The number of police officers sacked and dismissed from forces in England and Wales has reached a record high in the year to the end of March 2024.

According to figures from the Police College, 593 police officers were dismissed during the period, up almost 50% on the previous year.

The police ban list released by the college also shows why the police officers were fired. In each case, several reasons can apply, so a total of 912 reasons are recorded.

Although the majority (519) of those fired were police officers, all ranks were included and two chief officers were added to the figures this year.

The most common reason for dismissal was dishonesty, in 125 cases. Sexual offenses or misconduct were reported in 74 cases and discriminatory behavior in 71.

Illegal access to or disclosure of information was the reason in 66 cases and 18 involved officers who were part of a discriminatory WhatsApp group.

Eighteen officers were fired for possessing indecent images of children and 33 for abusing their position for sexual purposes.

The police force has get under control since the killing of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens in 2021. The Metropolitan Police and a number of others have commissioned independent reviews of their workplace culture.

In several cases, these reviews uncovered examples of institutional racism, homophobia and misogyny, highlighting specific incidents where officers shared inappropriate messages on WhatsApp groups or cases where previous offenses were overlooked in recruitment processes.

Tom Harding, deputy head and director of operational standards at the college, said it was “very disappointing” to see officers’ conduct fall below standards.

“However, these figures show that we have effective and robust procedures in place to quickly identify and deal with these officers and prevent them from taking up future policing roles.

“These figures show that there is nowhere to hide for people who do not meet the high standards set in our police force. Their behavior tarnishes the police and erodes public trust.

“The service will continue to work to ensure we attract the right people into policing, ensuring that those who do not meet these high standards do not have a future in policing.”

There are more than 147,000 full-time equivalent officers in 43 police forces in England and Wales, and the number of redundancies represented 0.35 per cent of the workforce, the college added.

Thirty Special Police officers were also dismissed.

HR Shared Services Opportunities for Today’s Staff

Browse more HR Shared Services jobs