Looking back to when I joined, some areas of policing were barred for women. So you couldn’t do full public order training, you couldn’t carry a firearm as a woman in the Met until 1988, there were no women dog handlers, and there was probably one woman in CID. Cressida Dick Read Quote
But a sense of – in old-fashioned speak – ‘I am OK, I do deserve to be here, I can do what I want to do, I can be myself, I can express myself’ is really important as you go into the working world. Cressida Dick Read Quote
Some male colleagues, just as in accountancy, had doubts about whether women could perform some roles. There was a sense that women needed more protection or if men were out on the street they would be distracted by having to look after a female colleague. Cressida Dick Read Quote
But I have on occasion suddenly realised that some men feel slightly threatened by, or slightly baffled by, or confused by, possibly even now, by having a woman in… a very powerful role. Cressida Dick Read Quote
I long for the day when we can all be ourselves, whoever we are, and express ourselves in whatever way we like, and we don’t have these kinds of funny constraints in our heads that make us feel ‘Ooh, there’s a different power relationship because that’s a man and that’s a woman’. And we still get that. It’s not helpful. Cressida Dick Read Quote
When I joined there was probably one woman in the CID office and one in the crime squad and just two of us on a team of about 40 or 50 people. Cressida Dick Read Quote
Being a firearms officer is incredibly highly scrutinised now, and I think it is one of the things that puts off quite a lot of people. And if you think that you are more visible in that role as a woman, you might feel slightly less inclined to go into it than a man. Cressida Dick Read Quote
I want to see traditional policing with a modern flavour. I am completely committed to local, visible policing, but we have to modernise. There are such opportunities for people to interact with police through the digital sphere that we have not achieved yet. Cressida Dick Read Quote
There is something about putting the uniform on. You’ve got a role to play, to be calm, to lead other people, to go forward when everyone else is running away. It gives you a sense of, not of courage but, ‘It’s my job.’ Cressida Dick Read Quote
I am all about teams. I think I have probably got a reasonably relaxed style as a senior leader, I am pretty demanding, I am known as tough, not a soft touch, but I try to be friendly and I want my staff to feel they can come up and chat to me. Cressida Dick Read Quote
