London Police Chief Cressida Dick announced her resignation on Thursday evening amid a crisis of confidence and in the wake of a report pointing to racist, misogynistic and discriminatory behavior within Scotland Yard.
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Pushed out by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Cressida Dick said in a statement that she had “no choice but to resign“. “It is clear that the mayor no longer has the necessary confidence in my direction for me to continue“, she said, specifying that she would remain in her post until her successor was appointed.
London police have also been roundly criticized for being slow to investigate parties in Downing Street and in power circles despite health restrictions, a scandal that threatens Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s political survival. In a tweet, the head of government thanked Cressida Dick for having “protected the public and made our streets safer“. “Dame Cressida served her country with great dedication and distinction for many decades“.
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The resignation of Cressida Dick, 61, follows the publication on February 1 of a damning report by Britain’s police force, the IOPC. In particular, it had reviewed thousands of messages exchanged on social networks, “many of which were highly sexualized, discriminatory or referenced violence“. They included in particular direct allusions to rape, homophobic or racist terms or references to the Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz. Of the 14 police officers targeted, based mainly at Charing Cross police station in central London, nine are still active. They had minimized the messages by putting them on the account of the joke.
“Restore trust»
The investigation was initially opened in 2018 against a police officer suspected of having sex with a drunk person in a police station. It was later expanded. In a statement on Thursday evening, the Mayor of London said he had “nonot satisfiedby Cressida Dick’s response to the magnitude of the changes, according to him.urgently“necessary for”restore confidenceof Londoners and get rid of theracism, sexism, homophobia, harassment, discrimination and misogyny that still existin the police of the capital.
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Appointed in 2017, Cressida Dick was then the first woman to lead Scotland Yard. After the rape and murder of a Londoner, Sarah Everard, by a police officer in March 2021, which caused deep shock in the United Kingdom, the police were accused of having ignored a whole series of alarming signals about the behavior of this agent. She had also been singled out for her forceful intervention to disperse a rally in tribute to the victim, or after two police officers took pictures of themselves at the scene of a double murder before sharing the photos. Since her arrival at the head of the London police, Cressida Dick had to face a series of jihadist attacks in 2017, the deadly fire at the Grenfell Tower (71 dead), as well as “difficult demonstrations», «the pandemic», «the killing of serving officers“, she recalled. “I am incredibly proud of my team and all they have accomplished.»