By Sammie Jones-
Cressica Dick may be on her way out after Sadiq Khan telling her she must deliver a convincing plan at their next meeting.
The failure of Scotland Yard to tackle a series of scandals that have rocked the force has dramatically affected the credibility of the force.
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Last week’s revelations about messages circulating among officers at Charing Cross police station between 2016 and 2018, discussing the deaths of African babies and the rape of women, laid bare the deep lows to which the police have sunk.
Khan has expressed concern that he lacks a plan to address the lack of trust and confidence in the Met since she became commissioner almost five years ago. Khan made it clear the Met commissioner was in a perilous position, saying she was “on notice”.
The London mayor expressed anger at the 14 officers at Charing Cross who were caught expressing racist, misogynistic and discriminatory views, and who felt they were acceptable . Khan has also expressed concern that the root of the problem could be systemic.
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He said: “What is clear to me that is this is not isolated. This is not historic. It is not one [rogue] police officer there are issues of culture …
“That is why I need to be reassured, as the mayor of London and PCC, that the leader of the police service gets it, in terms of the importance to root this out.”
He was further angered that an officer was promoted despite having been found to have committed misconduct.
Boris Johnson as London Mayor declared he had lost confidence in Met commissioner Ian Blair, who then resigned. A similar scenario might be awaiting Cressica Dick.
Anxiety levels have been rising among the Conservative government about the country’s biggest and most high-profile police force.
Officials at the home office and City Hall have “opened channels of communication” to discuss the crises plaguing the Met and the commissioner’s future.
The Whitehall source added: “We are now looking at the options if the Mayor declares no confidence.”
Responding to the question that Khan, their political opponent, could be bluffing, the source said: “The train is only going one way at City Hall.”
Dick’s term would have finished in April this year, but in September she was granted a two-year extension, approved by Patel and backed by Khan.
The mood among the Met leadership was downbeat. They feel they have plans in place after dealing with a crisis over race, and announced their own inquiry into the aftermath of Sarah Everard’s kidnapping, rape and murder by a serving Met officer in March 2021.
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