Dame Cressida Dick to stay on as Met police chief – report
Embattled Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick is set to be offered a two-year extension to her tenure, according to a report this afternoon.
The Evening Standard this afternoon reported Home Secretary Priti Patel is preparing the offer that will keep Dick in post until 2024.
The Commissioner has been the subject of criticism in recent years on a range of issues, including the wave of knife crime across the capital and the force’s response to high profile events.
The Met’s heavy-handed response to protests after the murder of Sarah Everard, in which young female protestors were physically dragged away from a peaceful vigil, attracted calls for Dick’s resignation.
Some politicians have also been less than impressed with a perceived softly-softly response to disruptive protests, including those of Extinction Rebellion.
And Dick herself has been forced to publicly apologise to Team GB athlete Bianca Williams after an aggressive stop and search which led to her being dragged from her vehicle.
She was also criticised for initially refusing to grant access to an internal police database to an inquiry looking into possible police corruption surrounding the investigation of the death of Daniel Morgan in 1987.
Dick’s extension will be formally announced this month if all sides are happy with the terms, reported the Standard.