Increased protection for officers involved in death or serious injury a crucial development, says Federation

18 August 2020

Essex Police officers who may be involved in a death or serious injury incident will be getting the same level of protection and support as their firearms colleagues – a crucial development for both them and the public says Essex Police Federation.

The College of Policing has launched the new Death or Serious Injury Authorised Professional Practice (DSI APP) policy.

It sets out the steps that should be taken by forces during such incidents concerning members of the public and colleagues to protect officers legally, ensure their welfare is looked after as well as assist with the investigation that follows.

It will now apply to any Post Incident Procedures (PIP) that take place outside of a firearms PIP – which is covered by its own Armed Policing APP.

“There has always been an APP for firearms officers, and over the years that’s been adapted to fit other scenarios which are for what’s classed as DSIs, which is death or serious injury,” said Laura.

“That’s to do with any contact we have with the public, which results in a death or serious injury or following our contact.

“So we’ve always adapted what was the current one from the firearms APP, to fit that and a lot of the times this was done through our post-incident procedures, our PIPs.

“That’s there to ensure that the best evidence is obtained to carry out that investigation to understand exactly what’s gone on.

“Police officers are open to scrutiny. We’re asked to justify what we do every day in as much as we’re also asked on occasions to justify what we haven’t done. That’s what part of this process is,” Laura said.

The new procedure should ensure any post-death or serious injury incident investigation is carried as thoroughly as possible – reassuring for officers and for those who may have lost a loved one.

“If someone has unfortunately died as a result of police contact, there is a duty under Article 2 of the Human Rights Act to investigate that death,” Laura said.

“That investigation should be carried out independently, and it should be able to identify which officers have been involved and for them to account for their actions so that an assessment can be made as to the justification of any force used.

“That’s 100% what’s right, and also it’s important for the next of kin to be able to be given the facts.

“That’s crucial because they’ve lost a loved one and they deserve the right to have answers as to why a loved one has died or has been seriously injured. Many times there is actually nobody to blame and it’s just a tragic set of circumstances but both the family and officers need to understand the full facts in order to get closure” Laura added.

“The new APP that’s come in is just an extension of what we were already using as the firearms APP, but it will offer a certain amount of protection for officers to know that the whole procedure, and the investigation is carried out to set process, so they know what to expect and it’s no longer open to interpretation. It should never be underestimated how stressful this process can be on all officers and staff involved.”