London Police head quits after string of scandals
India Today
Mayor Sadiq Khan had recently threatened to oust head of London’s Metropolitan Police Cressida Dick from her role, saying she wasn’t doing enough to reform the Metropolitan Police, Britain’s largest police force.
The head of London’s Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, on Thursday said she is resigning after a string of controversies that undermined public confidence in the force and prompted a falling out between her and the capital’s mayor.
Mayor Sadiq Khan had recently threatened to oust Dick from her role, saying she wasn’t doing enough to reform the Metropolitan Police, Britain’s largest police force, and tackle growing accusations of misogyny and racism within her ranks.
Khan said late Thursday it was clear the only way to overhaul the force urgently was to have “new leadership right at the top of the Metropolitan Police.”
Dick, who has headed the force since 2017 and is the first woman to lead Scotland Yard, said it was with “huge sadness” that it has become clear that Khan “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,” she said in a statement.
Dick, 61, added that she will stay in her role for a short period to ensure the force’s stability while a replacement is found.
A report last week by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog, condemned misogyny, bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment among a dozen officers, most of them based in central London’s Charing Cross police station.
