Metropolitan Police Federation backs Cressida Dick extension, batting off ‘armchair critics’
The Metropolitan Police Federation has backed Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, batting off “armchair critics” who have called for her replacement.
Dick is set to be offered a two-year extension to her tenure, according to the Evening Standard earlier this week, ahead of exiting the role in April next year after five years leading the largest force in Britain.
“It is easy to comment and criticise from the sidelines,” the Metropolitan Police Federation said in a statement today. “Policing and police officers are an easy target for armchair critics.”
The Federation, a staff association of more than 30,000 officers, added that it “fully supports the extension” offered to the Commissioner.
“We know her to be an ethical, courageous and highly competent police leader who genuinely cares about London, its citizens and her officers.”
String of controversies
Prior to the extension, Dick’s successor would have been tasked with overhauling London’s police force after a string of controversies, including the Clapham Common vigil earlier this year, which the Federation mentioned.
“Many of the voices we hear calling for the Commissioner to go are the same ones who, following the Clapham Common vigil earlier this year, rounded on our colleagues criticising their work,” it said.
The vigil saw women peacefully gather in memory of Sarah Everard, a woman who was raped and murdered by a Met police officer.
However, the vigil was abruptly stamped out by officers looking to enforce Covid-19 social distancing rules, which lead to women being pinned to the floor and physically dragged away.
But Dick has batted off a barrage of resignation calls since then.
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.
The force was also said to have “a form of institutional corruption” in June, by an independent panel investigating the unsolved murder of the private detective Daniel Morgan in 1987.
Then came the Met’s security failures at Wembley Stadium during the Euro 2020 final in July, which sparked mass criticism.
The extension comes after claims that a suitable replacement could not be found, as the force looked for a candidate outside of the Met, in a bid to bring in a fresh pair of eyes.
Previously, national head of counterterrorism Neil Basu had been considered the frontrunner behind Dick – however, Basu has spent his career at the London force.