Chequered history of first female chief

Cressida dick’s reign as Metropolitan Police commissioner has been overshadowed by controversy over bungled operations and investigations:

1983: She joins the Met as a constable after a brief foray into accountancy.

1993: Becomes a tutor on the accelerated promotion course at Bramshill Police College before transferring to Thames Valley Police as a superintendent.

2000: Completes strategic command course.

2001: Joins Met as a commander and heads Operation Trident investigating gun crime in London’s black communities.

July 22, 2005: She is the gold commander of an armed terror operation in wake of London bombings which mistakenly shot dead Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes in Stockwell Tube station. Met guilty of errors including an ‘utterly chaotic’ control room. She is exonerated.

2008: Sir Ian Blair, her mentor, sacked by London mayor Boris Johnson after a string of cock-ups.

2010: Receives the Queen’s Police Medal.

2015: Awarded a CBE for services to policing. A damehood follows four years later.

April 2017: Appointed as first female Metropolitan Police commissioner with a brief to modernise the force and keep it out of the headlines.

July 2017: Close ally Helen Ball is appointed as an assistant commissioner.

October 2018: Sir Stephen House, a former boss, appointed deputy commissioner and another chain in the Teflon shield being built around her.

April 2019: Extinction Rebellion protesters bring London to a standstill over several days with the Met powerless to prevent the chaos. Dame Cressida says the numbers involved were far greater than expected and used new tactics but she admits police should have responded quicker.

September 2019: Her role in setting up of shambolic probe into alleged VIP child sex abuse and murder is revealed but she declines to answer questions.

2020: Official report into Operation Midland said Met was more interested in covering up mistakes than learning from them.