\u201cWe need to start protecting our officers, because if this carries on we are going to see people reconsider their positions within policing.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was the reaction of South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent to the recent calls for reforms in police accountability.<\/p>\n
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said changes need to be made in the way police officers are held to account, particularly when they use force or undertake pursuits. He said this area of regulation was “long overdue for reform to address a number of imbalances”.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the Home Secretary has announced an emergency review of armed policing, following protests by Met firearms officers at one of their colleagues being charged with murder.<\/p>\n
Steve said that changes to accountability \u201cabsolutely\u201d needed to be made, both for officers using force and police drivers.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe cannot have a situation where officers are following their training, following the policies of their force, following what they think is best in that split second, and then being put through the mill because of these decisions. It is completely disproportionate.<\/p>\n
\u201cInvestigations can be a long, protracted, unfair process that leaves the officer in psychological agony for months and years on end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had an officer in our force who had been previously investigated by the Met. It took 11 years and it ruined 11 years of his life. It\u2019s absolutely appalling. He was completely exonerated and there\u2019s hardly been any apology for the way he was treated. This is just unacceptable. What other working environment would you see this? It\u2019s just seen as acceptable in policing, and it has to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve continued: \u201cThere need to be regulation changes, because it has created an environment where officers can be constructively dismissed at will, and that removes confidence in officers. Officers are saying to me that they are more reluctant to use certain powers, because they are afraid to.
\n\u201cWe need to start protecting our officers because, there\u2019s no doubt, if this carries on you are going to start to see people reconsider their positions within policing. Is that what the Government wants? I don\u2019t think it is. But it\u2019s inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n