New figures show a 50% rise in the number of police officers sacked and barred from returning to work in England and Wales.

Nearly 600 officers were dismissed from the service in the 12 months before March this year, up from almost 400 the previous year, according to the College of Policing.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council, a group of senior leaders who work together on important policing matters, has said it is committed to getting rid of officers who are not fit to serve the public.

Dishonesty was the most common reason for being kicked out of the police force, followed by sexual offences or misconduct and discriminatory behaviour.

Groups of officers have been punished for sharing deeply offensive WhatsApp messages, while 18 were sacked for possessing indecent images of children and 33 for abusing their position for a sexual purpose.

The number of officers sacked – 593 – is less than 0.5% of the overall workforce of more than 147,000 across England and Wales.

Most of those who lost their jobs were constables. More than three quarters of the officers and specials who were dismissed were male.

“These figures show that there is nowhere to hide for people who fail to meet the high standards set across our police forces,” Assistant Chief Constable Tom Harding, operational standards director at the College of Policing, said.

“The service will continue working to ensure we attract the right people into policing, ensuring that those who fail to meet these high standards have no future in policing.”

These figures come at a time when concerns remain high about the culture in UK policing following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer in 2021.

In another case, former Metropolitan police sergeant David Carrick was jailed in 2023 after admitting dozens of rapes and sexual offences against 12 women over two decades.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford QPM, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s complaints lead, has stressed the importance of disciplinary hearings.

“Misconduct proceedings provide a tightly regulated, balanced and transparent process to maintain public confidence in policing and ensure our workforce operates to the high standards of integrity our communities deserve,” he said.