Yard chief says police should be more open with journalists

POLICE officers should be more open and transparent with journalists and should not treat them like criminals, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has said.

Cressida Dick, who took over at Scotland Yard in April, said she wanted to “reset the relationship” between officers and the media, who were both often “working towards the same goals”.

In a speech to the Society of Editors in Cambridge, Ms Dick said it was time to move on from the problems of the past and find ways to have a more constructive relationship.

Her comments come after the phone hacking scandal and subsequent Leveson Inquiry, which criticised the closeness of the relationship between the police and the press, and Operation Elveden, following which a number of officers were jailed for taking bribes.

Lord Hogan-howe, Ms Dick’s prede- cessor, was often accused of stifling communication between the media and the police, with critics suggesting officers were worried about engaging with reporters for fear of being sacked.

But she said she was determined to improve things and said her officers should not be frightened about talking to reporters in the future.

She said: “The basic message is do not be afraid, get out there and do it… If you are qualified to speak about something and you are doing it for policing reasons, rather than you fancy having a chat, I will forgive mistakes.”

She added: “However, a relationship with a journalist should not be categorised in the same way as a relationship with a criminal – that sends out the wrong message.”