[12] His early career centred on Birmingham, where he undertook a broad range of both uniformed and detective roles.

[13] During his time serving in the NCIS, he led the development of covert operations to combat organised crime.

[13] He reached the short list of four candidates to become head of the new National Crime Agency, but lost out to Keith Bristow.

[21] On 8 July 2022, it was announced that Rowley would be the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, in succession to Cressida Dick.

[29] In April 2024, Rowley faced calls to resign after Met officers described Campaign Against Antisemitism CEO Gideon Falter as "openly Jewish" during a request for him to move away from a pro-Palestinian protest.

[31] Rowley admitted that some of the words exchanged were "clumsy and offensive", but stated that the officers actions were "professional".

[32] Following the incident Rowley reportedly had the "full confidence" of then Home Secretary James Cleverly and London Mayor Sadiq Khan[31] but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Rowley needed to regain “confidence and trust” with the Jewish community and also had to persuade the public that officers in future will not “[tolerate] behaviour that we would all collectively deem unacceptable” in order to retain his support.

[30] In August 2024 amid then ongoing far-right riots across Britain, Rowley was caught on camera grabbing a Sky News journalist’s mic and throwing it to the ground after being asked if the Met would “end two-tier policing.”.