Dame Cressida Dick to step down

[nanstallon]

If you think the Met is bad now I hate to think what you thought of it 30+ years ago. Huge corruption scandals, open racism, a law unto themselves and their attitude during the miner's strike was a real eye opener to their colleagues from other police forces - one quote from a senior Cleveland police office "I was appalled at the conduct of a number of officers, generally members of the Metropolitan police who we described as the Banana Squad – all bent and yellow,"

You have brought back some memories - I remember when they were on strike breaking duty, they used to wave £20 notes at the miners, who by then were on the breadline. Scum.

 

[dgl]

Listening to the radio today there were a few people who said that she did good as she got more women and BAME people in the force, which to me sounded like someone who claims that they can't be racist as they have a friend who is Black.
Doing one good thing doesn't matter if everything else you do is bad.

 

[Bevan Price]

I think they should look well outside London for her successor - a new broom with no friends/ cronies within the Met.

 

[brad465]

I think they should look well outside London for her successor - a new broom with no friends/ cronies within the Met.

I agree with this idea, except I think we can safely say they won't be doing this.

 

[Strathclyder]

I think they should look well outside London for her successor - a new broom with no friends/ cronies within the Met.

That's the most sensible course of action. Which is precisely why it won't happen.

 

[brad465]

The Met Police Federation are saying that force morale has dropped and blame Khan for "a very public ousting" of Cressida Dick:

Sadiq Khan: Met Police Federation has 'no faith' in London mayor

The atmosphere among officers is said to be at "rock bottom" after Dame Cressida Dick's resignation.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Met Police Federation has declared it has "no faith" in Sadiq Khan after the "very public ousting" of Dame Cressida Dick as commissioner.
She resigned from the role on Thursday over the mayor of London's lack of confidence in her plans for reform.
More than 31,000 rank-and-file officers are represented by the Met Police Federation.
Chairman Ken Marsh warned that the atmosphere among Met Police officers was at "rock bottom".
Writing in the Observer on Sunday, Mr Khan said he was "deeply concerned" public trust in the force had been "shattered". He said the next commissioner needed to make things change quickly.
In response to the Met Police Federation's comments, Mr Khan said he stood by his views, insisting it was his job to "stand up for Londoners".

Mr Marsh said that remarks made by the mayor had "undermined the professional, dedicated and incredibly difficult work of tens of thousands of hard-working and brave police officers from across the capital".
"We have let the mayor's office know in no uncertain terms how our brave and diligent colleagues deserve better," Mr Marsh said.
"Officers in London feel saddened and angry that the commissioner, Cressida Dick, has been pushed out in the way she has.
"She was reforming. She was changing. The culture is changing.
"We are deeply disappointed with the actions of the mayor."

While there are many faults with Khan, there was widespread approval in public from what I could see of Dick's resignation, with left and right wing politicians/figures agreeing with the move, and she was clearly never fit for the job in the first place. If anything Khan gave her too many chances.

 

[birchesgreen]

I think the Police Federation are misreading the room quite badly.

 

[43096]

While there are many faults with Khan, there was widespread approval in public from what I could see of Dick's resignation, with left and right wing politicians/figures agreeing with the move, and she was clearly never fit for the job in the first place. If anything Khan gave her too many chances.

But Khan went from wanting to see change in weeks and months to “in 48 hours”. You can’t help but think that, like the masks on TfL mandate, this is Khan engaging in another **** waving exercise to try to show Johnson and Patel that he thinks he makes all the decisions in London. Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the Commissioner going, it’s an utterly pathetic way of Khan going about it. Credit to her, too, for rising above it and staying on whilst a replacement is found: I’m sure many of us would have told him to shove it where the sun don’t shine if we were in a similar situation.

 

[baz962]

Khan then should probably have got rid earlier. About time he went.

 

[Domh245]

But Khan went from wanting to see change in weeks and months to “in 48 hours”. You can’t help but think that, like the masks on TfL mandate, this is Khan engaging in another **** waving exercise to try to show Johnson and Patel that he thinks he makes all the decisions in London. Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the Commissioner going, it’s an utterly pathetic way of Khan going about it. Credit to her, too, for rising above it and staying on whilst a replacement is found: I’m sure many of us would have told him to shove it where the sun don’t shine if we were in a similar situation.

