The mayor of London has signalled he is prepared to try to oust the Metropolitan police commissioner in days or weeks over a series of scandals.
Sadiq Khan said he was “disgusted and angry” by recent failings and that he thought Cressida Dick lacked a plan to boost confidence in the police force, which had been “knocked and shattered”.
Last week, Khan said the commissioner was “on notice” after details emerged of messages shared among a group of 14 officers at Charing Cross police station between 2016 and 2018. Khan and Dick met last week for a 90-minute discussion that left the mayor unsatisfied.
On Wednesday, Khan told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he wanted action soon from Dick and also signalled that his trust and confidence in her leadership of Britain’s biggest force was under serious strain.
Khan said: “I have been quite clear to the commissioner: my expectation is the next time I see her I want to see what her response is to the examples not of one officer, of 14 officers being involved in racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic, Islamophobic and the like behaviour, nine of whom are still serving.
“Secondly, what her plans are to win back the trust and confidence that’s been both been knocked and shattered as a consequence.”
Asked if Dick still had his trust, Khan said: “That will be contingent upon the response from the commissioner the next time I see her.”
Khan said: “If it is the case that I no longer have trust and confidence in anybody who works for me, I’ll make that quite clear and take action.”
Khan said the two big questions for Dick to answer urgently were about the culture of the Met that fostered a series of scandals and what the plan is for winning back the trust and confidence of the public.
Other scandals include two officers taking photos at the scene where two sisters lay murdered in a London park, and the Met leadership’s mishandling of the case of Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a serving police officer.
Khan said inquiries announced by the Met and the home secretary could take too long, and urgent action was needed. Lack of confidence, Khan said, could deter people coming forward as victims and witnesses.
Khan is the police and crime commissioner for London, but Dick is appointed by the home secretary, who has to show due regard for the views of the London mayor.
It is thought, but not written down in legislation, that if the London mayor made it clear the Met commissioner no longer enjoyed their confidence, the commissioner would be likely to resign.
The Guardian understands the Home Office shares Khan’s concerns about the Met but so far has been less vocal about any desire to oust her, only months after her contract was extended by two years.
The most recent precedent is in 2008 when the then Met commissioner, Ian Blair, resigned after losing the support of the then London mayor, Boris Johnson.
Khan said his anger over the Charing Cross scandal was intensified by the fact so many investigated over the messages remained as police officers. “I think Londoners can’t understand why nine of these 14 officers are still serving,” he said.
One who had misconduct findings against them was promoted to sergeant, the Guardian revealed last week, while another who had no discipline finding against them was also promoted.
Khan said the scandals reminded him of horrifying police practices in the 1970s and 80s. “It was unacceptable then, but it is definitely unacceptable now,” he said.
A Charing Cross investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct revealed messages about the deaths of black babies and the Holocaust, prompting accusations of a culture of misogyny and racism. The IOPC stressed the incident was not isolated.
