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The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in London introduced on Thursday that she would step down, beneath stress from the mayor over experiences of bullying, misogyny and racism on the power.
In an announcement, the commissioner, Cressida Dick, made clear that she had misplaced the help of London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, lower than two weeks after a report from England’s official police watchdog described London cops routinely making jokes about rape and exchanging racist messages.
Ms. Dick’s management had additionally come beneath intense scrutiny after the kidnapping, rape and homicide of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old London lady, by a Metropolitan Police Service officer in March 2021. The killing fueled broader considerations about misogyny inside policing, and violence in opposition to ladies and women.
“It’s with big unhappiness that following contact with the mayor of London at the moment, it’s clear that the mayor not has ample confidence in my management to proceed,” Ms. Dick mentioned in her assertion on Thursday. “He has left me no selection however to step apart as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.”
At Mr. Khan’s request, Ms. Dick, 61, mentioned she had agreed to remain on for a “brief interval” whereas the service transitioned to a brand new commissioner.
Mr. Khan mentioned on Thursday that he had made clear to Ms. Dick final week “the size of the change I consider is urgently required to rebuild the belief and confidence of Londoners within the Met and to root out the racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying, discrimination and misogyny that also exists.”
“I’m not glad with the commissioner’s response,” he mentioned in an announcement.
“On being knowledgeable of this, Dame Cressida Dick has mentioned she might be standing apart,” Mr. Khan continued. “It’s clear that the one method to begin to ship the size of the change required is to have new management proper on the prime of the Metropolitan Police.”
A onetime beat cop within the metropolis’s West Finish, Ms. Dick turned the first lady to guide Scotland Yard in its 188-year historical past when she was appointed in 2017.
A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge, she led the police power by means of a tumultuous interval that included a terrorist assault on London Bridge and close to Borough Market that killed eight individuals in 2017, a devastating fireplace that 12 months in Grenfell Tower, a high-rise residential constructing, that killed 72 individuals and, extra not too long ago, large-scale protests over regulation enforcement practices.
“I’m extremely happy with my staff and all they’ve achieved,” Ms. Dick mentioned. “Since Day 1, tackling violence in all its varieties has been my No. 1 precedence.”
However she added: “The homicide of Sarah Everard and lots of different terrible instances not too long ago have, I do know, broken confidence on this unbelievable police service. There’s a lot to do — and I do know that the Met has turned its full consideration to rebuilding public belief and confidence.”
After the police watchdog report was issued, the police service mentioned that the actions detailed inside it did “not characterize the values” of the power. However Mr. Khan advised the BBC this week that he needed Ms. Dick “to win again the belief and confidence that’s been each knocked and shattered as a consequence of those instances.”
On Thursday, Mr. Khan thanked Ms. Dick for her “40 years of devoted public service,” and her work in lowering violent crime. He mentioned he would work with Priti Patel, the British house secretary, on the appointment of a brand new commissioner.
In an announcement, Ms. Patel thanked Ms. Dick for her devotion to public service and mentioned that, as the primary feminine police commissioner, Ms. Dick “exemplified the more and more numerous nature of our police.”
“She can be the primary to say she has held the function throughout difficult instances; but for practically 5 years she has undertaken her duties with a steadfast dedication to defending our capital metropolis and its individuals — together with in the course of the unprecedented interval of the pandemic,” Ms. Patel mentioned.
Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, mentioned in a statement that Ms. Dick had “served her nation with nice dedication and distinction over many many years.”
“I thank her for her function defending the general public and making our streets safer,” he mentioned.
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