As I understood the timeline of events:

1st Feb: Report into Charing X Police Station published
2nd Feb: Dick put on notice and told "to urgently show it has an effective plan for restoring the trust and confidence of Londoners in the police and to drive out the culture of racism, homophobia, bullying and misogyny which clearly still exists within its ranks."
3rd Feb: Khan reiterates need to see the plan to tackle behaviours urgently. Met apparently submits the first draft
9th Feb: Khan wants to see the aforementioned plan "within weeks"
10th Feb: Meeting is scheduled to discuss the plan, and following no updates to what had been sent previously, Khan is suitably unimpressed by report to extent that he formally "loses confidence" and she resigns

(corroborated by tail end of this guardian article)

For Khan, the final straw seemed to come on Tuesday last week, when he read the police watchdog report into the Charing Cross scandal. “It had been building up,” said one source.

In Khan’s statement responding to the shocking details, he talked about it reminding him of the 1970s and 80s and the police force of his childhood.

Dick was summoned last Wednesday to a meeting with Khan. According to a source, they spoke for 90 minutes but “she just did not get it”.

Dick felt Khan’s demands for radical and urgent change to the Met’s culture were unwarranted and changes were in hand. The mayor made clear Dick was “on notice” – and had to do more. [2nd]

By Friday she had sent Khan a letter, but the mayor’s team felt there was little or nothing new in it. [3rd]
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...le-effect-across-uk-on-confidence-in-policing
Discussions between City Hall and Home Office officials were underway, with central government aware the mayor was thinking actively of declaring he had lost confidence in the commissioner.

On Wednesday, Khan took to the media. Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, his tone had changed. In the interview Khan said the commissioner needed a convincing plan by their next meeting. He didn’t say the showdown would be the next day. [9th]

The following morning, Dick appeared on a phone-in on BBC Radio London, apparently determined to carry on.

She insisted she had transformed the Met, accepted there were problems but said she knew how to fix them, and insisted she had led the force “very well”.

For those in Khan’s team, the interview was hemlock. The end came within hours.

Khan was scheduled to meet Dick at his temporary offices in Southwark, south London at 4.30pm. Khan’s aides contacted the commissioner’s staff. They made clear that Dick’s revised plans for the Met were inadequate.

This was relayed to Dick, notorious in the past among colleagues for indecision. Not this time. She told City Hall she would not attend the meeting, and called the home secretary to say she felt she had no option but to quit.

I know you don't like Khan, but he had only ever asked to see the plan, and even the day before was happy to wait a couple of weeks for it, let alone demanding the urgent change within days! Dick was either arrogant or indecisive in not updating the plan despite the clear message she had been sent.

 

[nanstallon]

Ken Marsh, who leads the body representing rank-and-file officers in Britain’s largest force, claimed his members had “no faith” in Sadiq Khan, and needed to support any changes otherwise they would not work.

The arrogance of the policemen's trade union leaves me speechless! Like the last Tsar of Russia telling his ministers that he had lost confidence in the people.

A vigorous new broom is needed, and not just another plod who is steeped in police canteen culture. A lot of the problem with the police is the lack of a proper management system, so you just get a perpetuation of the same old attitudes and a fortress attitude of all closing ranks and covering up for each other.

 

[brad465]

Sajid Javid's brother has spoken:

Met Police: Some officers are racist, professional standards chief admits

Bas Javid pledges to remove racist staff, but some black officers say the issue is getting worse.

www.bbc.co.uk

A senior officer has admitted racism remains a problem in the Met Police, after two black colleagues told the BBC that discrimination was getting worse.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bas Javid told BBC Newsnight some officers "have racist views and are racist".
But he denied the Met was a "racist organisation".
One officer said a supervisor called him a racist slur, while another said senior leaders suggested black people were not clever enough for the Met.
Warning: This report contains offensive language
Mr Javid, who is the brother of Health Secretary Sajid Javid, said he was "extremely disappointed" to hear the allegations from the black officers - which include claims that the Met is failing to deal with complaints of racism and putting pressure on victims.
He said: "The fact that you've had officers or staff come to you to make allegations, what I'd like to see is an organisation where people feel comfortable to come forward and report it so we can deal with it effectively."

