Sir Mark Rowley says sub-standard senior officers should resign

The head of the Metropolitan Police has said he plans to get rid of senior officers who are judged to be “unwilling or unable to meet our performance standards or role model our values”.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley wrote to officers between the ranks of chief inspector and chief superintendent earlier this week.

He said he wanted to provide an “exit route” for senior staff through voluntary exit payments.

The Met Police Federation, which represents officers up to chief inspector rank, called the proposal “a thinly veiled threat”.

The voluntary exit scheme is part of a three-pronged approach to ensure a “fundamental shift in mindset, behaviour and capability” needed among senior police, said the letter, which was also signed by Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes.

More precise end-of-year performance reviews were announced, as well as development centres to assess police leaders’ capabilities.

Sir Mark said performance reviews in the force were previously “less than candid”.

He added: “I am acutely aware that confidence is not necessarily a measure of competence, some unjustifiably lack confidence yet others have more confidence than their ability justifies.”

The letter said the Met is also in talks with the Home Office to reinstate a police regulations power requiring compulsory retirement “on grounds of efficiency” to support a “healthier churn” and create “opportunities for talent”.

Matt Cane, general secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation said the overwhelming majority of its members at chief inspector rank “give everything they have, often at considerable personal cost, to meet the growing and complex demands placed upon them”.

He added: “They deserve support and respect, not threats of ‘forced distribution’, ‘performance processes’, or ‘dignified exits’.

“The proposed voluntary exit scheme, framed as a ‘quick and dignified route out’, is a thinly veiled threat.”

Mr Cane said he plans to write to Sir Mark about his concerns.

A Met police spokesperson said the commissioner “has been clear the minority who resist change have no place in the Met”.

Last month, the Met confirmed it had removed more than 1,400 officers and staff from its ranks in three years in what Deputy Commissioner Jukes called an “Al Capone” approach to uncover wrongdoing.

The clearout, sparked in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer, is the largest in the force’s history.

Figures show that 1,442 staff and officers were sacked, or resigned or retired between 2022 and June 2025.