Cressida Dick was “the most defensive and dismissive” leader of a British police force, with problems worsening under her tenure as Scotland Yard’s commissioner, the leader of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) has said.
Dick announced her departure on Thursday after a falling out with London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who lacked confidence that she could improve an allegedly misogynistic, racist and closed culture blighting Britain’s biggest force.
Insp Andy George, the president of the NBPA, praised Dick’s decades of public service but said it was right she should stand down.
George, a former firearms officer based in Northern Ireland, said Dick had been brought down by her “achilles heel” of wanting to protect the Met’s reputation. He said the next commissioner needed to end a “culture of fear” and a “toxic culture” in the Met.
The ousting of Dick triggered criticism of Khan, praise for the outgoing commissioner, as well as relief that Dick’s tumultuous commissionership was coming to an end.
George said: “The news that Dame Cressida Dick has resigned from leading the Metropolitan police service has come with great sadness across policing. Her devotion to officers and staff was clear for all to see but this was ultimately her achilles heel and her desire to protect the reputation of the force has prevented the wholesale cultural reforms that are much needed.
“The vast majority of police officers put on their uniform and do their best to protect the public but time and again we have seen a culture of fear within the [Met]. A fear of challenging inappropriate behaviour and even when that behaviour is challenged, it is rarely dealt with robustly. The officer reporting discrimination can often find themselves being targeted for speaking out.
“Defending the indefensible and failing to tackle the widespread issues of racism, misogyny and bullying allows bullies and poor behaviour to thrive and does a disservice to the many hardworking police officers across London and the UK. I have the privilege of speaking to many leaders in policing and I found Dame Cressida Dick to be the most defensive and dismissive leader I meet.”
However, critics of Khan said Londoners were less safe as a result of Dick’s departure.
Asked if Dick’s departure meant Londoners were less safe, the chair of the London assembly’s police and crime committee, Susan Hall, said it did, and pointed to the turmoil that would now follow. She said the mayor was wrong to have put Dick on notice.
“Ninety-nine per cent of officers are really good, very good brave officers and they have been absolutely rocked by the latest IOPC [Independent Office for Police Conduct] report into misogyny. They need confidence. They need support and to have done this in this way is completely wrong,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“It will leave a void at the top as opposed to a properly managed handover, which is no way to run a service like this, no way to run the Metropolitan police.”
Last Wednesday Khan had put Dick on notice that she had to rapidly reform Scotland Yard or would lose his support. His confidence in her was shaken to breaking point by a scandal at Charing Cross police station where officers shared racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic messages. Two of the officers investigated were promoted, while nine were left to serve in the Met.
Her resignation comes less than three weeks after the Met announced a criminal inquiry into lockdown parties in Downing Street.
Dick, the first female leader in the Met’s 193-year history, has led the force since 2017, with her five-year term as commissioner due to end in April this year. Her contract was extended by two years to 2024 only last September by the home secretary, Priti Patel, a decision endorsed by Khan.
In a statement Dick made it clear she had been forced out: “It is with huge sadness that, following contact with the mayor of London today, it is clear that the mayor no longer has sufficient confidence in my leadership to continue. He has left me no choice but to step aside as commissioner of the Metropolitan police service.”
Khan in effect picked Dick as commissioner in 2017, thrilled by the historic legacy of the first woman commissioner in the history of the Met, which was founded in 1829.
