Michael Lockwood, head of the Independent Office for Police Affairs (IOPC), which oversees Britain's police services, has resigned because he is the subject of a criminal investigation over old charges, Home Secretary Soella Braverman announced.
On Friday, the chief of police overseeing Britain's police services announced his immediate departure for "personal and family reasons".
But the Home Secretary explained the reasons for Lockwood's resignation in an atmosphere of a crisis of confidence in the British police.
Braverman said in a statement that she had to "act immediately" after learning that "Lockwood is under investigation by the police on old charges," noting that she had instructed his management to "ask for his resignation" or else his duties would be "immediately suspended."
The Sunday Times reported that the charges against him, whose nature has not been determined, date back 4 decades, when Michael Lockwood, 63, was in his twenties.
The British police recently shook a series of cases, led by the kidnapping, rape and murder of a London girl by a police officer who was sentenced to life imprisonment because of these incidents, along with a series of scandals revealing racist and misogynistic behavior in its ranks.
A report by the police inspectorate released in early November revealed the extent of flaws in the recruitment and vetting of officers.