The culture of London's Metropolitan Police force has come under close scrutiny, with Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick resigning after London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was not satisfied with her response to the scale of the cultural change required.
Among his concerns were the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer last year, and a report into abusive behaviour at Charing Cross police station published earlier this month.
It found that between 2016 and 2018, officers shared messages that were highly sexualised, violent and discriminatory against women, ethnic minorities, LGBT people and disabled people - which they defended as "banter".
The two black officers interviewed by BBC Newsnight said there needed to be changes among the Met's senior leadership to root out racism and misogyny.
One said some senior leaders refused to admit there were issues with discrimination, while the other suggested the next commissioner should be recruited from outside the force.

Mr Javid ruled himself out as a possible successor to Dame Cressida and said it would be for the mayor and home secretary to decide if the next commissioner was a person of colour.
Asked if he accepted racism was a problem in the Met, he said: "Yes, I do."
He added: "What I would say is, there are people who have racist views and are racist and they are in policing. But what I won't do is describe the organisation as a racist organisation."
Mr Javid, who is responsible for professional standards, said there was "absolutely no room for racism in policing, especially here in the Metropolitan Police".
"If people are found to be racist or discriminatory in any way, then I will do absolutely everything I can to make sure they're removed from the police," he said.
But one of the officers who spoke to the BBC said racism within the force had got worse and officers accused of discrimination did not face adequate sanctions.
When he raised a complaint, he said the Met Police "put more pressure on the victim than the accused".
He said he felt like he was the one who had to move departments, while the accused stayed in the same job.
"There shouldn't be any other option than for them to lose their job," he said.
"Until that changes, I don't think much will change in the Met."

He's also rules himself out of becoming the next Chief Commissioner. I think it's safe to say that it would not be politically feasible to put him in that post, as even loyal Government supporters would see this as potential nepotism/cronyism and criticise it. There's already a potential conflict of interest having him in the post he's currently in.

 

[brad465]

Leaving on the 10th April next week, with her deputy taking over on an interim basis:

Cressida Dick: Met police chief announces leaving date

Dame Cressida says "it has been a tremendous honour to serve the people of London and the UK".

www.bbc.co.uk

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick will leave her role on 10 April.
Her current deputy, Sir Stephen House, will take over in the interim until a new Met chief has been appointed.
Dame Cressida quit in February when the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he had lost confidence in her leadership.
A spokesperson for Mr Khan said the next commissioner "must have a plan to restore the trust and confidence of Londoners".

High-profile scandals​

In a tweet, Dame Cressida said: "It has been a tremendous honour to serve the people of London and the UK."
The commissioner said she had to resign from the role after Mr Khan's intervention.
It followed a number of high-profile scandals involving the force, including cases of sexism and misogyny among some Met officers.
Last month, the police watchdog found "disgraceful" examples of bullying and sexual harassment at Charing Cross police station in central London.
Dame Cressida, the first woman to lead the UK's biggest police force, also faced criticism over the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer last year, and a series of other controversies.
Her successor will be appointed by the home secretary, in consultation with the mayor of London.

 

[nanstallon]

Not before time.

 

[Busaholic]

Not before time.

Which is how this thread started, so we've come full circle.

 

[nanstallon]

and it seems that she will get a nice, nourishing, golden handshake of £166K. Typical British reward for incompetence.

 

[AlterEgo]

I’m glad to see even an openly lesbian woman can fail upwards in our equal opportunities society. She should never have been appointed.

