New figures show that a record number of police officers have been sacked from service in England and Wales in the past year, DPA and PA Media reported. Latest Home Office figures reveal that 426 officers have been sacked or their contracts terminated in the one-year period to March 2025, BTA reported.
This is 17 percent more than a year earlier, when the number stood at 365, and more than double the number of sacked at the start of the decade, when 164 officers were dismissed from service in 2019 – 2020
In May, ministers tightened rules on police standards in a bid to boost confidence in the force, ordering officers who fail background checks and commit serious offences to be sacked.
In the last twelve-month period, it was also found that 4,806 officers had voluntarily left the force - the second highest number since records began in 2006, and a slight drop from a peak of 5,151 in 2023-2024.
The figures come as the force has warned the government that funding levels are not sufficient to maintain its existing workforce.
By the end of March 2025 There were a total of 146,442 full-time police officers on duty, down almost 1 percent from the same period last year - 147,745, when the number was the highest in modern history.
Of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, the Metropolitan Police Service reported the biggest drop - 3 percent, or 1,022 full-time officers - from 34,315 to 33,293.