Resignation comes after she misplaced the arrogance of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
London police chief Cressida Dick has resigned after a slew of scandals undermined confidence in her capability to cope with the issues afflicting the pressure.
Belief within the Metropolitan Police was shaken by the kidnapping, rape, and homicide of a lady, Sarah Everard, by one in every of its officers final 12 months, and has been additional undermined by newer revelations of a tradition of bullying, racial discrimination, and misogyny.
Dick introduced her resignation on Thursday after the mayor of London Sadiq Khan informed her he was not satisfied she may perform the reforms essential to rebuild Londoners’ belief within the Met.
“It’s clear that the one solution to begin to ship the size of the change required is to have new management proper on the high of the Metropolitan Police,” Khan stated.
Dick stated she was left with no alternative however to face down.
“It’s with big disappointment that following contact with the mayor of London in the present day, it’s clear that the Mayor now not has adequate confidence in my management to proceed,” she stated.
Dick, an skilled counter-terrorism officer, was the primary lady to guide London’s 193-year-old police pressure and had had her contract prolonged till 2024.
The sudden announcement comes amid an investigation into the “Partygate” scandal swirling round Prime Minister Boris Johnson over alleged events held in breach of coronavirus restrictions. The Met is anticipated to ship letters to at the least 50 individuals within the prime minister’s workplace on Friday, together with Johnson, over the occasions, in response to the Occasions newspaper.
Broken confidence
Dick stated Everard’s homicide and “many different terrible instances just lately” had broken confidence, however the pressure had turned its full consideration to rebuilding belief.
Khan singled out Dick’s response to the report on the behaviour of 14 serving cops at Charing Cross Police in central London for making her place untenable.
“The response from the Commissioner wasn’t as much as the size of the change required within the Met Police Service,” he informed broadcasters.
Johnson, the prime minister, stated on Twitter that Dick had “served her nation with nice dedication and distinction over many many years”.
House minister Priti Patel, who can be chargeable for selecting Dick’s alternative, stated earlier this month there have been issues with the tradition of the police pressure.
On Thursday, nonetheless, she stated Dick had undertaken her duties “with a steadfast dedication to defending our capital metropolis and its individuals – together with in the course of the unprecedented interval of the pandemic”.
The 61-year-old had been beneath mounting strain for the reason that March 2021 rape and homicide of Everard, who was grabbed off the road by Wayne Couzens, a serving officer.
Revelations that officers shared images of two girls killed in a north London park on WhatsApp, an official inquiry ruling that the organisation was “institutionally corrupt“, and an growth of controversial “cease and search” policing additionally broken belief.