjury, the fraud investigation involving TV game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? and the bringing of rape charges against John Leslie." He also handled the police investigation which led to the failed trial of Paul Burrell for stealing; the trial collapsed with the Burrell affair.

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