LONDON (Reuters) – London police chief Cressida Dick resigned on Thursday, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said, after he told her he was not satisfied she could root out the racism, sexism and other problems that still existed within the force.
Confidence in London’s Metropolitan Police has been shaken in recent years by revelations including the abduction, rape and murder of a woman by one of its officers and a culture of bullying, racial discrimination and misogyny in a central London police station.
Khan said he had made clear to Dick the scale of the change he believed was urgently required to rebuild the trust and confidence of Londoners in the Met and to expunge racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying, discrimination and misogyny from it.
“I am not satisfied with the Commissioner’s response,” he said, adding that on being informed of this, Dick had offered her resignation, which he had accepted.
“It’s clear that the only way to start to deliver the scale of the change required is to have new leadership right at the top of the Metropolitan Police,” Khan said.
Dick said she was left with no choice but to stand down.
“It is with huge sadness that following contact with the Mayor of London today, it is clear that the Mayor no longer has sufficient confidence in my leadership to continue,” she said in a statement.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by John Stonestreet)
