The Home Office has begun a review into whether there need to be changes to the law to provide \u201csufficient protections\u201d for police officers using force or undertaking pursuits.<\/p>\n
The review will \u201cassess the existing legal frameworks and guidance on practice that underpin police use of force and police driving, and the subsequent framework for investigation of any incidents that may occur.\u201d<\/p>\n
The review will:<\/p>\n
\u2013 consider longstanding demands from frontline police officers and chiefs for investigators to apply the \u201csubjective\u201d criminal law test for self-defence in police misconduct rather than the \u201cobjective\u201d civil test.<\/p>\n
\u2013 consider whether there should be a higher threshold for triggering an investigation by police watchdogs.<\/p>\n
\u2013 consider whether investigations \u2013 which can last years \u2013 can be accelerated \u201cincluding whether more effective working between the IOPC and CPS can reduce timescales of criminal investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve Kent, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: \u201cThis is very long overdue and what we have been saying locally and nationally for some time.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting that timeliness aside though this has to be welcome as a spot light needs to be shone on an absurd system which goes beyond fair and proper scrutiny and makes our officers feel at risk of carrying out even daily duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe risks of honestly getting it wrong or doing it right can have officers waiting years to find out if they are going to court for just doing their job. The public would I\u2019m sure be dismayed if they realised that the system is heavily weighted to support the wrongdoers who through their own conscious decisions find themselves in danger and getting hurt, only to find that the police officers doing their best to bring them to justice are the ones more often than not threatened with the dock.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Home Office said: \u201cPolice officers across England and Wales do an incredibly difficult job, in some instances having to make life or death decisions in a split second to keep us safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is vital the public and officers have clarity and confidence in the accountability system relating to police use of force and police driving, including the efficacy of investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n