Cressida Dick

Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, QPM (born 1960) is a senior officer in London's Metropolitan Police. Before 2005 she attracted little media attention, but became well-known as having been the officer in command of the operation which led to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. In June 2009, she was promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner, the first woman to hold this rank substantively. She holds the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished service.^[1]

Early life

The officer is third and youngest child of Cecilia Dick (née Buxton), an Oxford historian and Marcus William Dick,^[2] Senior Tutor at Balliol College, Oxford^[3] and later Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia.^[4] She was born and raised in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School (Oxford), Oxford High School, and Balliol College, Oxford. Before joining the police force she had worked in a large accountancy firm.

Police career

In 1983, she joined the Metropolitan Police as a Constable. In 1993, she joined the staff of the Accelerated Promotion Course at Bramshill Police College, and in 1995, joined Thames Valley Police as a Superintendent. She was Superintendent Operations at Oxford, and later, as a Superintendent, served as Area Commander in Oxford for three years. She completed the Strategic Command Course in 2000 and was awarded a Master of Philosophy degree in Criminology from the University of Cambridge, in 2001, with the highest grade of her class.

In June 2001, she returned to the Metropolitan Police as a Commander where she was head of the Diversity Directorate until 2003. She then became the head of Operation Trident, which investigates gun crimes within London's black community.

In the immediate aftermath of 21 July 2005 London bombings, she was the Gold Commander in the control room during the operation which led to the death of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, mistakenly identified as a suicide bomber, on 22 July 2005.

In September 2006, the Metropolitan Police Authority announced her promotion to the rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations and on 30 June 2009 the Metropolitan Police Authority announced her promotion to Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Specialist Crime Directorate.^[5] According to a BBC radio documentary, she is a supporter of the charity Common Purpose UK.^[6]

In July 2011, Dick was appointed Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations following the resignation of John Yates, who stepped down in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.^[7]

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://thepeerage.com/p19642.htm
3. ^ http://archives.balliol.ox.ac.uk/Past%20members/memorials.asp
4. ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=50HjSi5o8J0C&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=%22marcus+dick%22+balliol&source=bl&ots=hv7whcxH0G&sig=fEQ7epfaBOJZOPKx92QcP-jlZ8o&hl=en&ei=jbzeS969NoSi0gTQhZS_Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22marcus%20dick%22%20balliol&f=false
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7929210.stm
7. ^ "Phone Hacking: botched de Menezes operation officer now counter-terrorism head", Telegraph, 2011/07/19

External links

• BBC - The force behind Operation Trident

Police appointments
Preceded by John Yates	Metropolitan Police Service Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Crime Directorate) 2009–2011	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by John Yates	Metropolitan Police Service Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) 2011–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Dick, Cressida
Alternative names
Short description	Police officer
Date of birth	1960
Place of birth	Oxford, United Kingdom
Date of death
Place of death