Priti Patel is scouring Australia for Cressida Dick’s replacement.
The Home Secretary has extended the search for Britain’s next Metropolitan Police commissioner Down Under after concluding that an outsider may be needed to break the culture blamed for a series of scandals.
Dame Cressida was recently granted a two-year extension on her contract, despite widespread calls for her to go.
Government sources said the decision reflected a lack of suitable replacements, with one saying it was ‘a case of better the devil you know’.
However, some senior Tories believe Dame Cressida could still be forced out early if Scotland Yard is hit by another scandal.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is looking to Australia for Cressida Dick’s replacement. Tipped as a likely candidate is Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll, (Above) who oversaw Australia’s biggest peacetime security operation at the G20 summit in Brisbane in 2014
The Home Secretary Priti Patel (R) with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick (L), who has had widespread calls for her to leave despite being recently granted a two-year extension on her contract
Other potential candidates include Reece Kershaw (Above), who worked his way up the ranks to serve as commissioner of the Australian Federal Police since 2019
Among those who have caught the eye of British ministers is Mick Fuller, the commissioner of New South Wales Police, whose tough-talking style would chime with Miss Patel’s approach
Former Australian police commissioner Andrew Colvin (Above) is another whose name has been mentioned. He transformed the service with new technologies and has considerable experience in dealing with terrorism, including the 2002 Bali bombings
By convention, the Metropolitan Police commissioner is drawn from the ranks of serving senior officers in the UK.
But Home Office officials have identified a loophole in the law which allows for the recruitment of senior officers from the United States and certain Commonwealth countries, including Canada and Australia.
Home Office sources confirmed that Miss Patel is ‘actively looking’ at recruiting Britain’s next top police officer from Australia.
One said: ‘The problem with senior police [here] is that they all sound the same and think the same. If you want to change the culture – and we do – you might need someone from outside.’
A second source said that Australia’s membership of the Five Eyes security network put them in ‘a very good place’ for compatibility with UK law enforcement.
‘They also have some very robust crime-fighting cops.’
Among those who have caught the eye of British ministers is Mick Fuller, the commissioner of New South
