NEWS ONLY PLEASE Cressida Dick

Talking about surnames, my family name was Dickman! never had any bother, but my nephew, an officer in the RAF, changed his name when he got his commission!
Maybe Cressida will do the same thing.

After the unfortunate shooting of Jean Charles De Menenez it came to light that he had overstayed his visa by approximately 18 months - if he'd stuck to the rules then he'd very likely still be alive.

Cressida Dick has no case to answer in this case.

Good luck to her.

I don't care about her sexuality and I think it would be great that a woman has got for the job, were it not for her involvement in Charles de Menezes' tragic death.

The assumption is being made that she was chosen for PC reasons. Whilst I don't agree with her appointment, is it always going to be suggested that any woman who reaches senior office in any field of business or public service does not really merit her promotion but is merely there for equal opps purposes?

Perhaps no other suitable candidate fancies the job - other office holders have not exactly gone out in a blaze of glory. It might well be seen as a bit of a poison chalice, particularly these days when there are so many challenges and reduced funding.

IMO, a prestigious (high powered) promotion such as this, should always be on merit alone and if this is absolutely the case and she was the best person for the job, then that's fine. Good luck to her. If however she was given the job in order to satisfy some politically correct agenda then the post is almost worthless.

I would not prefer it if every officer was white, male and heterosexual but I would prefer that we did away with positive discrimination and every one was appointed on merit.

Precisely nettynora, should be the right person for the job regardless of gender. Doesn't seem like we have moved forward much.
I have a surname which can be misconstrued and the comments become very tedious.
Good luck to the new Commissioner.

I think she will do a good job, she has worked hard to get so far in the Police Force, yes she was in charge during that awful time but every-one was on edge after the tragic events of 7/7. If the "victim" hadn't jumped the barrier & hadn't overstayed his student visa he would have been alive today. I lived in Greater London & had many friends & colleagues who worked in London - it brought back memories of the IRA Bombing Campaigns - an unfortunate event but to my mind understandable

Right I'm off back to my bunker with my tin hat

I for one wish her all the best - it's not going to be easy

As for Commissioner Dick's "poor record", even the notoriously anti-police Guardian (yes, I admit I'm one of their readers) admits she has anything but.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/22/she-inspires-confidence-cressida-dick-the-mets-first-female-commissioner

But don't you know, nettynora, women in power are by definition just "make weights"?

Seriously? A woman gets to the top and all some other women can do is to poke fun at her name and remark on her sexuality? Every day in every way women struggle to be taken seriously. Surely they deserve at least basic support from their own gender who should, at the very least, applaud the effort and determination it has taken to rise to the top. Listen to the "classic" clip on Woman's Hour on Monday which demonstrated appalling sexism that no doubt the new Commissioner would also have faced at outset of her career will see how far she's travelled. Come on my fellow women - support each other and make it better for our GDs!

Indeed, ExaltedWombat. A lot of work has been done to try to redress the huge gender and race imbalance in the police force, and the culture of discrimination that held so many good people back for years. Things are changing, slowly, but it seems from this thread that some women would prefer it if every officer was white, male and heterosexual.

Don't worry, women won't be taking over any time soon. Nearly 31% of constables are female now, but less than 23% of senior officers are.

Interesting. I see WOMEN are allowed to be overtly sexist... Just saying.

Sadly, sexual orientation is one of the quotas to be filled......just as race, gender etc.......we don't get the best people for the job we get the make weights.....so that we can say we don't discriminate.

Why do you think every agency asks all those details about you?

No doubt however good at her job I could not suppress a imagining with a name like that the comments that will be made from those she 'upsets'.

So glad you said what I was thinking radicalnan

Mind you I don't think i would like to cross her she looks 'ard.

And what on earth has her sexual orientation to do with anything?

I agree with you, jollyg. She must be one tough woman to get where she has in possibly the most male dominated job going. Promotion certainly isn't handed out on a plate in the police service, and she's proved herself serving her time dealing with the dangerous, shitty and thankless jobs they all have to in the lower ranks. I hardly think being "posh totty" (what a horrible term!) would be a great advantage to her.

I'm sure there isn't a puerile joke about her name that she hasn't heard a thousand times.

Why does it seem that women are so often sent in to clear up the disasters left by men? May be that we're more practical but we always have to start with a mountain to climb. Somewhat unfair methinks but...more power to her elbow!

A woman and gay apparently, ticked some boxes......what a pity she didn't have one leg and red hair we'd have had the full house.

As for the name..........FFS posh totty with a poor track record and we are somehow supposed to be thrilled she got the job. Someone got murdered on her watch she ought to have had the bums rush.........like the pliticians not much to choose from really.

NO jokes about missionaries or we'll all be in detention!

I don't know anything about her, but she must be really tough to have got to her position in the police force with a name like that

Perhaps the thread title should have been "No sniggering at the back!"

willsmadnan

Perhaps she has been 'promoted to get her out of harm's way' as DH would say.
The Dilbert Principle:
Dilbert principle postulates that promotions in work places are a way to take out incompetent people from the front line, pushing them to upper levels where they will not have a scope to inflict much damage, so that the work will be carried on without obstruction by competent personnel who will never reach any managerial positions

Oops .... just realised there's an unintentional Freudian slip in the 2nd sentence of my posting . Nothing unintentional about my disgust however.