The order follows the serving Met Police officer David Carrick admitting to being a serial rapist.
All police forces will be asked to check staff against national databases to identify if anyone “slipped through the net”, the Home Office says.
It follows the David Carrick rape case – the former Met Police officer who admitted to dozens of rapes and sexual offences across two decades.
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) will ask forces to check current staff recruited before tougher vetting.
The College of Policing will also be asked to strengthen vetting procedures.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said in a statement: “David Carrick’s sickening crimes are a stain on the police and he should never have been allowed to remain as an officer for so long.
“We are taking immediate steps to ensure predatory individuals are not only rooted out of the force, but that vetting and standards are strengthened to ensure they cannot join the police in the first place.”
The NPCC, who works with police forces on staffing, says the check will help identify “anyone who has slipped through the net”.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak told MPs that Carrick’s crimes were a “truly sickening” abuse of power and pledged police reforms so offenders would have “no place to hide”.