Analysis
Viewpoint: an ‘unfair charge sheet’
Chris Hobbs reflects on his former boss’s two-year contract extension as Met Commissioner
Sections of the mainstream media reacted with vitriol to the announcement that Cressida Dick has been given a two-year contract extension. Such was the vindictiveness of the Daily Mail’s campaign that it devoted its front page to the cause together with an additional eight pages inside that one edition. This included the letter from ‘concerned individuals.’
It would be true to say that her term of office hasn’t been plain sailing and has frequently been blown off course by several storms. Her tenure has also not been helped by serving two bosses, namely a ‘rightist’ Home Secretary and a ‘leftist’ Mayor of London.
Cress, as she signs herself on emails to all ranks, was the Commander of Operation Trident during its halcyon days.
Whilst not directly a member of the command, I worked to Trident at both UK and Jamaican airports. It was whilst out in Jamaica, that I received news that my mother had died and so I returned to the UK on the first available flight. Even though I wasn’t technically one of her officers, Cressida sent me a long email expressing her condolences.
Just weeks afterwards, a brilliant immigration officer, who was a close friend of mine, committed suicide. Her death devastated colleagues and again, this prompted a lengthy email from the Trident commander who also sent a high-ranking Trident officer to the subsequent, packed memorial service apologising that she could not attend herself.
These examples illustrate why the Commissioner largely retains the loyalty of her officers.
Despite that loyalty the Commissioner’s period in office has been blighted by potholes and I would argue there were warning signs of trouble ahead when she was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner. One of her best attributes was her accessibility yet high ranking Met officers become surrounded by ‘staff’ and access becomes more difficult.
I then became part of Trident and concerns that it was losing its focus with the black community (and this was before the death of Mark Duggan) led me to try and speak to DAC Dick direct. I was thwarted at every turn.
There was another example of an officer – the longest serving black female officer in the Met – also attempting to contact her directly, but again was frustrated at every turn.
Even when she was appointed Commissioner, pleased as I was, that was tempered by concern that she would become remote and detached and was undertaking the role with baggage that would be used by those who were opposed to her.
The ‘charge’ sheet
The death of Charles De Menezes was a tragedy and has been frequently quoted by those who oppose her including the Mail. Of course, his death should never have happened and procedures have changed which should ensure that the chances of a similar occurrence repeating itself, are significantly reduced. Cressida Dick was specifically exonerated by the inquest jury yet that fact is conveniently omitted by her critics.
Also forgotten, is that this incident took place less than three weeks after the 7/7 terrorist attacks on London’s public transport system and the day after four terrorists attempted to cause additional carnage by exploding further devices. Fortunately the devices were faulty and only the detonators ‘popped.’
Operation Midland
This discredited policing operation against ‘VIP’ suspects, had its roots in 2014, when the head of the HMIC, Tom Winsor, decreed that those alleging sexual offences must be believed.
Allegations by ‘Nick’ aka Carl Beech, should have been disregarded much earlier than they were but clearly the allegations made by him had to be investigated.
Swirling around this flawed investigation are a number of relevant factors. These are best summed up by the recent interim report by the Independent Enquiry for Child Sexual Abuse. It concluded that there was no organised paedophile ring centred around Westminster but this was in no way giving the Houses of Parliament a clean bill of health.
The report went on to say; “it is clear that there have been significant failures by Westminster institutions in their responses to allegations of child sexual abuse. This included failure to recognise it, turning a blind eye to it, actively shielding and protecting child sexual abusers and covering up allegations.
“Several highly placed people in the 1970s and 1980s, including Sir Peter Morrison MP and Sir Cyril Smith MP, were known or rumoured to be active in their sexual interest in children and were protected from prosecution in a number of ways, including by the police, the Director of Public Prosecutions and political parties.”
Added to this mix is the very recent report on alleged sexual harassment of women by male MPs compiled by Dame Laura Cox which described the House of Commons as a “stark reminder of how bad things used to be” and said there was a culture of “deference, subservience, acquiescence and silence”.
Daniel Morgan
Attempting to work through the hundreds of pages that comprise the report into the brutal murder of Daniel Morgan and associated police corruption is a daunting task.
The MPS during Cressida Dick’s tenure is accused of some form of cover-up. The main concerns in the report in relation to Cressida Dick seem to revolve around earlier admissions by the Met that there was corruption but then failing to provide evidence which backs up that statement,
Back in the late 70’s and 80’s we were all aware that pockets of corruption existed within certain Met units yet if anyone asked us to produce evidence we could not. Our awareness was based on chatter and rumour yet the weight of it left us in little doubt. One rumour which rapidly spread after the murder of Stephen Lawrence was that local CID officers knew and associated with known local criminals linked to the suspects. We believed it but obviously could not provide evidence of it.
The report refers to corrupt practices unconnected with Daniel’s murder based on individual evidence. One example given was of CID officers drinking in pubs after work and driving home when the worse for drink; the inference clearly being that if stopped by colleagues no action would be taken once they identified themselves as police officers.
In fact, I can clearly remember, in the 80’s, being in charge rooms when arrested officers were brought in for ‘drink/drive’ and were subsequently charged with the offence which would invariably mean dismissal upon conviction.
Extinction Rebellion
Another criticism directed against Cressida Dick concerns the disruption caused by Extinction Rebellion protests. There is no doubt the actions of XR activists during the first protest in 2019 took the Met by surprise.
Large number of arrests created the additional problem of spaces in custody suites given that ordinary day-to-day policing had to continue. Despite the difficulties and not mentioned by critics, is the fact that over 1,100 arrests were made. In the second 2019 protest some 1,800 arrests were carried out.
