It is time for the service to stop bowing to the minority who want to prosecute police officers for doing their best to protect the public, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Steve Kent was talking after the Shadow Home Secretary and former Policing Minister appeared to throw his support behind officers at the APCC & NPCC Partnership Summit last month.<\/p>\n
Chris Philp told the meeting: \u2018I am a big supporter of the police and believe in law and order and the work the police do. I would like to do everything I can to support the police in delivering their mission.\u2019<\/p>\n
When asked for his thoughts on the NX121 case, in which Met officer Sergeant Martyn Blake was prosecuted and found not guilty for the shooting of Chris Kaba, Mr Philp responded: \u201cThe way [Sgt Blake] was treated was appalling. He was doing his job in difficult circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his speech to the NPCC, Mr Philp proposed that where a police officer uses force, in line with their training, or in line with policing procedures, there should be a defence against both misconduct proceedings and criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need the police to use their powers with confidence in order to protect the public and catch criminals. If police officers are holding back or feeling nervous about using those powers, as I believe they are now because of the IOPC overreach, that does not serve the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve said he agreed with Mr Philp\u2019s stance, and asked why the Conservative Government hadn\u2019t acted on it while they were in power.<\/p>\n
He added:\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to sound political, but it\u2019s a shame that the previous Government has been told this so many times and there\u2019s been a failure to act on it. But it absolutely needs to be. Applying standard tests in terms of driving and use of force on officers who are highly trained to do both, compared to members of the public, is frankly astonishing.<\/p>\n
\u2018And I would simply ask members of the public:\u00a0 would they expect officers to have the defence of the law for pursuing stolen vehicles or off-road bikes, which the public want us to do? They should be protected by the powers that we\u2019ve got and the training that we\u2019ve had.\u2019<\/p>\n