2,000 police facing axe in purge on ‘ bad apples’
Ministers set to publish ‘radical’ overhaul of sacking system
MORE than 2,000 rotten officers could be sacked following a major overhaul of the police disciplinary system set to be announced this month, the Mail can reveal.
Following a succession of shocking scandals that have exposed flaws in the police vetting process, ministers will publish ‘radical’ changes to make it easier to weed out rogue cops.
A review into the process for dismissing officers was launched this year after the murder of Sarah Everard by Scotland Yard officer Wayne Couzens and the jailing of his colleague, prolific rapist David Carrick.
The Mail understands that a plan to ‘radically overhaul’ the procedure for getting rid of officers who commit misconduct is set to be published within weeks.
At the end of last year, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said there were more than 500 officers in his force who are ‘suspended or restricted because of misconduct investigations’ but he was unable to sack them.
As The Met employs a quarter of all officers in England and Wales, Government sources expect the scale to be replicated across other forces, meaning about 2,000 officers may be ousted under the new rules.
The plans will require all misconduct panels to be chaired by chief constables – sidelining independent legally qualified chairmen. LQCs were given the powers by then Prime Minister Theresa May following fears that the system may be self-serving, but police commissioners are frustrated that the chairmen have the final say on sackings.
‘Putting the public before bureaucracy’
Research published earlier this year found that when senior Met figures ran the force’s disciplinary system many more officers accused of wrongdoing were sacked than by LQCs. In another change, officers who fail to maintain their vetting status would be automatically dismissed – whereas they can still work under current rules.
And the six-stage process for removing officers for underperformance will be simplified to just two stages, sources said. Officers facing the sack could still appeal to a police tribunal, which the Home Office hopes will ensure sufficient checks.
A Government source said that the plans, worked up by policing minister Chris Philp, will ensure there is a ‘more robust process’ for weeding out rotten officers. The source added: ‘The plan is very developed and is with No 10 for final approval, and it should be published in the next few weeks. It will radically overhaul the process for getting rid of police officers who commit misconduct.’
Once approved, the proposals could come into force within months – and rogue officers could be dismissed as early as this year.
The Home Office launched a review into officer dismissals in January. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said then that it needed to be ‘easier to sack bad officers’. Couzens could have been identified as a sex offender six years before he abducted, raped and murdered Ms Everard in 2021.
He is now serving a whole-life term in jail. And Carrick passed his re-vetting after officers failed to piece together a series of complaints about his predatory behaviour. He was sentenced in February to a minimum of 30 years in jail for 24 counts of rape against 12 women while serving as a Met officer. Last month, Research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism showed police officers were being accused of rape at a rate of at least once a week since 2018. A Home Office spokesman said: ‘This review is part of our common-sense policing approach which prioritises fighting crime and putting the public first ahead of needless bureaucracy.’