Response to High Court Ruling on Police Vetting and Dismissals

This ruling is deeply concerning. It sends a dangerous message to victims of abuse and violence, and all of us—especially women and girls—that policing remains unable to hold itself fully accountable, even in cases where officers pose a known risk. Survivors must be able to trust that the people tasked with protecting them are not perpetrators of harm themselves or a danger to the public. 

We have repeatedly called for urgent and meaningful reform in policing misconduct, with a zero-tolerance approach to officers who abuse their position of power. Time and again, reports—including those by Baroness Casey, HMIC, and Lady Angiolini—have laid bare the systemic failings that allow perpetrators within policing to stay in post. This latest decision further undermines public confidence and leaves survivors at risk. 

The Met have themselves highlighted the absurdity of the current system: that officers deemed unfit to work with women or enter the homes of vulnerable people are still legally protected from dismissal. No other sector with comparable authority would be expected to tolerate this. This ruling reinforces what survivors, charities, and even police leaders have been saying for years—urgent legislative change is needed to ensure that no officer who fails vetting remains in the force. 

We recognise that the Met has sought to remove dangerous officers, but piecemeal reforms and individual vetting reviews are not enough. The government must act to close legal loopholes and introduce robust, legally enforceable standards for police conduct and vetting. Survivors and policing deserve better. 

For policing to regain public trust, change cannot just be about technical fixes to regulations—it must be about wholesale culture change. Significant reform is needed to reduce the motivation and opportunity for different types of power to be abused. We need a system where vetting is meaningful, misconduct is met with real consequences, and the safety of survivors is prioritised over institutional reputation. 

SafeLives stands with survivors and calls on the government to act with urgency to introduce the necessary legal reforms, ensuring that no officer who poses a risk to the public remains in uniform.