Why Cressida Dick must go

After the murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, I have come to the conclusion that Cressida Dick needs to go. Yes, it’s easy to call for the resignation of a Metropolitan Police Commissioner. Things go wrong in the policing of London and when the mistakes are big enough, there will be calls for heads to roll. Often, such calls are just another way of expressing anger. But not only has Cressida Dick failed to produce tangible improvements over the past four years: under her tenure, things have become significantly worse.

I was a police officer for 30 years and I’m afraid there is much truth in what critics of the police say. The problem exposed by Couzens is not confined to a few rogue officers. The Met is still stained by racism and misogyny; Cressida Dick may have begun her career determined to change this, but somewhere along the way she has given up.

The culture is at its worst in specialist groups like the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) branch. Units of this nature have a sub-culture with fewer checks and balances. In the borough-based uniform units, offensive language is less tolerated. In the specialist groups, a laddish culture develops. ‘If you can’t take a joke, you shouldn’t have joined,’ they say.

Their banter has licence to be sexist, racist and homophobic because the supervisors don’t challenge it. Many of them are afraid of the career constables who intimidate them. When supervisors are too anxious to reprimand their subordinates, it creates a safe haven for sexual predators and other extreme and criminal behaviour. A few years ago, steps were taken to reform the PaDP but they were not carried out fully because the long-standing officers objected to them.