Policing Looks Into The Length Of Firearms Officers’ Shifts

1 June 2020

The Chairman of Essex Police Federation says he supports a structured national approach to the length of time authorised firearms officers should be on duty.

Shift lengths of firearms officers are being looked at by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing, alongside the Police Federation of England and Wales.

The Home Office has published nine recommendations on how forces can improve their firearms practices – one of which is that the NPCC and the College of Policing should jointly decide, in the light of independent expert advice, whether there should be a maximum period of time during which authorised firearms officers are permitted to remain on continuous duty.

If so, they should ensure that this maximum period is specified in national guidance.

Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor said: “Again the Independent Officer for Police Conduct comes to the fore, because one of the first things those charged with investigating the police will do in a police-involved shooting is ask how long have those officers been on duty. Almost straight away putting the suggestion of wrongdoing onto the individual officer.”

“Individual officers are sometimes hung out to dry because they’ve been working too long and culturally we don’t discourage overtime.

“In that sense we are potentially setting people up to fail, and that perhaps is most acutely felt in the firearms world where a very intense situation can develop and you’ve got to step up and think very, very quickly, with extremely serious consequences for making the wrong choices.

“Therefore there is an argument, I think, to explore around individual firearms officers almost being saved from themselves, and with a more structured national approach to expectation on length of duty being levelled particularly at firearms officers.”

Steve admitted it could be a controversial conversation when many officers feel they can’t afford to turn down overtime. He said: “I fully accept that view will be unpopular, but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong view. I’d welcome more structure in that area and more evidenced guidance from the top.”