Cressida Dick

Cressida Dick
CBE QPM
Cressida Dick on her first day as Commissioner
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Assumed office
10 April 2017
Deputy Craig Mackey
Home Secretary Amber Rudd
Sajid Javid
Deputy Mayor Sophie Linden
Preceded by Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe
Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations
In office
July 2011 – January 2015
Preceded by John Yates
Succeeded by Mark Rowley
Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Acting
In office
8 November 2011 – 23 January 2012
Preceded by Tim Godwin
Succeeded by Craig Mackey
Personal details
Born Cressida Rose Dick
(1960-10-16) 16 October 1960
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Nationality British
Domestic partner Helen
Alma mater Balliol College, Oxford
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Profession Police officer

Commissioner Cressida Rose Dick CBE QPM (born 16 October 1960)[1] is a British senior police officer, currently the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London. She is the first woman to take charge of the service, being selected for the role in February 2017 and taking office on 10 April 2017.

Previously she was a senior officer in the MPS. Dick served as acting Deputy Commissioner in the interim between Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin's retirement and his permanent successor, Craig Mackey, taking office at the end of January 2012.

Before 2005, Dick attracted little media attention, but became well known as having been the officer in command of the operation which led to the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. She was cleared of personal blame in a 2007 criminal trial.[2] In June 2009, she was promoted to the rank of assistant commissioner, the first woman to hold this rank substantively.

On 22 February 2017, the Home Office and the MPS jointly announced that she would be appointed as the next Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis by Elizabeth II, on the formal recommendation of Home Secretary Amber Rudd. She is the first woman to hold this rank.[3]

Early life

Cressida Dick is the third and youngest child of Marcus William Dick,[4] Senior Tutor at Balliol College, Oxford,[5] and Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia,[6] and Cecilia (née Buxton), a University of Oxford historian. She was born and brought up in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Oxford High School, Balliol College, Oxford, and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Before joining the police, she worked in a large accountancy firm.

Police career

In 1983, Dick joined the Metropolitan Police as a constable. In 1993, she joined the accelerated promotion course at Bramshill Police College, and in 1995, transferred to Thames Valley Police as a superintendent. She was operations superintendent at Oxford, and later, area commander in Oxford for three years. In 2000, she completed the strategic command course and, in 2001, she was awarded a Master of Philosophy in criminology from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, graduating with the highest grade in her class.[7]

In June 2001, she returned to the MPS as a commander, where she was head of the diversity directorate until 2003. She then became the head of Operation Trident, which investigates gun crimes within London's black community.

In the immediate aftermath of 21 July 2005 London bombings, she was the gold commander in the control room during the operation which led to the death of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, wrongly identified as a potential suicide bomber.[8]).

In September 2006, the Metropolitan Police Authority announced her promotion to the rank of deputy assistant commissioner, specialist operations. On 30 June 2009 the Metropolitan Police Authority announced her promotion to assistant commissioner, in charge of the Specialist Crime Directorate.[9]

In July 2011, Dick was appointed assistant commissioner, specialist operations following the resignation of John Yates in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.[10]

Dick was appointed acting deputy commissioner, and held the post between the retirement of Tim Godwin and the commencement of the new deputy commissioner Craig Mackey's term at the beginning of 2012. She held the rank until 23 January 2012.[11]

In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.[12]

Dick was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in the 2010 New Year Honours.[13]

It was announced in December 2014 that she would retire from the police in 2015 to join the Foreign Office, in an unspecified director-general level posting.[14][15][16] She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to policing.[17]

On 22 February 2017, the Home Office and the MPS jointly announced that Dick would be appointed as the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police by the Queen, on the recommendation of the Home Secretary Amber Rudd.[18] She assumed office on 10 April 2017; her first official engagement was that afternoon being at the funeral of PC Keith Palmer, the officer killed in the 2017 Westminster attack.[19]

Dick came out as gay in April 2017, making her the highest-ranked lesbian officer in British police history. Her partner Helen is also a police officer.[2]

Dick is negotiating with the government in an effort to increase funding for the MPS. She said to LBC, "[Terrorism] is a shifting threat, not a spike, that puts a strain not just on counter-terror police but neighbourhood officers. This is not sustainable for my police service."[20] Dick fears the MPS will need to find £400 million per year savings in addition to the £600 million annual savings they have already found. She fears this will make fighting crime harder. Dick said, “I find it incredible to think that anybody would think that over the next four or five years we should lose that much extra out of our budget.”[21]

Dick said she is sure cuts to police funding in London is one factor among others in rising violent crime in there. The Guardian has revealed that the number of police officers fell below 35,000 for the first time in 15 years. Dick responded, “I’m hoping that we will get to well over 30,500 officers, more than 500 more than we currently have, by the end of next year [2019].” Dick also blamed social media for growing violent crime. Dick said, “We are seeing the glamorisation of violence, we are seeing social media being used to taunt other gangs, to bring violence about very quickly.”[22]

Honours


RibbonDescriptionNotes
Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Queen's Police Medal (QPM)
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
  • 2002
  • UK Version of this Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • 2012
  • UK Version of this Medal
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal

References

  1. ↑ Dodd, Vikram (8 April 2017). "Cressida Dick: the Met's new commissioner needs her wits about her". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 Gerdes, Stefanie (19 April 2017). "London's highest ranking police officer quietly comes out". Gay Star News. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Ians (23 February 2017). "UK Appoints First Woman Scotland Yard Chief in 187-Year History". The Quint. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "Person Page 19642". The Peerage. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Jones, John (April 1999). "Memorial inscriptions". Balliol College, Oxford. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Sanderson, Michael (2002). The History of the University of East Anglia, Norwich. London: Hambledon and London. ISBN 1852853360.
  7. ↑ Wynter-Vincent, Naomi (2002). "Fitzwilliam Women's Dinner" (PDF). Optima. Cambridge University Press (2): 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  8. ↑ Edwards, Richard; Rayner, Gordon (12 December 2008). "Jean Charles de Menezes inquest: Jury reaches open verdict". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Metropolitan Police Authority appoints new MPS Assistant Commissioner Specialist Crime" (Press release). Metropolitan Police Authority. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Phone Hacking: botched de Menezes operation officer now counter-terrorism head". The Daily Telegraph. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  11. ↑ "Acting Deputy Commissioner Cressida Dick". Metropolitan Police Service. 27 December 2011. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011.
  12. ↑ "The Power List 2013". Woman's Hour. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "No. 59282". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2009. p. 25.
  14. ↑ "Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick to leave Met Police". BBC News. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Halliday, Josh (1 December 2014). "Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick to leave Met Police". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Peachey, Paul (2 December 2014). "Britain's top policewoman quits Scotland Yard for the Foreign Office". i.
  17. ↑ "No. 61092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2014. p. N9.
  18. ↑ "Met Police appoints first female chief Cressida Dick". BBC News. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  19. ↑ Davies, Caroline (10 April 2017). "PC Keith Palmer funeral: police pay tribute to officer's heroism". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  20. ↑ "UK's terror fight 'puts unsustainable strain on police'". BBC News. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  21. ↑ Dodd, Vikram (31 October 2017). "Met police chief warns further cuts will make it harder to fight crime". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  22. ↑ Met chief says budget cuts have contributed to rise in violent crime The Guardian
Police appointments
Preceded by
John Yates		 Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
(Specialist Crime Directorate)
2009–2011		 Succeeded by
Lynne Owens
Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
(Specialist Operations)
2011–2015		 Succeeded by
Pat Gallan
Preceded by
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe		 Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
2017–present		 Incumbent
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