POLICE officers found guilty of gross misconduct will automatically be sacked under new rules to drive up standards.
It comes after 56 of the 563 cops judged to breached rules to that level last year were still allowed to keep their jobs.
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The new legislation from May 28 will also make serious criminal offences such as rape and GBH automatically amount to gross misconduct under law.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “We place a huge amount of faith and trust in the police officers we see in our communities.
“And it is vital that only those fit to wear the uniform are serving the public.
“We cannot let the majority of officers, who are brave and committed to keeping us safe, be tarnished by the few who commit serious criminality or gross misconduct.
“They, and the public, deserve certainty those unfit to serve will be dismissed.”
The new laws follows last month’s announcement that officers who fail background checks will be sacked automatically.
Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove said: “Today’s changes are a welcome and necessary step toward restoring public trust – and reaffirming the values policing must uphold.
“Too often and for far too long, red flags have been missed, minimised or ignored.”
Isabelle Younane, of Women’s Aid, also said it was “essential” for women to be able to trust reporting their experiences of abuse to police officers, and that they are not speaking to someone accused of misconduct relating to violence against women and girls themselves.
She added: “These reforms, alongside those announced previously, are positive first steps to improving women’s trust in the police.
“We continue to urge for further action to ensure that no individuals with the misogynistic attitudes and beliefs that underpin VAWG (violence against women and girls) are eligible to join.”
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