Cressida Dick
Sir Stephen House | |
---|---|
Home Secretary | |
Mayor | Sadiq Khan |
Preceded by | Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe |
Succeeded by | Sir Mark Rowley[a] |
Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for Specialist Operations | |
In office 18 July 2011 – 1 January 2015 | |
Preceded by | John Yates |
Succeeded by | Mark Rowley |
Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis | |
Acting 8 November 2011 – 23 January 2012 | |
Preceded by | Tim Godwin |
Succeeded by | Craig Mackey |
Personal details | |
Born | Cressida Rose Dick 16 October 1960 Oxford, England |
Alma mater | |
Profession | Police officer |
Dame Cressida Rose Dick
Dick joined The Met in 1983. From 1995 to 2000, she was a high-ranking officer in the
Dick's career has included several significant crises and controversies,
On 10 February 2022, Dick announced she would be leaving the role after losing the confidence of Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, over her response to racism and misogyny in the force.[3] Dick left office on 10 April 2022.[8] In January 2023, it was revealed that part of the reason for Dick's ousting was the Met's handling of the case of serial rapist David Carrick, a Met police officer.[9]
Early life
Dick was born on 16 October 1960 in Oxford, where she was brought up.[1][10] She is the third and youngest child of Marcus William Dick (1920–1971),[11] Senior Tutor at Balliol College, Oxford,[12] and Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia,[13] and Cecilia Rachel Dick (née Buxton, 1927–1995),[11] a University of Oxford historian, daughter of Wing Commander Denis Alfred Jex Buxton, granddaughter of the banker and politician Alfred Fowell Buxton, and great-granddaughter of Thomas Jex-Blake, headmaster of Rugby School.[14]
Dick was educated at the
Before joining the police, Dick worked briefly in a large accountancy firm.[5] Some years later, she took a course in criminology at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, gaining a Master of Studies degree in 2000[18] and graduating at the top of her class.[15]
Police career
In 1983, Dick joined the Metropolitan Police as a constable,[5] patrolling a beat in the West End of London.[19] Within a decade she had been promoted to chief inspector.[19] In 1995, she transferred to Thames Valley Police,[5][20] where she was initially a superintendent and then chief superintendent and area commander for Oxford.[20]
She returned to the MPS in 2001 as a commander and head of the diversity directorate.[20] In 2003, she became the head of Operation Trident,[15] which then numbered 300 officers.[21] Operation Trident investigates gang- and gun-related crime;[15][21] as head of the unit, Dick was credited with progress in reducing crime among "Yardie" drug gangs.[15]
Dick was commander of
In 2006, the
In July 2011, Dick was appointed assistant commissioner, specialist operations (responsible for the MPS's
In 2011 Dick was appointed acting deputy commissioner, and held the post between the retirement of Tim Godwin and the commencement of the new deputy commissioner Craig Mackey's term at the beginning of 2012.[29] She held the rank until 23 January 2012.[30]
Commissioner
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
On 22 February 2017, the
Dick assumed office on 10 April 2017; her first official engagement was the funeral of PC Keith Palmer, the officer killed in a terrorist attack at the Westminster Bridge, outside the Palace of Westminster, the previous month.[42]
As commissioner, Dick has criticised police budget cuts, saying that they inhibit the MPS's operations, including
Dick expressed concern in 2018 about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, saying that it would be costly and place the public at risk by reducing or eliminating the UK's access to databases, quick extradition processes, and law enforcement cooperation with other EU member states.[47][48]
To combat an increase in
Dick's official portrait as commissioner was unveiled in July 2019. The oil painting, which Dick paid for from her salary, depicts the commissioner in front of a map of London, wearing a police shirt rather than full tunic uniform. Dick sat for twenty hours for the portraitist Frances Bell. The painting hangs at the Hendon Police College alongside portraits of her 26 male predecessors. While portraits are usually unveiled after a commissioner has stepped down, Dick's portrait was unveiled as part of celebrations marking the centenary of the first woman joining the Met.[52][53]
Criticism of Dick's tenure has focused on the MPS's actions in the aftermath
During Dick's tenure, racial disparities in the MPS's use of
In 2018, Dick launched a campaign to increase the proportion of female officers in the MPS. At the time, 27% of Met officers were women; Dick aimed to increase that figure to 50% over time, although she did not set a target date.
Dick has defended the controversial police use of live facial recognition systems.[64][65] In 2018, Dick said that police were "hamstrung" by legal limitations over the use of facial recognition.[65] in 2020, after the Royal United Services Institute issued a report recommending regulations on police use of the technology, Dick said that privacy campaigners were "ill-informed" and that facial recognition was a valuable tool to apprehend "the criminals, the rapists, the terrorists and all those who want to harm you, your family and friends."[64]
Dick has been critical of the depiction of police in the television drama Line of Duty; in 2019, while accepting that the police procedural was "good drama" and could raise public interest in the police, Dick said she was "absolutely outraged" at the show depicting "casual and extreme corruption" as a common occurrence in policing.[66]
In March 2021, Dick was criticised for Metropolitan Police's handling of a vigil for
In the 2021 report into the murder of Daniel Morgan, Dick was criticised for hampering efforts to gain access to important information, causing delays in the report's release.[6][7]
In February 2022 a report was released by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) accusing officers at Charing Cross Police Station of misogyny, racism, discrimination, bullying and sexual assault and suggesting these were not isolated cases within the police force.[75]
On 10 February 2022, Dick announced her resignation as Met Commissioner, stating that "the Mayor no longer has sufficient confidence in my leadership".[76] Ian Blair, a former Met police commissioner, has said Boris Johnson should not be involved in appointing Dick's successor due to being subject to a police investigation over possible breaches of COVID regulations.[77] Dick left office on 10 April 2022.[8] Sir Stephen House took over the role as Acting Commissioner until a successor, Sir Mark Rowley, was appointed in July 2022.[78][79] In January 2023, Met police constable David Carrick pled guilty to 49 account of sexual offences against twelve women, and lifted reporting restrictions revealed that the Met's mishandling of his case was part of the reason Dick had been ousted.[9]
Personal life
Dick came out as lesbian in April 2017, making her the highest-ranked openly gay officer in British police history. Her partner, Helen, was an Inspector in the MPS in South London before retiring in 2017.[80][81]
Honours
Dick was awarded the
In 2013, she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.[85]
Ribbon | Description | Notes |
Order of the British Empire (DBE) |
| |
Queen's Police Medal (QPM) |
| |
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal |
| |
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal |
| |
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal |
| |
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal |
Scholastic
- Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships
Location | Date | School | Position |
---|---|---|---|
England | 2 December 2019 – present | Balliol College, Oxford | Honorary Fellow[87] |
England | Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge | Honorary Fellow[88] |
- Honorary degrees
Location | Date | School | Degree | Gave commencement address |
---|---|---|---|---|
England | 2015 | University of Westminster | Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.)[89] | Yes |
England | 19 July 2018 | Cranfield University | Doctorate[90] | Yes |
Wales | Cardiff Metropolitan University | Doctorate[91] | Yes |
Notes
- ^ Stephen House acted from 10 April 2022 to 12 September 2022
References
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KBE/DBE Cressida DICK CBE QPM Commissionerof the Metropolitan Police Service. For public service.
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