Future of London police chief Cressida Dick in the balance after abusive messages furore

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan says she will be judged on how she deals with latest controversy

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has been told her future is at risk if she fails to deal with the culture atn Scotland Yard. AFP

The future of London’s under-fire police chief, Cressida Dick, depends on how she handles the fall-out from a scandal prompted by revelations that officers shared racist and abusive messages.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said his continued trust and confidence in the first female leader of the force rests on how she deals with the culture at the force and how she plans to win back public trust.

His comments came after a series of disturbing messages by a group of officers between 2016 and 2018, which included racist, homophobic and misogynist themes, were published by a watchdog last week.

The watchdog wrote of a culture in which officers felt unable to report the behaviour of colleagues.

Ms Dick’s position has been questioned since an off-duty serving officer kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard, 33, as she was walking home in March 2021.

The incident led to wider protests over what was seen as the force’s failure to tackle violence against women. The protests were stoked further when a demonstration by women in a London park was broken-up by officers because it breached lockdown rules.

Ms Dick faced further controversies after the force launched a criminal investigation into Downing Street parties and requested cuts to an official report that put the future of Prime Minister Boris Johnson at risk.

Mr Khan’s role is significant because he is responsible for holding the commissioner to account and is consulted by Home Secretary Priti Patel over who is appointed to the role.

But the pair last year backed a two-year extension to her contract, to run until 2024. Reports suggested that Ms Patel was concerned about the quality of her potential successors if she left in April.

She has strong backing of the rank-and-file officers but Doreen Lawrence, an influential campaigner and opposition politician whose son Stephen was killed in a racist attack in 1993, had called for her to go because of incompetence and cover-ups.

Asked if Dame Cressida still has his trust and confidence, Mr Khan told the BBC: "That will be contingent upon the response from the commissioner the next time I see her.

“The next time I see her I'll expect to see a response to the two big questions that I posed.

"So the first part of what I expect to see is – what is the response from the commissioner as to how she intends to address the culture, address the situation, where too many police officers are behaving in a way that's unacceptable?

“And secondly, what is the plan to win back the trust and confidence in the public in relation to the police service that police our capital city?"

Nine of 14 officers involved in the WhatsApp group that shared messages are still serving officers, while a former officer is still employed as a contractor in a staff role.

Two have been promoted, Mr Khan said. One was sacked and one resigned.

"I think Londoners can't understand why nine of these 14 police officers are still serving,” Mr Khan said. “I've asked that question.”