Police officers have been left \u201cvery afraid\u201d about using force due to the fear of losing their jobs.<\/p>\n
The concerns about the looming presence of Professional Standards Departments and IOPC were raised during the British Transport Police Federation conference in September.<\/p>\n
And Steve Kent, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said those fears were echoed among the 43 Home Office forces across England and Wales.<\/p>\n
He explained: \u201cCops are very afraid to use force because of this sometimes over scrutiny of the IOPC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are told they could have, should have done this \u2013 rather than the IOPC taking into account what that officer is faced with in that split-second.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not right, and what it does is it just puts that seed of doubt in a cop\u2019s mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve said he feared both officers and members of the public were more likely to come to harm due to hesitancy in decision making.<\/p>\n
He called for extra support and reassurances for officers using an \u201chonestly held belief\u201d that force was required, saying that \u201cshould be the end of the matter\u201d.<\/p>\n
Steve continued: \u201cIf they do that and someone ends up injured and it needs scrutiny, fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo our officers wilfully go out and assault people? No, we\u2019re not Starsky and Hutch anymore. Those kind of behaviours don\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concerns have been often raised about IOPC investigations leaving officers sidelined for lengthy spells.<\/p>\n
Steve said action needed to be quick and decisive, while reassuring officers the process was fair and balanced.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThat\u2019s where we get concerned with some of the cases you see from the IOPC, some of the officers who are suspended and restricted for just doing their job as honestly as they could.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that message goes out to the teams at that station, they now think: \u2018Why should I bother? Why should I put myself in this position?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve added that recent high-profile examples had shown how giving the full picture of an incident had been fairer to officers involved.<\/p>\n
He said cases should not be presented without the appropriate context, adding: \u201cLooking at stuff in a sterile way and not being in those cops\u2019 shoes is a weird way of doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n