London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has tendered his resignation this Thursday after coming to light in recent days cases of racism, sexism and homophobia among their agents.
After meeting with the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Dick has expressed in a statement that he no longer has the “trust” of the Labor mayor, who had increased the pressure on her in recent days and demanded a credible plan to change the internal body culture. “He has left me no choice but to step aside“, said Dick, who has agreed with Khan to remain in office “for a short period of time” to ensure the stability of Scotland Yard.
In a statement to the media, the mayor has maintained that “the only way to begin to deal with the scale of the changes that are necessary is to have a new leadership at the top of the Metropolitan Police“.
Dick’s resignation comes after the Independent Office for Police Conduct published an investigation that uncovered “shameful” WhatsApp messages between 14 agents from Charing Cross Police Station, sent between 2016 and 2018, revealing various cases of sexual and workplace harassment, misogyny and discrimination.
Despite apologies from Scotland Yard, Khan has questioned whether nine of the alleged authors of those messages continued to work in the Metropolitan Police and that two of them had even been promoted.
“Having been in this position to serve the citizens of London and the United Kingdom has been the greatest honor and privilege of my life,” said the outgoing chief commissioner, the first woman to have led the body and also the first openly homosexual.
Dick has further stressed that he is leaving office when there are “more women than ever before in all ranks and functions” and “increasing numbers from a wide range of ethnic origins who truly reflect the diversity of London”.
Since taking office in 2017 and before as a high command, Dick has been at the center of various controversies, including his management of the operation that caused the death of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes on July 22, 2005, shot down by agents who mistook him for a terrorist. Numerous voices have already called for his resignation after the kidnapping and murder in March 2021 by the policeman Wayne Couzens, today sentenced to life imprisonment, of the young Sarah Everard.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
