Make it easier to sack failing officers, urges Met police chief

Mark Rowley says managers are being put off taking action against officers who are ‘doing a bad job’ because of a six-stage process that takes more than a year. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The chief of Britain’s largest police force has called for greater powers to sack racist, sexist and failing officers, as he revealed that one in 10 cannot do their jobs properly due to problems with health and performance.

Sir Mark Rowley, who started as Metropolitan police commissioner in September, said bureaucracy was making it difficult to dismiss officers who were falling short of expectations and called on the government to change regulations to make the process easier.