After a series of affairs, the London police chief resigns under pressure from the mayor. The resignation bursts in the middle of the politically sensitive investigation into the lockdown parties on Downing Street, but has other reasons.
Cressida Dick was the first woman to head the London Metropolitan Police. Now she has stumbled across a series of scandals and affairs.
As London Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick has developed a thick skin. Ever since she became the first woman to lead a large British police force in 2017, she has faced criticism, especially as the 32,000 officers in a city of 9 million often go haywire. On Thursday night, however, the pressure was too great and Dick resigned after their mayor voted no confidence in Sadiq Khan. London Police Chiefs are appointed on a recommendation from the Home Secretary, but in practice cannot carry out their duties without the support of the Mayor.
Zigzag course in party affair
Under Dick’s aegis was the Violent crimes and stabbings have decreased recently, with the statistics published in 2021 also reflecting the Corona lockdown. But scandals and allegations of sexism and homophobia have recently increased. The 61-year-old had to apologize four times last year for serious mistakes by the police.
Dick was also criticized for the affair surrounding lockdown parties at Boris Johnson’s official residence. For months, the Metropolitan Police had refused to investigate indications of violations of the corona restrictions at Downing Street. At the end of January, Dick announced that he was investigating – which delayed the publication of an investigation report and bought Johnson time. These days the police are sending out a questionnaire to around fifty people who are said to have been involved in the parties. Johnson could also face a fine.
Everard case destroys trust
Against this background, the timing of Dick’s resignation seems explosive. But it is more a consequence of the London Mayor’s ambitions and the police scandals of recent months. No other case has shaken confidence in the Metropolitan Police as badly as the murder of Sarah Everard. A police officer stopped the young woman in spring 2021 and faked an arrest. The officer then raped and murdered Everard in a forest. Not only had the police ignored indications of the danger posed by the perpetrator. The fact that the emergency services violently broke up a solidarity rally by women also caused negative headlines.
The Everard case fueled the impression that sexism was rampant in the London police force and that assaults against women were not being investigated as a matter of priority. This was matched by an affair involving police officers who sent pictures of the bodies of two murdered sisters via Whatsapp. Dick had to apologize for that too mishaps in a series of murders of young homosexuals in east London, in which the investigators had already ignored decisive indications of the homophobic perpetrator after the first homicide.
macho behavior in the police force
Made the camel’s last straw At the beginning of February, a report from a supervisory authority that there is a culture of misogyny, discrimination and sexual harassment among officers at London’s Charing Cross Police Station. The police officers had joked about rapes on social networks and knocked out racist and homophobic slogans.
Dick promised to launch an investigation and a culture change. But Mayor Sadiq Khan feared the loss of confidence in the police would harm his national political ambitions – prompting Labor politicians to pull the rug out from under Dick. Of course, it’s ironic that in the fight against macho behavior in the police force, of all people, he expedites the first female and openly homosexual police chief from the office.