THOUSANDS OF UK POLICE OFFICERS TO BE SACKED FOR OFFENCES INCLUDING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, RACISM

Thu 06 July 2023:

More than 2,000 police officers could be sacked over the next year under new measures to make it easier to remove those suspected of misconduct, according to Government ministers .

The Home Office is expected to announce a simplified disciplinary system in the coming weeks in response to anger about high-profile cases of crime committed by serving officers, I News reported.

Police chiefs have complained that it is too difficult to fire officers even when they are deemed unfit to come into contact with the public and placed on restricted duties.

‘UK POLICE DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ETHNIC MINORITIES BASED ON SUSPICION’

The head of the Metropolitan Police says he has more than 500 officers on his force who are currently barred from normal duties but cannot be fired. With Scotland Yard representing around a quarter of the total police headcount in England and Wales, ministers believe the overall number is likely be more than 2,000.

At the Met, around 100 officers on restricted duties have been accused of discriminatory behaviour such as racism and nearly 150 are alleged to have committed a sexual offence.

A review of the disciplinary regime, which currently involves six steps and is overseen by an independent “legally qualified person”, was promised in January.

Sources involved in the process told i it would be complete within weeks, allowing new rules to take effect later in the year.

The new system is set to see the number of stages in the disciplinary process cut to two, with chief constables taking over from legally qualified persons as the ultimate arbiters. Senior officers are twice as likely as independent chairs to rule that police who have committed gross misconduct should be fired, according to the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC).

The same vetting standards which current apply to new applicants for the police will be extended to serving officers, meaning that anyone who commits an offence that would stop them from being hired in the first place will now lose their job.

The Police Federation has warned against an overhaul of the current system, saying that abandoning the idea of independent panels is a “huge retrograde step during a pivotal moment where we are looking to improve the service and restore public confidence”.

But the Home Office will ensure officers who face losing their jobs can still lodge one appeal – down from three under the current regime – which it believes will safeguard the rights of staff.

A Home Office spokesperson said, “Officers who fall seriously short of the standards expected have no place in our police, and we must ensure they can be dismissed as swiftly as possible.

“Culture and standards in policing must improve. This review is part of our common-sense policing approach which priorities fighting crime and putting the public first ahead of heedless bureaucracy,” the spokesperson added.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford of the NPCC said, “We remain committed to our current policing mission to lift the stones and rid policing of those not fit to wear the uniform, through strengthening vetting and misconduct investigations and delivering the long term improvements to standards and culture we have promised.”

“All police forces are ruthless in rooting out abusers and corrupt individuals. That commitment is shared from chief constables through to our dedicated front line,” Guildford added.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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