Commander Cressida Dick, in charge of the operation that mistakenly shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes, is now Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dick.
The Health and Safety hearing into Mr de Menezes' death (the only legal proceedings concerning his killing) has been ajourned to give the Metropolitan Police more time to consider their plea. But although those proceedings are still pending, Dick has been promoted. It was her responsibility to authorise the Kratos shoot-to-kill policy, which resulted in Mr de Menezes being shot seven times without warning while he sat quietly on a tube train (see earlier post).
The Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation into the shooting found that firearms officers thought she had cleared them to shoot, while Dick herself told investigators she intended for de Menezes to be arrested outside the tube station. Admittedly, she was failed by inaccurate intelligence about Mr de Menezes from the bungled surveillance operation, but whether or not it was her screw-up or someone else's is irrelevant. She was in charge, so she should share some of the responsibility. That may seem harsh, but that's the job; the outcome of her command actions cost an innocent man his life.
