London’s Metropolitan Police Authority has named four senior officers provisionally selected for appointment to the rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner.
The officers, Chris Allison, City of Westminster Commander, Cressida Dick, Commander, Specialist Crime Directorate, Alf Hitchcock, currently temporary DAC Territorial Policing and Janet Williams, Commander, Directorate of Strategy, Modernisation and Performance will be appointed as and when positions become available.
interviews were led by MPA Chair Len Duvall with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair acting as police advisor.
Announcing the appointments Mr Duvall said each candidate “displayed the strategic knowledge and operational skills necessary to tackle the important role of Deputy Assistant Commissioner.”
Referring to the appointment of Cressida Dick who was in charge of the operation in which Jean Charles de Menezes was shot by officers under the impression he was a suicide bomber, Duvall acknowledged there were “some sensitive and unprecedented circumstances involved” but insisted that “candidates were chosen on the basis of their application and ability”
Welcoming the appointments Sir Ian said the role of “Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Met is always a challenging one” which “demands strong leadership skills combined with sound policing experience at all levels”.
A spokesman for the de Menezes family condemned the news saying the family “cannot understand how this can possibly be happening…we have not even seen the beginning let alone the end of the legal process as to who is culpable and responsible for the death of an innocent man.
“How can the Metropolitan Police Authority give the green light to promote Cressida Dick, someone who is centrally involved in the court case?”
