The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has told rogue officers to “get out now, otherwise we will find you” as she insisted she was still the right person for the job.
Dame Cressida Dick said she was “seething angry” about racist, misogynist and homophobic messages exchanged by officers.
Her comments came after a series of disturbing messages exchanged by a group of officers, primarily based at Charing Cross police station, were published by a watchdog last week.
I have absolutely no intention of going and I believe that I am and have been, actually for the last five years, leading a real transformation in the Met
Speaking to BBC Radio London on Thursday, she said she had boosted the force’s anti-corruption command in a bid to root out other officers with similar views.
She said: “I am seething angry about the whole thing. I’m very glad that the four individuals have left.
“There is no place in the Met for sexism or racism or homophobia, for abuse of trust or for bullying, and in the last few days I have gone out extremely strongly to my colleagues and told them enough is enough.
“This is a fantastic police service. It is hugely capable in so many ways, but its reputation has been tarnished by the awful things that you were hearing about there in relation to the impact team at Charing Cross and also, some other awful things have happened and come to light in the last several months.
“So I am absolutely determined that we will be getting out there and rooting out any further individuals.
“I’ve already said, if you have those attitudes or behaviours, get out now. Otherwise, we will find you and I have a whole new team which will be helping me root out individuals and, indeed, where there are dysfunctional or toxic teams, rooting those out too … But if we do have people who are like the four that left at Charing Cross, they’re not welcome in my Met.”
When asked if she should step down following the scandal, she said: “I have absolutely no intention of going and I believe that I am and have been, actually for the last five years, leading a real transformation in the Met.
“We have a service now which is, I’m absolutely certain, more professional, fairer, more transparent, more accountable and closer to its communities and more effective in, for example, reducing violent crime, which has been going down year-on-year-on-year in almost every category, bucking the national trends.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) published WhatsApp and Facebook messages which were uncovered as part of an investigation into behaviour in the Charing Cross team between 2016 and 2018.
Some 14 officers were investigated as a result, with two found to have a case to answer for gross misconduct. One was sacked and another resigned before he would have been dismissed.
Dame Cressida said another two had already left while in some of the other cases the IOPC found “no further action should be taken”.
She said one of the officers had “already been promoted before they started being investigated” and there was “no finding of guilt” against a second who was also promoted.
I expect to be held to account, it’s a big job and I’m quite used to being asked to account for things and I will go on doing so in the future
“I think one of the problems that we’ve got is that an impression has been given to many people that all the officers were equally culpable. And the IOPC has been very clear that some of them were not culpable at all, and some of them were culpable only at a lower standard,” she added.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said on Wednesday that his continued trust and confidence in Dame Cressida hinges on how she addresses the culture at the force and her plan to win back the trust of the public.
Dame Cressida said: “I expect to be held to account, it’s a big job and I’m quite used to being asked to account for things and I will go on doing so in the future.”
Having appointed Baroness Casey to carry out a review of culture and standards in the force, Dame Cressida told the radio programme that she had asked her to “go absolutely anywhere she likes in the Met, and everywhere”.
Responding to questions from listeners, she insisted she was doing a good job at running the Met, adding: “I have been working as hard as I can.
“I think about my leadership all the time. I’m not an arrogant person. I do adapt, I do change. I have absolutely done my very, very, very best and I will continue to do so till the day I finish as commissioner.”