The most recent protests in London saw massively reduced numbers of XR activists on the streets which resulted in their actions causing no more disruption on a daily basis than a moderately serious road accident. In all some 480 persons were arrested.
The Sarah Everard vigil
Whenever a media outlet lists Cressida Dick’s transgressions, they inevitably include the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard as an example of brutal, insensitive policing. Again, little attention is paid to the facts. The original organisers of the vigil withdrew but hundreds still turned out and a handful of mainly female officers facilitated the protest up until the minute’s silence at 6pm.
According to the Mail and other newspaper outlets, police stormed the bandstand and used unnecessary violence on the women who, in fact, wanted to hold a political meeting. Those present tell a different story.
Sky News produced a timeline backed up by footage which showed police politely asking those on the bandstand and in the crowd to disperse. Footage then showed police being abused and those present being encouraged to defy police.
Despite the hostility shown towards police by not just militant women’s groups but also by anti-Lockdown protesters, there were just seven arrests.There were no reported queues of injured protesters at local A&E units.
The Home Secretary ordered an inquiry to be carried out by the Inspectorate of Constabulary; an organisation mistrusted by police due to its constant criticism and failure to acknowledge the problems faced by police due to cutbacks.
The next two years
However unjustified criticisms of Cressida Dick may be, there are many areas where the Met, under this Commissioner, have driven both its officers and supporters to despair. The organisation is frequently caught like a rabbit in the headlights when criticism is hurled in its direction.
Met ‘comms,’ in other words both their public relations can only be described as woeful. In fairness, it occasionally wins applause; one example being the occasional BBC series, ‘the Met: Policing London.
The abundance of police ‘fly on the wall’ programmes such as ‘Police Interceptors,’ ‘Traffic cops,’ ‘The Force: Manchester, and ‘Road War’s,’ could well be credited as the primary reason why police approval ratings remain high despite the tsunami of hostility from the mainstream media.
Relations with the press have been fraught since Operations Weeting, Elveden and Tuleta which saw investigations into and arrests of journalists plus arrests of public officials including police officers.
There is a rich vein of positivity emanating from daily Met operations in terms of acts of effectiveness, bravery, kindness and compassion by its officers yet frequently, these remain hidden or are referred to by local police SM accounts, which, by and large, are viewed by those who are supportive of police in any event.
The extent and influence of London’s gangs is also very much underplayed by the Met. Stabbing and shooting incidents linked to gangs are often not referred to as such unless there is a trial where the defendants plead not guilty. In order that the public understand the pressures on police, factual reality needs to be an essential element of police communication.
There also needs to be a strategy based around the Commissioner that informs Londoners of the significant achievements of the Met’s officers. An occasional appearance on Nick Ferrari’s LBC morning show doesn’t really ‘cut it.’
As a starting point Cressida Dick could restore weekly local briefings for local journalists.
Protest, abuse and assault.
What has become a feature of protest is the ‘in your face’ abuse of officers who stand on cordons in front of people prepared to invade their personal space and hurl abuse and threats in ways that continental colleagues would never tolerate.
These all too frequent incidents are recorded on the body worn video of officers and could be released to the public. Similar abuse in other situations should also be placed in the public domain with particular emphasis placed on the abuse of black officers from those within the black community.
Poor Bloody Response. (PBR)
One image from Cressida Dick’s time as Commissioner illustrates her genuine concern for officers. At the last Notting Hill carnival, I saw her in full uniform making her way through the crowds accompanied by two casually dressed, nervous protection officers. Doubtless there were many officers performing duty at the carnival who would have been astonished to see the Commissioner approach them enquiring after their welfare.
Cartoon by ‘Wibble’
Yet the lot of the PBR officers appears of little concern to those at the top of the Met. As many reading this will know, it’s response officers who are the backbone of all police forces. They are the units who attend emergency calls on blues and two’s, who deal with violent incidents be they stabbings, drunken brawls, many road accidents, domestic violence and, in stark contrast, welfare calls. They also have to deal with those suffering mental health issues, sometimes for hours as well as spending much of their shifts guarding crime scenes. Many police public order events as Level 2 public order trained officers and, during the course of their duties are more likely to be abused and assaulted than other colleagues.
Increasing numbers of response officers are often relatively inexperienced and they will be responsible for mentoring those who are even more inexperienced than they are.
With CID and other investigative departments also under huge pressure, those at the top of the Met decided that response officers, in addition to their normal duties, will investigate certain ‘lower level’ crimes. Thus officers, already working ‘earlies, lates and nights’ have had this additional burden thrust upon them. Little wonder that many officers feel that this is not only unfair on them, given the huge pressures involved in policing London, but also grossly unfair to the victims of the crimes they are investigating.
CID in crisis
Similarly, the CID, is in crisis mode and faces significant recruitment problems as officers struggle with ridiculous case-loads. In days of yore, many new officers aspired to the glamour of working in plain clothes as detectives. Those days appear to have gone, at least for now.
It is surely incumbent on the Commissioner and her team to ensure that the public are aware of the huge pressures upon their officers and the fact that the Met cannot fulfil all the obligations that are being placed on it.
Mistakes too, need to be admitted and hiding behind the exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act should no longer be an option.
Green shoots of hope.
Shortly after her contract renewal, Police Oracle carried the story that the Commissioner intends that the Met will ‘overhaul its communications work to counter online and politically motivated challenges to the force’s work.’ At least this shows Cressida Dick’s awareness of a major a problem at the heart of the country’s largest police force.
Cressida Dick has two years left to go down in history as a Commissioner of note who really did make a difference. She has the support of her officers and by nullifying critics, using the achievements of those officers, she can win over many of the doubters including those from minority groups.
Chis Hobbs is a former Met officer who worked in Special Branch
Category: Management
Tags: LondonMetropolitan Police Service
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