London Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick Resigns Amid Mounting Backlash

Earlier Thursday, Dame Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis, expressed that she had "absolutely no intention of going" and argued that she had been "leading a real transformation in the Met" over the past five years. Calls for Dick's resignation come amid a slew of allegations, including racism, misogyny and favoritism.

Commissioner Cressida Dick, 61, announced in late Thursday memo that she has decided to step down from her post after finding out that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, "no longer has sufficient confidence" in her leadership.

"He has left me no choice but to step aside as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service," Dick wrote in a statement.

The outgoing commissioner detailed that she will honor Khan's request to remain with the Met "for a short period to ensure the stability" of the force.

Khan, in his own statement on the matter, asserted that the only way the Met can rebuild its trust with the immediate community is by replacing the force's leadership.

"I would like to thank Dame Cressida Dick for her 40 years of dedicated public service, with the vast majority spent at the Met where she was the first woman to become Commissioner," Khan wrote.

"In particular, I commend her for the recent work in helping us to bring down violent crime in London — although of course there is more to do."

The Mayor of London also reiterated his calls for the Met to "root out the racism sexism homophobia, bullying discrimination and misogyny that still exists."

"It's clear the only way to start to deliver the scale of change required is to have a new leadership right at the top."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he has accepted Cressida Dick's resignation as Commissioner of the Met Police.https://t.co/iTwh7O4WfO

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— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 10, 2022

Earlier in the day, Dick pushed back against assertions that she was "complacent" with the current state of the Met, which has faced backlash from Khan since it was revealed that officers at Charing Cross police station were issuing racist and Islamophobic messages, as well bragging about violent acts against women.

"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," the commissioner said to BBC Radio London.

"I have been leading the Met very well," Dick said earlier.

Watch: Dame Cressida Dick has told BBC Radio London she has "absolutely no intention" of leaving her post as Commissioner of the Met Police.

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— BBC Radio London (@BBCRadioLondon) February 10, 2022

The commissioner also expressed that there was "no place in the Met for racism and sexism and for bullying."

Moving forward, an independent and far-reaching review of the Met's standards is set to be conducted by Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock. The review, which comes in the wake of Sarah Everard's murder, will examine the force's recruitment, vetting, and training procedures.