Met chief defies calls to quit over policing of Sarah vigil
THE head of the Metropolitan Police has said she will not stand down despite calls for her to quit over her force’s actions at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard.
Dame Cressida Dick said what happened to the 33-year-old “appals me” and made her “more determined, not less” to lead the organisation.
She welcomed the Home Secretary’s request for an independent investigation into the events – which she described as “fiendishly difficult policing”.
In ugly scenes on Saturday night, officers clashed with crowds who had gathered on Clapham Common to remember the marketing executive.
Dame Cressida said: “What happened to Sarah appals me. As you know, I’m the first woman commissioner of the Met, perhaps it appals me, in a way, even more because of that.
“What has happened makes me more determined, not less, to lead my organisation.
“I’ve listened to what people have been saying in the last week, I know that in the streets all across the UK women don’t feel as safe as we would all like women to feel. I am utterly determined.”
She said that “all the women and men of the Met are outraged at what has happened and they’re working as hard as they can to get justice for Sarah”. “In that context, none of us would have wanted to see the scenes we saw at the end of yesterday’s events,” she added.
Earlier on Sunday, Priti Patel asked the Chief Inspector of Constabulary to conduct a “lessons learned” review into the events. The Home Secretary spoke with Dame Cressida, having received her report into the police’s actions at the vigil.
The Metropolitan Police later said four people were arrested for public order and coronavirus regulation breaches.
Last night hundreds of protesters have chanted “shame on you” as police officers stood guard at New Scotland Yard, before marching to Parliament Square.
Officers erected barriers around the Metropolitan Police headquarters and the group of demonstrators, many holding placards aloft, spilled over on to the road next to the River Thames.
Sisters Uncut, an organisation describing itself as a feminist group taking direct action for domestic and sexual violence services, said it would be holding the rally.
On Sunday, the group tweeted: “Police are perpetrators of individual and state violence against women – as evidenced last night.
“The police abuse the powers they already have, yet the government plans to give them even more powers in the #PoliceCrackdownBill.
“We must resist this.”
Banners in the crowd said “Men your silence is deafening” and “Cressida you’re a woman too”, while protesters shouted: “Sisters united will never be defeated.”