“The Met is grateful to the Government for recognising the need for substantial change to uphold the highest standards and restore confidence in policing,” a statement from the Met said about the new changes in the regulation which allow automatic dismissal of officers if found guilty of gross misconduct.

“These reforms will support our many good officers and staff by ensuring we can exit those who let the public and their colleagues down more quickly.”

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said:

“I’m grateful to the Government for recognising the need for substantial change that will empower chief officers in our fight to uphold the highest standards and restore confidence in policing.

“The flaws in the existing regulations have contributed to our inability to fully address the systemic issues of poor standards and misconduct.

“Chief officers are held to account for the service we deliver and for the standards we uphold which is why I have been persistent in calling for us to have the powers to act decisively and without bureaucratic delays when we identify those who have no place in policing.

“The public would find it hard to believe that there isn’t already an efficient way for us to dismiss officers whose actions or associations mean they can’t meet the minimum vetting standard for their role.

“Similarly they would expect police chiefs to have the same ability to decide who is fit to serve in their organisations as leaders in business and other public services, rather than seeing that outsourced to independent lawyers.

“We will now work collectively to prepare for the introduction of these changes so they can be implemented without delay.”

More details of the changes can be found here.

(Source: Metropolitan Police)