Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by whitelisting our website.

Priti Patel’s choice for Met Police chief ‘is open to the job’

Priti Patel's choice for Met Police chief 'is open to the job' 2

Priti Patel’s choice for Met Police chief ‘is open to the job’ as officials eye Dame Cressida Dick’s replacement

  • Dame Lynne Owens has been regarded as likely successor of Cressida Dick
  • But Dame Lynne, who has recovered from breast cancer, said she was unsure whether to put herself forward for job 
  • Dame Lynne acknowledged that new commissioner would need to address issues which had eroded public confidence  
Advertisement


Advertisement

Priti Patel’s preferred candidate for the Scotland Yard top job yesterday suggested she was interested, declaring she could bring some value to the post.

Former National Crime Agency director-general Dame Lynne Owens has been regarded as a certainty to succeed Dame Cressida Dick as Met commissioner should she throw her hat into the ring.

Dame Lynne, who has now made a full recovery following the breast cancer diagnosis which led to her departure from the NCA last September, said she was unsure whether to put herself forward for the biggest job in policing.

Advertisement

In an interview with Radio 4’s World at One, she said she would investigate potential new recruits and existing officers ‘like you would a criminal’ to weed out any bad apples.

Stressing that she had agreed to do the interview before Dame Cressida announced her resignation last month, Dame Lynne said: ‘Do I think I could bring some value in that post? Of course I do. But I am not yet at the position where I can give you a clear answer on what I intend to do.’

Former National Crime Agency director-general Dame Lynne Owens (left) has been regarded as a certainty to succeed Dame Cressida Dick (right) as Met commissioner should she throw her hat into the ring

Former National Crime Agency director-general Dame Lynne Owens (left) has been regarded as a certainty to succeed Dame Cressida Dick (right) as Met commissioner should she throw her hat into the ring

Advertisement

Dame Cressida resigned when London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was not happy with her response to revelations about offensive messages exchanged by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station.

A damning report revealed jokes between officers about killing black children, rape and domestic violence were commonplace and passed off as ‘banter’ among colleagues based at the central London station.

The revelations followed a string of scandals for the force, including Sarah Everard’s murder at the hands of firearms officer Wayne Couzens, and two officers who were jailed after taking and sharing photographs of two murdered sisters at a crime scene.

Advertisement

Asked what any incoming commissioner would need to do, Dame Lynne said that on top of cutting crime the force would need to tackle the issues that had eroded public confidence.

‘Wayne Couzens was a criminal. He was a criminal who abducted a young woman off the street using his position as a police officer,’ she said.

‘So I think there has to be more to focus on anybody who could have a potential criminal background who is employed in policing.’

Advertisement
Dame Cressida resigned when London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was not happy with her response to revelations about offensive messages exchanged by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station

Dame Cressida resigned when London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was not happy with her response to revelations about offensive messages exchanged by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station

Dame Lynne, who was chief constable of Surrey Police before taking her role at the NCA in 2015, added: ‘There is no place in policing for criminals. There is no place in policing for people who are racist, homophobic or misogynistic.’

She said the Metropolitan Police needed to foster a culture in which officers were confident enough to call out poor behaviour or report their colleagues when necessary.

Advertisement

And recruits should be vetted in the same way that a criminal might be investigated, to ensure only the right sort of individuals enter the force, she added.

‘Let’s start with understanding intelligence about people who are working in the organisation or applying to the organisation and target those people like you would a criminal,’ Dame Lynne said.

Dame Cressida agreed to stay on temporarily to ensure ‘stability’ in the Met. It is not yet known when she will leave.

Advertisement

It also remains unclear if she will still be in charge at the completion of the potentially explosive Partygate inquiry into alleged pandemic rulebreaking in Downing Street.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

About The Author