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She was the first woman to hold this office: London's chief of police, Cressida Dick
Photo: ANDY RAIN/EPA
London Police Chief Cressida Dick has announced her resignation in the face of several scandals.
After losing the trust of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, she has "no choice" but to step aside.
Dick said in a statement "with great regret".
She will remain in office until a successor is appointed.
The 61-year-old became the first woman to head the London Metropolitan Police in 2017.
Khan has previously expressed doubts about Dick's approach to the necessary culture change in the police force.
Khan thanked the officer, who has served 40 years in the police force and four years as chief, for her services.
In her statement, the 61-year-old admitted that the police had to rebuild a lot of the trust that had been lost among the population.
The London police had recently caused a stir with racism, sexism, misogyny and the murder of a young woman by a police officer.
The London police were also criticized for the late investigation into the lockdown parties in the government district.
In early February, an independent investigative agency published a report denouncing the "shocking" behavior of British police officers in a variety of ways.
Accordingly, between 2016 and 2018, police officers from a specific department exchanged racist, sexist, homophobic and violent messages via WhatsApp and Facebook.
The agency concerned has since been closed.
Mayor Khan was "completely disgusted" by the behavior of the police officers.
The police officer who arrested a young woman on a pretext in March 2021, then raped and killed her, has since been released from the police service and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case sparked a heated debate about women's safety and police internal security policies.
atb/AFP/dpa
