Britain's police chief has resigned as he himself is the subject of a criminal investigation into old charges, the Home Secretary announced this weekend.
The director general of the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) Michael Lockwood announced his immediate departure on Friday, citing "
personal and domestic reasons
".
But on Saturday evening, Interior Minister Suella Braverman clarified the reasons for the departure of the boss of the IOPC, in a general context of crisis of confidence in the British police.
The Minister said in a statement that she had to “
act immediately
” after learning that “
Mr Lockwood was under police investigation on old charges
”, and that she had ordered her administration to “
Ask him to resign
”, otherwise he risked “
Immediate suspension
”.
According to the
Sunday Times
, the charges against him, the nature of which has not been specified, date back four decades, when Michael Lockwood, now 63, was in his twenties.
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The British police have recently been rocked by a succession of high-profile cases, foremost among them the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young London girl by a police officer, sentenced to life imprisonment for these acts, and a series of scandals highlighting racist and misogynistic behavior in its ranks.
A police service inspection report in early November also highlighted the extent of flaws in the recruitment and vetting of officers.