 

[Gloster]

It is fair to say that the job is an almost impossible one to do and the holder is likely to be shot at from all sides, but there are quite a few areas where I feel she got it wrong: the most serious (to my mind) was (*) that she was much too defensive whenever there was a suggestion of failings or wrongdoing by the Met. She seemed to be totally unable or unwilling to accept that there were bad apples, some of them absolutely foul, which meant that the problem only grew and the relationship between Londoners and the Met deteriorated. (N.b. I don’t live in London and my views of the Met are coloured by having lived there in the 1980s when they were out of control.)

* - I am glad that I can say was, even if there are still a few days to go.

 

[nanstallon]

It is fair to say that the job is an almost impossible one to do and the holder is likely to be shot at from all sides, but there are quite a few areas where I feel she got it wrong: the most serious (to my mind) was (*) that she was much too defensive whenever there was a suggestion of failings or wrongdoing by the Met. She seemed to be totally unable or unwilling to accept that there were bad apples, some of them absolutely foul, which meant that the problem only grew and the relationship between Londoners and the Met deteriorated. (N.b. I don’t live in London and my views of the Met are coloured by having lived there in the 1980s when they were out of control.)

* - I am glad that I can say was, even if there are still a few days to go.

This is the problem with the police. They constantly cover up for each other, and have this mentality of "us versus the public". So, even when they know there is a bad apple, they won't admit it and pretend that all coppers are saints. Now, in the legal profession, if a solicitor knows that another solicitor is helping himself to client's money he must report it or face the same disciplinary action as that bent solicitor. I believe it is the same in the Services. It is the police who have this covering up for each other culture, which is why I despise them so much. They really need someone who is not afraid to clean up the Augean stables, despite the opposition of the policemen's trade union, who apparently "have lost confidence in the mayor of London"! Talk about getting things the wrong way round!

 

[GusB]

Her current deputy, Sir Stephen House, will take over in the interim until a new Met chief has been appointed.

The same Stephen House who said he wouldn't take on another police job after he left Police Scotland under a cloud. Another one that has managed to fail upwards!

 

[nanstallon]

Can't they find anyone half decent to replace the incompetent Cressida Dick?

Yet again, the good old British culture of rewards for failure.

 

[brad465]

This is the problem with the police. They constantly cover up for each other, and have this mentality of "us versus the public". So, even when they know there is a bad apple, they won't admit it and pretend that all coppers are saints. Now, in the legal profession, if a solicitor knows that another solicitor is helping himself to client's money he must report it or face the same disciplinary action as that bent solicitor. I believe it is the same in the Services. It is the police who have this covering up for each other culture, which is why I despise them so much. They really need someone who is not afraid to clean up the Augean stables, despite the opposition of the policemen's trade union, who apparently "have lost confidence in the mayor of London"! Talk about getting things the wrong way round!

There's a very good reason no-one wrote a song called f*** tha Fire Brigade.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Could a chance to "disband the police", there is talk of this in the USA. Over to you, Home Secretary!

A new organisation could be formed instead, or rather several new organisations. I favor traffic policing being hived off and done efficiently. That would really be simple enough. If I were not retired, I might be interested in working in such an organisation.

The new organisations would be smaller with more focus and might thus be manageable unlike the present Met.

I have not seen stories about corruption in the BTP, is it a particularly efficient organisation because it can focus?

 

[nanstallon]

Could a chance to "disband the police", there is talk of this in the USA. Over to you, Home Secretary!

A new organisation could be formed instead, or rather several new organisations. I favor traffic policing being hived off and done efficiently. That would really be simple enough. If I were not retired, I might be interested in working in such an organisation.

The new organisations would be smaller with more focus and might thus be manageable unlike the present Met.

I have not seen stories about corruption in the BTP, is it a particularly efficient organisation because it can focus?

Yes, this is the kind of radical reform that might work. The new organisations would need to hit the ground running from Day One, and would need the right people in them. So, the bad apples need to be identified first, thrown out and replaced, then the new organisations have a clean sheet.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Apr 2022 ==

There's a very good reason no-one wrote a song called f*** tha Fire Brigade.

You still get morons who throw stones etc at fire engines, when those morons want a riot.

