Dame Cressida Dick admitted there is “unwitting sexism” within the Met Police when speaking to the London Assembly on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police commissioner was giving evidence to the police and crime committee on safety of women and girls in London.
The topic has become a frontline issue after the murders of both Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa.
Dick also faced extensive calls to resign over the Met’s handling of issues surrounding women’s safety. Protests against the police chief intensified after the investigation into Everard’s death, as she was killed by a then serving police officer.
Dick admitted to the London Assembly that the Met needs to “improve and get better”, and change its approach to “sexism” that people don’t register as “inappropriate”.
She said: “There is no place in the Met for people who display racist, sexist, homophobic behaviour.”
Dick added that violence against women and girls “is something everybody has to get involved in tackling”.
The police chief also said the Met wants to be “the most open police service in the 21st century” while acknowledging that the force can at times be defensive when approached about reforms.
Dick was also in hot water after the Met started dishing out advice for women to flag down a bus if they thought they were in danger with a lone police officer and to call 999.
Dick told the London Assembly this advice was “not intended” and “not how we see things”, but conceded that similar advice would be handled differently in future.
Dick also publicly said “I am so sorry” to Everard’s family shortly after her killer was granted a whole-life sentence.
So far, only one top police official has resigned in connection to the Everard case weeks after he recommended women should be more “streetwise” if they want to be safer.
Dick’s comments also follow the prime minister’s promise that the government is working to make sure women feel safer on the streets by investing in more CCTV and better street lighting.
Boris Johnson told PMQs on Wednesday: “I want all people in this country, particularly women, to feel confident in our police force and I believe that they can and that they should.”
He added that the government will be looking into the systemic justice system to make sure attackers get convicted and tough sentences.