Speculation in the British media about the next head of Scotland Yard has been high since the May 4 application deadline. But it isn’t the calibre of any of the potential applicants that’s in question: It’s whether—and why—anyone would want the job.
The salary of £292,000 pounds (about $366,000 US) is by far the largest salary offered to chief officers for what is the biggest and most difficult job in British policing. The role itself has become the most scrutinized and political of posts.
The ousting of Dame Cressida Dick in February 2022, and the way it was done, has put many people off from applying for what would be the pinnacle achievement in any police career.
Home Secretary Priti Patel had been tapping chief constables on the shoulder and encouraging them to apply for the vacant position. As reported in The Crime Report earlier this year, the Home Office had also cast its net as far afield as Australia in an effort to attract the best candidates.
At this writing, Sir Mark Rowley, a former Chief Constable and director of the UK Anti-Terrorism unit, is by consensus the top prospect in an all-male field of candidates..
Rowley, 57, retired in 2018 to become an author. But he’s considered young enough, with sufficient drive and ambition, to run a force of 43,000—the largest police agency in the nation.
Why are there no women—especially at a time when the UK police force has been under fire for its “misogynist culture”?
Dame Lynne Owens, the only woman thought to be connected to the pool of potential applicants, has apparently withdrawn her name from consideration.
Owens retired early as Director General of the UK National Crime Agency due to serious illness, but since recovering was thought to be tempted.
Perhaps Dame Cressida’s experience put her off.
Dame Cressida lost the confidence and support of Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, having having been mired in numerous controversies during her four-year tenure. Khan said publicly that he no longer felt she could restore trust and confidence in the Metropolitan police, and she resigned as the pressure became inexorable.
It is widely felt across the policing community that Dick was unfairly treated. The Home Secretary has ordered an inquiry into how her resignation unfolded and whether proper process was followed.
But that has only made the task of finding her replace more complicated.
It’s crystal clear that the problems at the Metropolitan police are enormous, and the failure of Dick and the leadership to come to grips with racism and homophobic culture has done serious damage to the image of a police force once seen around the world as a watchword for policing excellence.
Today, many officers are in fact fleeing its ranks, as I wrote a year ago.
For many the idea of having a male officer as the next Commissioner would not be the answer, and particularly one who has served at the Metropolitan police previously.
Someone who can lead the charge to change the toxic culture of misogyny and homophobia and rekindle support from London’s women public has been named by the press as Lucy D’Orsi, the current Chief Constable at the British Transport Police.
But it isn’t known whether she has applied.
The selection process for the interested candidates commenced May 9, with a series of exercises and testing. Interviews will then take place in the week beginning May 23, after which the top candidates will meet with the Mayor Of London, the Home Secretary and the Policing Minister.
The successful candidate will then require Royal Assent by the Queen before appointment.
The pressure that will be heaped upon the new Commissioner by the Mayor, the Home Office, and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary is bound to be huge.
Culture change is never easy, particularly in an organization like the Met, where behaviors are entrenched, and opinion will be divided as to whether the successful candidate should be a complete newcomer or someone with a history of working there in the past.
One thing is certain: the scrutiny of the Commissioner’s performance will begin as soon as he or she steps behind the desk—and it’s unlikely to be relieved for as long as the newcomer is in office.
As Dame Cressida Dick eventually experienced, something that seems very good when it is first received, may in fact do great harm to the person who receives it.
A poisoned chalice indeed, whichever way you look at it.
Gareth Bryon is a former Detective Chief Superintendent who worked as a senior officer in the South Wales Police and the British Transport Police, where he led major crime investigation and forensic science services for over 30 years.