Cops Shouldn’t Be Prosecuted For Doing Their Job

1 December 2023

“It’s completely wrong and unacceptable that we put cops in harm’s way, we train them, and then they get persecuted for doing exactly what we paid them to do.”

City of London Police Federation Chair Mike Reed was speaking after a Met Police officer was cleared of dangerous driving, in a trial instigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The officer, PC Paul Fisher, crashed while en route to the Streatham terrorist attack in 2020. 

The IOPC investigation into PC Fisher lasted nearly four years before he was cleared in court, with Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley saying: “The treatment of this brave officer by the systems of accountability is appalling.”

Sir Mark said that armed police officers had told him they would rather face terrorists than other criminals, as there was less risk of a legal backlash. 

Mike Reed agreed that officers were hesitating in doing their jobs due to fear of repercussions, adding that it was also a problem in the use-of-force arena.

He said: “We’ve got the new syllabus from the College of Policing which is more real-life, situation-based. It’s about making officers feel comfortable in the use of force and being able to justify it. 

“I speak to all the new probationers and say: ‘If you need to use force, use it properly, and use it effectively, but you need to be able to justify it’.  

“The instructors told me that officers said they hesitated and had a fear of using force because of the repercussions of that lawful use. It’s completely wrong and unacceptable that we put cops in harm’s way, we train them, we tell them what to do, and then they get persecuted for doing exactly what we paid them to do.”  

Mike’s message to officers was: “You’ve got to stay safe. If you need to use force, body-worn video is the best evidence for you, rather than a five-second clip that somebody else has put on the internet. Please use your body worns. Use force if you need to, use it proportionately, but then write it up after. 

“The use-of-force forms on the intranet are there for a reason, because when it comes to five years down the road, at an inquest or a hearing, that is when you need your justification for use of force. Know your legislation, know why you’ve used it and know why it’s proportional.” 

Mike added: “Policing is at risk of being petrified into submission by the constant onslaught of click-bait media and armchair experts, who voice their opinion with little or no knowledge of either the facts or the legal frameworks that govern police officers. This erosion has to stop.”