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Police officers who fail background checks will be automatically dismissed, under new measures announced in parliament to boost public confidence in policing.
From next month, passing vetting procedures will become a legal requirement for all serving officers and police chiefs will be able to immediately remove those who fail.
This will help ensure that the police have the confidence of the communities they serve, supporting the government’s work to make streets safer across the country as part of the Plan for Change.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the changes were “essential” to restore confidence in policing.
Later in the year, further measures will be brought in to strengthen vetting national standards and ensure every force follows them, introduce stronger requirements to suspend officers under investigation for violence against women and girls and ensure officers convicted of certain criminal offences are automatically found to have committed gross misconduct.
Officers can fail vetting for a number of reasons, including crimes like domestic and sexual abuse. While there are processes already in place for forces to deal with allegations of misconduct, failing vetting alone might not currently be enough to dismiss them. Recent legal challenges have brought to light the difficulty forces can have in removing officers who cannot hold vetting and are not fit to protect the public.
‘Held to the highest standards’
“Police officers and staff should always be held to the highest standards and we must ensure that only those who are suitable to wear the uniform enter, and remain in policing.
“Alongside delivering vetting reform, we are working hard to build a culture where the public and colleagues feel empowered to report concerns and know that those concerns will be addressed and dealt with accordingly.
“We welcome the announcement today of statutory vetting regulations, which provide clear routes for action to remove individuals who fall below the high standards the public and our workforce rightly expect and deserve.”
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vetting, Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith.
The APCCs joint lead for Transparency and accountability and Deputy Mayor for West Yorkshire, Alison Lowe, said: “We welcome the new measures which will help to ensure that only those officers who meet the highest policing standards are able to serve the public in the way that we all expect and deserve. As the directly elected voice of the public in policing, Police and Crime Commissioners will provide the necessary checks and balances and hold Chief Constables to account for rooting out those who are not fit to serve and improving force cultures.
“I would also draw attention to the fact that many of these new measures carry a significant administrative cost which PCCs will struggle to meet from their existing budgets and would want to see this accounted for in future police funding settlements.”
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