Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said she is “deeply concerned” (David Parry/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)The murder of Sarah Everard must be a springboard for serious reform. Writing in today’s paper, Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick announced she will soon release details of an action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, as well as a figure to lead a review into the force’s professional standards and internal culture.
This is welcome but to mark a line in the sand and rebuild public trust, much will depend on implementation. Change will require government action on the following points:
- Misogyny is the hatred of women. It should be made a hate crime.
- As of March, 32.4 per cent of police officers were female. The proportion of women holding more senior roles was lower still — just 26 per cent of officers ranked Chief Inspector or higher were female. This must change.
- We need a serious plan to weed out the “boys’ culture” across police forces.
- The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s full investigation must be published urgently.
- Anyone caught engaging in wildly inappropriate WhatsApp messages or other such acts should be punished.
The past decade has seen cuts to police, prosecution service, probation and the courts. These have had a real impact on our criminal justice system. It is time now for the Prime Minister to lead.
The safety of women is not a niche issue — they are half the population and entitled to walk the streets of London or anywhere they please without fear.