 

[jfollows]

This is the problem with the police. They constantly cover up for each other, and have this mentality of "us versus the public". So, even when they know there is a bad apple, they won't admit it and pretend that all coppers are saints. Now, in the legal profession, if a solicitor knows that another solicitor is helping himself to client's money he must report it or face the same disciplinary action as that bent solicitor. I believe it is the same in the Services. It is the police who have this covering up for each other culture, which is why I despise them so much. They really need someone who is not afraid to clean up the Augean stables, despite the opposition of the policemen's trade union, who apparently "have lost confidence in the mayor of London"! Talk about getting things the wrong way round!

It's worse than that, I think, in that a subset of senior police people take to a bully pulpit to lecture people on how to behave. The Blair policeman was one example of this, but a lot of them are at it. The good ones are the ones who stay quiet.
So, like you, I have little more than contempt for our police force, the way it is operated and managed in particular.
And, yes, when I resigned from two different jobs in the past I was rewarded a total of £0 for doing so.

EDIT And don't get me started on the £millions wasted by GM police on their IT systems when they fell into the old and well-known traps of failing to specify it properly and work with the future users of the system coupled with an arrogance that they needed a bespoke system to match their "unique" requirements. But that's well off-topic now!

 

[brad465]

Report suggests she was wrongly ousted:

Cressida Dick: Sadiq Khan intimidated Met chief into quitting- report

The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has criticised the review, describing it as "clearly biased".

www.bbc.co.uk

Dame Cressida Dick "felt intimidated" into stepping down as Metropolitan Police commissioner after an ultimatum from Sadiq Khan, according to a review.
She quit in February when the mayor of London said he had lost confidence in her leadership.
Priti Patel asked the then chief inspector of constabulary Sir Tom Winsor to carry out a review into the handling of Dame Cressida's exit.
Mr Khan said the review was "clearly biased" and "ignores the facts".
Dame Cressida said the report had found Mr Khan "did not follow due process and at times his behaviour was oppressive, unreasonable, entirely unacceptable and unfair".
Sir Tom's paper also notes that the mayor's actions were "not in accordance with the relevant legislation".

The former commissioner previously said she had to resign after Mr Khan made it clear he had no confidence in her leadership.
It followed cases of sexism and misogyny among some Met officers.
Dame Cressida, the first woman to lead the UK's biggest police force, also faced criticism over the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer last year, and a series of other scandals.

If true then that's concerning regarding reputations, but I would think many are not too bothered (unless successful legal action follows) given how despised and incompetent she was.

 

[Gloster]

As Winsor had on a number of occasions, including some at a very late stage, expressed support for Dick, he is hardly likely to be, or at least be seen to be, a totally impartial investigator. However, that is on Patel’s account as she chose him. The Mayor is supposed to hold the Commissioner to account and if s/he fails to deliver an adequate programme to deal with problems, it is not unreasonable for the Mayor to demand a revised and improved programme. If the Commissioner fails to provide such a revised programmme and does not even attend the meeting with the Mayor to explain, it is hardly surprising if the Mayor finally decides that they have had enough. Particularly if the Commissioner seems to be in denial about how serious the problems are and the resultant widespread loss of confidence in the Met.

Note: I don’t live in London and have only followed the story casually, so the above is my opinion, particularly the last sentence.

 

[AlterEgo]

If Ms Dick has felt intimidated or concerned she could simply have flagged down a bus for help, as one wag suggested on Twitter today.

 

[SteveP29]

If true then that's concerning regarding reputations, but I would think many are not too bothered (unless successful legal action follows) given how despised and incompetent she was.

I doubt if many will be bothered, but it will give the hard line right wing and anti Muslim groups of this country plenty to shout about, unfortunately

 

[GS250]

I doubt if many will be bothered, but it will give the hard line right wing and anti Muslim groups of this country plenty to shout about, unfortunately

Because he's incompetent as London Mayor surely the more relevant reason?

I don't think the 'hard right' (considering that its apparently made up exclusively of white males) will care less about the interactions between two individuals who in their eyes have been awarded preferential treatment to obtain their position.