Dick is out – but she took the easy way to avoid the wrath of Khan
Cressida Dick: #DickOut campaign for her removal followed claims that she had not ended “institutional racism” by the Met Police. But worse allegations have ended her tenure at the top of the UK’s flagship police service.
Cressida Dick has resigned from her role as Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
But she took the easy way out. London Mayor Sadiq Khan had challenged her to clean up the police service she headed and instead she took the option where she got to relax with a fat pension.
Khan had reached the limit of his endurance after a series of scandals involving the police service for London.
The Independent Office of Police Conduct had found “disgraceful” misogyny, discrimination and sex harassment among officers at Charing Cross police station.
Previously Dick had been heavily criticised for the conduct of the Sarah Everard case, in which a woman was raped, murdered and her body burned by a Met Police officer.
He wasn’t the only one to (allegedly) victimise women – several other officers have been charged with offences against women since that time.
Dick’s own conduct was referenced in an independent report that accused the force of institutional corruption over the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan, and before she became Commissioner she was in charge of the operation that led to the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
When her fellow Balliol College, Oxford, alumnus Boris Johnson was accused of having taken part in Covid-19 lockdown-busting parties in 2020, the Metropolitan Police unaccountably decided not to investigate the apparent crimes.
Instead, officers waited until Cabinet Office Secretary Sue Gray delivered evidence of the events – including 300 images – before investigating the allegations of crimes behind the doors their colleagues guard 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks per year and through which they appear to have watched civil servants carting suitcases – suitcases – full of booze.
Now, with increasingly damning evidence becoming available, Dick has decided to take the option presented to her by Sadiq Khan, and get out while the getting’s good.
And we’re all fine with that – are we?
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
The thinking of her supporters seems to be that she wasn’t given the time and space to address the issues facing the Met. But none of the issues the Met faces are in any way ‘new’ Articles always give the most recent examples of their failings but exactly the same issues faced the Met when she took over. She has done absolutely nothing to address any of it since, she’s had FIVE YEARS and hasn’t even started. She regarded institutional racism as ‘dealt with’ and ‘didn’t recognise’ that officers were racist, sexist misogynists who were corrupt homophobes.
Now the government will choose who overseas the investigation into umm…them. No one can think this other than a huge conflict of interest. Even with words unspoken the chilling effect means there will be no believable investigation whatever (even though that was extremely doubtful) and any failings will be blamed on Dick (which is mostly fair, but now no effort will be made with a ready made scapegoat)
This is the force that hires those sacked from elsewhere for violent conduct and allows former prisoners into its ranks. That’s its starting point and from there it goes down. It has the worst reputation of any force in the UK and is arguably the most important. I note you mention Dick’s killing of Jean Charles de Menezes under Operation Kratos. What caused outrage was that they killed an innocent man, but what SHOULD be causing outrage is that the Met engages (and still does) in extrajudicial killings. No effort is made to arrest, they do not identify themselves and they kill regardless if there is a threat or not. We can’t question anyone so killed to see what they know and they are presumed to be guilty and yet it continues. Do democratic countries send their police out to assassinate people on the streets of their capital in front of terrified onlookers?