Police officers cut by 2,300 in 2025 - Met chief

Sir Mark Rowley was speaking to the London Policing Board

The Metropolitan Police will need to cut 2,300 officers and 400 staff next year because of a £450m funding shortfall, its commissioner has said.

Sir Mark Rowley told the London Policing Board the measure will have "a seriously detrimental impact" on the UK's largest service, which currently employs 33,473 officers and 11,178 staff.

He said selling off police buildings, and the use of reserves "is no longer possible" at a time when the demand on the force is increasing.

Cuts will affect tackling serious violence and organised crime by the Flying Squad, its dogs unit and its mounted branch, and could be made as soon as January, according to Sir Mark.

He said the financial pressures "are a cumulative impact of a decade or more" rather than this year's budget.

Sir Mark said the projections are based on planning assumptions that will change until the final settlement is decided by City Hall early next year.

He said they cannot wait any longer "or it will not be possible to achieve the reductions without uncontrolled consequences".

He added that they will try to avoid redundancies "but can't guarantee we'll avoid them entirely".

The Met also employs 1,486 police community support officers and 1,177 special constables.

Chairing the meeting, mayor of London Sadiq Khan did not comment on Sir Mark's stark assessment of the position, nor his choices, apart from attributing it to more than a decade of cumulative budget pressures under the Conservatives.