The Metropolitan police has a backlog of 355 officers who are waiting to face gross misconduct hearings, the force has said.
The London force’s deputy assistant commissioner, Stuart Cundy, said the backlog was a “significant increase compared to this time last year” and added that the Met wanted 30 gross misconduct hearings and 30 gross incompetence hearings to take place a month.
Last April Cressida Dick resigned as the Met police commissioner after a number of high-profile scandals involving officers, including the murder of Sarah Everard by the serving Met officer Wayne Couzens and the unmasking of former police constable David Carrick as a serial abuser and rapist.
Mark Rowley took over the position last September. He estimated that there were hundreds of rogue officers in his force and called on the Home Office to boost his powers so he could dismiss them.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme in November that about 100 Met officers who could not be trusted with the public and who were not available for full duties were still being paid, a situation he called “completely mad”.
“I’ve got about 100 officers in the organisation who have very restrictive conditions on them because frankly we don’t trust them to talk to members of the public,” he said. “It’s completely mad that I have to employ people like that as police officers, that you can’t trust to have contact with the public.
Lawyers known as legally qualified chairs (LQCs) were brought in to oversee police disciplinary panels in 2016 as part of efforts to make the system more transparent, but critics say it is too slow and that senior officers are more likely to sack those found guilty of wrongdoing.
Cundy said: “The Met currently have 335 officers awaiting a gross misconduct hearing.
“A significant increase compared to this time last year.
“We are planning for 30 misconduct hearings and 30 gross incompetence hearings to take place per month.
“Managing this many hearings requires an ambitious plan, which is vitally important if we are to rebuild the public’s trust and confidence.
“This will require additional funding, case managers, lawyers and hearing suites to manage the significant increases in cases.
“We also need the support of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, to maximise the availability of LQCs so they can schedule and chair more hearings.
In August the Home Office said police officers found guilty of gross misconduct would face automatic dismissal while all staff who failed vetting could be sacked, after the department carried out a review of the police disciplinary system following a slew of high-profile cases.
Under the new measures, chief constables or other senior officers will also chair independent public hearings responsible for removing corrupt officers from their forces.
Police chiefs will be given a right to challenge decisions and there will be a presumption for former officers and special constables’ cases to be heard under fast-track procedures.
The Home Office was unable to explain what would be classed as an exceptional circumstance, but said it would be down to the disciplinary panel in the case to decide whether this would exempt an officer from being immediately fired.
