Dame Cressida ‘proud’ of Met’s achievements in past five years

DAME CRESSIDA Dick has said she will reflect on what more she and others could have potentially done during her time as Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

As her tenure draws to a close tomorrow, the Met’s most senior officer said she was “really proud” of what the force had achieved in her five years in the job, adding that it is “much more diverse, much more professional and bigger” with more than 34,000 officers employed.

She announced on February 11 that she would quit after London mayor Sadiq Khan expressed his displeasure with her response to widespread public outrage over offensive messages exchanged by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station.

It was one of a string of controversies that plagued her during her time in the role, alongside the murder of Sarah Everard by then-serving police officer Wayne Couzens, the jailing of two Pcs who took pictures of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, criticism of how the force handled the partygate scandal and the Daniel Morgan report which blasted the Met’s failure to tackle corruption.

During a visit to the Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre in Gravesend, Kent, Dame Cressida, inset, reinforced that the move was not her decision, stating that the mayor “caused me to say that I would step aside”. Her visit was part of a series of outings prior to her final days in office, which was finalised with a passing out parade at Hendon in London. After arriving in Gravesend, Dame Cressida was applauded by firearms officers and public order officers who presented her with a certificate following her 40 years of service.