Two rogue cops sacked every day as officers barred from policing soars to record high

Two rogue police officers were sacked every day in the last year as the number of constables barred from police work soared to a record high.

A total of 735 officers – the equivalent of two a day – were dismissed from forces in England and Wales in the year to March 2025.

It is the most officers added to the College of Policing’s barred list – which bans officers from ever returning to police work – since the list began in 2017 and up 24 per cent on the previous year, when 594 were sacked.

It comes after Britain’s biggest police force the Metropolitan Police found itself embroiled in a fresh racism and misogyny scandal after officers at Charing Cross police station were filmed calling for immigrants to be shot and bragging about using force against detainees.

Ten officers are being fast tracked for misconduct hearings after the damning undercover footage raised questions about culture and standards at the force.

The College of Policing said the latest barred list figures, which cover the 43 forces in England and Wales, show a “determined and robust effort” to stamp out wrongdoing.

The Met had the highest number of dismissals this year, with 183 sacked out of a workforce of 33,293, followed by Greater Manchester Police, with 43 officers out of 8,112 staff.

The most common reason for dismissal was dishonesty, which was a factor in 126 cases, while 95 cases involved discrimination and 82 were linked to unlawfully accessing or sharing information. Multiple reasons can apply to any one case.

A total of 72 officers who were sacked were accused of sexual offences or misconduct, with a further 31 cases involving officers who abused their position for a sexual purpose. Some 21 officers were sacked with child sexual offences listed as one or more of the reasons for their dismissal.

A total of 45 cases involved being a discriminatory Whatsapp group, while 26 were linked to domestic abuse or harassment.

The majority of the officers added to the list were constables (640), but one chief officer and two chief superintendents were also among those kicked out.

The figures also show that 280 members of police staff and 31 specials were put on the list, rising from 233 and 29 respectively.

Since its introduction in December 2017, a total of 2,834 police officers, 223 special constables and 1,268 members of police staff have been added to the barred list.

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Harding, director of operational standards at the College of Policing, said: “These figures show a determined and robust effort from police forces to rid policing of officers whose behaviour falls below the high standards that we, and the public, expect from them.

“It goes without saying that any time an officer’s behaviour breaches professional standards, or even strays into criminality, it leaves a permanent stain on the reputation of policing.

“But the public can have confidence that their police forces are quickly identifying and dealing with unacceptable behaviour from officers and staff, who, through being on the barred list, will never work in policing again.

“The message is clear: our policing system is built on upholding our code of ethics, on courage, respect and empathy and public service, and there is no place in our police service for anyone whose behaviour goes against these values.”