Ministers and the mayor of London gave a comprehensive assessment of the state of the capital’s police in a job advertisement for a new commissioner in order to urgently eradicate violations that undermine public confidence.
The ad is looking for candidates to replace Cressida Dick, who left in February after Mayor Sadiq Khan lost faith in his ability to draw strength from a series of scandals, with the Interior Ministry refusing to save her.
The focus of the job advertisement to become the best police officer in the UK in 2017, when Dick won the post, was on the fight against crime. While there is still a focus on this in the new ad, it also calls for transformation and inspiring leadership and emphasizes the need to address issues affecting Britain’s greatest power.
The ad says: “It has become clear that significant and sustainable improvements need to be made within [Met] to restore public confidence and legitimacy in the UK’s largest police force.
Applicants will need to have an “achievable plan to restore the trust and confidence of Londoners,” the ad said.
He called for “empowering the leadership to address concerns about police behavior and addressing institutional culture”, adding that a successful candidate must restore public confidence, “especially [among] women and girls and those from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities ”. The job will include tackling “serious power gaps,” the ad said.
A separate recruitment information document for £ 293,000 a year states: “This will include the provision of a police force that better reflects London’s diversity and the application of a strong ethical framework of conduct for [Met]eradicating unacceptable behavior at all levels, including misogyny, racism and homophobia.
Scandals of race, homophobia, and police treatment of women plagued the Metropolitan, but the behavior and response of the leadership to them worried the government and the mayor’s office, as well as Dick’s defensive stance.
The next commissioner will eventually be chosen by the secretary of state, who must take into account the views of Khan, who is also commissioner for police and crime in London.
One potential Metropolitan Commissioner-designate said the enthusiastic ceremonies organized by officers to mark Dick’s departure seemed to see the past five years go well, adding: “Metropolitans don’t think they’ve done anything wrong.”
Potential candidates include former anti-terrorism chief Sir Mark Rowley, who left police four years ago and co-authored a novel. Lynn Owens, who has resigned as director general of the National Cancer Agency, is also considering applying after positive medical news.
If Matt Jux, the current head of Metropolitan’s counterterrorism, applies, he will be a candidate representing a new generation of police leaders. Devon and Cornwall’s chief police officer, Sean Sawyer, can also apply, and is said to have impressed the Home Office in his national role as presenter.
Among the big attackers who are unlikely to apply are Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council; Dave Thompson, the respected Chief of the West Midlands; Simon Byrne, of the Northern Ireland Police Department; and Neil Basu, once considered Dick’s successor but considered by the government to be inflexible.
Basu is believed to have done very well in his interview to be the next head of the National Crime Agency. This post has been delayed.
Sir Stephen House is Met’s acting commissioner, while Dick is on leave and officially ceases to be commissioner later this month.
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