A public database of the names of officers dismissed from service will be published by the College of Policing.

All officers and staff who have been found to have committed misconduct serious enough to make them lose their jobs will be placed on a list to prevent them gaining further employment in policing.

The measures were included in the Police and Crime Act, drawn up by the government earlier this year.

Officers dismissed for gross misconduct matters will appear on a list which can be searched by the public including potential future employers in other sectors.

A larger, non-public list, will include those whose names cannot be made public for legal or other reasons ruled by misconduct panel chairmen, for use by policing organisations for vetting purposes.

Sacked police staff will also be placed on that list.

The public version is to be online from the end of January, with names of those being dismissed from today added to it.

Detective Superintendent Jackie Alexander, from the College, said: “The vast majority of officers and police staff come into the service to protect the public and they act with integrity and respect.

“It is encouraging to see that trust and confidence in policing has been steadily rising to its highest rating in recent years, but those who do fall short of the standards expected of them will now not find a way back into the police once dismissed.

“The new lists introduced today are intended to ensure the public are served only by those suitable to hold policing posts. It will prevent those dismissed from policing from re-entering the service.”

Names will stay on the public list for five years and the private list permanently.

Phill Matthews from the Police Federation of England and Wales said the staff association had made representations against the move.

He said: “The public-facing bit of it is a concern. Any future employer will use this forum where anyone can search your name, you may be lucky to get a job again.

“Is the intention to continue punishing the person after they’ve left the service. In other walks of life that would not happen.”

The College says as well as having names, the public list will also say whether the ex-officer was a regular, special or member of police staff, the date of their dismissal and the circumstances of it.

There is no intention to include further information to distinguish the identity of individuals on the list.

Asked by Police Oracle how former officers with the same name would be distinguished from each other - given one who left without having carried out misconduct could have the same name as someone who had – a College spokesman said it believed the details included will suffice.