Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick accuses Home Office of ‘stepping back’ on soaring crime and failing to bring in facial recognition tech
TOP cop Cressida Dick has accused the Government of shying away from soaring crime.
The commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police said the Home Office has “stepped back a lot”. She said: “I do see a greater leadership role for the Home Office than the one they have chosen to take recently.
“Three years ago there was a sense that the police should transform and there are areas where that is really difficult. It has got to be led.”
The Scotland Yard chief criticised the failure to introduce laws to allow officers to use facial recognition technology which can compare live video footage to a database of villains.
It has prompted a backlash from civil liberties groups but Ms Dick said the police had been left “hamstrung”.
Talking to The Daily Telegraph after the 119th murder in the capital this year, she added it would be easier to tackle violent crime if she had funding for more officers.
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She said: “It appals me that young people are killing other young people. It is disgusting and awful.”
Home Secretary Sajid Javid has urged Scotland Yard to “get the situation under control”.
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