Cressida Dick has been in the Metropolitan Police since 1983.
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The head of the Metropolitan Police Cressida Dick has said that the force “still has a long way to go” to achieve gender equality.
Ms Dick paid tribute to the first women police officers at a special service at Westminster Abbey marking 100 years of women in the Met.
Thousands of current and retired office gathered to mark the occasion.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said:
“The Met has changed so much, and now we have women in every role and every rank. We’re celebrating not just those early pioneers but all women in between who have achieved so much.
“Those women, as they say, upon whose shoulders we stand.
“The current generation, we wouldn’t be where we are today without them.”
Currently, 27% of officers in the Met are women. Ms Dick became the first woman to hold the senior post in 2017.
Cressida Dick before a special service on Friday, marking 100 years of women police officers in the Met. Credit: Press Association
Ms Dick said the job has changed a lot for women over the course of her career: “It’s changed hugely, I’ve been a police officer since 1983 and there are so many more women.”
“In the last 15 years, every single role has genuinely been open to women. Specialisms, ranks, we’ve got women doing anything and everything.
“When I joined, it tended to be one on this team, one on that team. Certain things weren’t open to women at all.
“I loved it then and I love it now but it is utterly different.”
She added: “If people do look at somebody like me and think, ‘well, if she can do it, I can do it. I feel a bit different and she looks a bit different, so I might have a go’ – that’s brilliant, that’s great.”
Ms Dick heads up a campaign encouraging more women to get to senior ranks within the force.
The campaign, Strong, is the Met’s first recruitment drive specifically aimed at women, and which prioritises tackling gender stereotypes.
“Already about a third of the Met is women. I think it could be much more and in particular amongst police officers, it’s only 27% at the moment. I don’t understand why, in the future, it wouldn’t be 50%,” she said.
“We’ve got a long way to go, we’re working really hard to inspire women to join us in a variety of different ways.
“But also to make the workplace an even better place for men and women to be.”
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Standfirst
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HeadlineMet ‘still has a long way to go’ to achieving gender equality
Short HeadlineCressida Dick calls for gender equality in the met
StandfirstMs Dick became the first woman to hold the position of Metropolitan Police Commissioner in 2017.
The head of the Metropolitan Police Cressida Dick has said that the force “still has a long way to go” to achieve gender equality.
Ms Dick paid tribute to the first women police officers at a special service at Westminster Abbey marking 100 years of women in the Met.
Thousands of current and retired office gathered to mark the occasion.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said:
“The Met has changed so much, and now we have women in every role and every rank. We’re celebrating not just those early pioneers but all women in between who have achieved so much.
“Those women, as they say, upon whose shoulders we stand.
“The current generation, we wouldn’t be where we are today without them.”
Currently, 27% of officers in the Met are women. Ms Dick became the first woman to hold the senior post in 2017.
Cressida Dick before a special service on Friday, marking 100 years of women police officers in the Met. Credit: Press Association
Ms Dick said the job has changed a lot for women over the course of her career: “It’s changed hugely, I’ve been a police officer since 1983 and there are so many more women.”
“In the last 15 years, every single role has genuinely been open to women. Specialisms, ranks, we’ve got women doing anything and everything.
“When I joined, it tended to be one on this team, one on that team. Certain things weren’t open to women at all.
“I loved it then and I love it now but it is utterly different.”
She added: “If people do look at somebody like me and think, ‘well, if she can do it, I can do it. I feel a bit different and she looks a bit different, so I might have a go’ – that’s brilliant, that’s great.”
Ms Dick heads up a campaign encouraging more women to get to senior ranks within the force.
The campaign, Strong, is the Met’s first recruitment drive specifically aimed at women, and which prioritises tackling gender stereotypes.
“Already about a third of the Met is women. I think it could be much more and in particular amongst police officers, it’s only 27% at the moment. I don’t understand why, in the future, it wouldn’t be 50%,” she said.
“We’ve got a long way to go, we’re working really hard to inspire women to join us in a variety of different ways.
“But also to make the workplace an even better place for men and women to be.”
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