Caption: MET Police Commissioner says it is crazy he cannot sack officers charged with sexual misconduct
(Picture: Getty)

Met Police chief Mark Rowley has said it’s ‘crazy’ he can’t sack ‘toxic’ officers who have broken the law.

Acknowledging that the force’s vetting procedures are not up to scratch, he said there are ‘some very worrying cases’ against officers.

On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Rowley was grilled after figures showed more than 150 Met officers are under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct or racism.

The probed officers – the figure being double the previous estimate – are not allowed to hold public-facing roles.

The commissioner said: ‘We have some very worrying cases with officers who’ve committed criminality whilst police officers and yet I’m not allowed to sack them. It’s sort of, it’s crazy.

‘The investigation needs to take place – not all of those cases will have a case to answer, but many of them will.

‘We’ve got some officers who we sacked, but other legal bodies, who have a power to reinstate them, did.

‘So I’ve got officers who we determined shouldn’t be police officers and yet I have to keep them.

Mark Rowley, who took the reins of the Met last year, said he doesn’t have the authority to fire disgraced officers (Picture: PA)

‘It sounds bizarre – I’m the commissioner, yet I can’t decide who my own workforce is.’

More than 90 officers and staff were found guilty of crimes after complaints or investigations last year, including sexual misconduct, corruption and violence, figures reported by The Guardian show.

Rowley added: ‘There were cases where there were warning signs and our vetting wasn’t good enough.

‘That’s why we’re beefing that up.’

He said both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman have backed his calls to strengthen the screening system.

Rowley, who took over as commissioner from Dame Cressida Dick in September, has faced pressure to tackle a culture of racism, misogyny and homophobia riddling the force’s ranks.

Home Office figures released yesterday show nearly 450 sexual misconduct allegations were made against police in one year.

Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens came to capture the misogyny riddling the Met (Picture: Metropolitan Police / PA)

Members of the public made 214 allegations against officers in England and Wales in the year to March, with a further 234 forces launching internal probes.

Officers routinely crack jokes about rape and swap racist texts, England’s official police watchdog found in a 2022 report.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it’s not just a case of a few ‘bad apples’, but the wider culture of the British police itself that embraces ‘toxic masculinity’.

A review of disciplinary procedures by Baroness Casey found officers and staff were getting away with misconduct and breaking the law as the conduct system is itself racist and misogynist.

Rowley said this week: ‘We are taking our first steps on a journey of reform in the Met.

‘I expect to be held accountable for how that transformation of London’s police service evolves in the weeks, months and years ahead.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: ‘Sir Mark is right – the Met must change for our communities and for our officers and for our staff who serve them.’

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‘We have some very worrying cases with officers who’ve committed criminality.’