Cleveland Police Federation: Home Secretary must protect all police officers

28 October 2024

Firearms police officers facing trial over shooting suspects will receive anonymity up to the point of conviction, the Home Secretary has said.

Yvette Cooper's announcement comes days after police officer Sgt Martyn Blake was cleared of murdering Chris Kaba.

Anonymity will stand on the rare instances firearms officers in England and Wales face criminal charges, Cooper said.

The reform to anonymity is part of a new package aimed at police accountability, which includes several measures proposed by the previous Government in March.

They include:
- Speeding up the process for the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog to send cases to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
- Raising the threshold for the IOPC to refer officers to the CPS
- Ensuring the highly specialised nature of certain policing tactics and tools is reflected in investigative guidance

Paul Crowley, Chair of Cleveland Police Federation, said: "I welcome the announcement of the Home Secretary to ensure anonymity for firearms officers when involved in fatal shootings. However, the Home Secretary needs to be taking this a lot further to ensure the safety and well-being of officers under investigation are also taken into consideration.

"Presently, the default position is for officers' names to be published online when they are subject to a misconduct hearing. Because of this, on countless occasions, I've seen officers who are subject to vexatious and malicious allegations being publicly named in the media. Only when the evidence is correctly tested, the officer is found to have committed no wrongdoing whatsoever.

"Long after the investigation concludes, the name of that officer remains permanently tarnished by the kangaroo court of the internet; with the truth of the outcome either not being reported upon or buried behind an algorithm of 'click-bait'. That officer is then expected to move on, without any support whatsoever, knowing a simple google search will highlight the allegations only.

"It's high time this impact is recognised, and the conduct regime amended, to ensure officers' names are only be published after the evidence has been tested and a sanction imposed. This will allow those who are subject to baseless allegations, an opportunity to heal away from the public gaze.

"We pride ourselves on assuming innocence before guilt, and the conduct regime needs to recognise this too."