Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat Londonwide Assembly Member, commenting on the appointment of Cressida Dick as the next Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police Service and the Met’s very first woman Commissioner, said:
“The Metropolitan Police was founded by Robert Peel who declared 188 years ago that the police are the public and the public are the police. Today it feels as if that principle is finally being put into practice with the capital at long last having a woman Commissioner.
“Cressida Dick takes over the running of the Met when it probably faces some of its greatest challenges in its long history.
“She has to deal with severe pressures on the Met’s budget just at a time when knife crime is rising and the threat of terrorism is ever looming. Other challenges now facing the Met stretch from dealing with rising hate crime through to addressing the severe criticism the Met recently received from HMIC as to how it has inadequately dealt with numerous child abuse investigations in the past.
“Cressida Dick deserves every support as she sets about addressing these huge issues and ensuring London is safe for everyone.”