Home Office Review Needs To Clarify Police Powers And Protections

15 November 2023

Police officers need more clarity on the powers granted to them, Gloucestershire Police Federation has said, as the Home Office conducts a review into police investigations.  

The Government is looking at the investigations that follow police use of force and driving incidents, and assessing if the existing legal and regulatory framework provides “sufficient protections for those in the line of duty and maintain public confidence in policing”. 

Gloucestershire Police Federation Chair Steve James said that it wasn’t just firearms officers and police drivers who need clear guidelines from the Government, but also officers working in other areas including public-order policing. 

He said: “The main thing that officers want from this Home Office review is some clarity and guidance around exactly what is expected of them. What are the limits and the guardrails on their powers? What protections are available so that they can use those powers legitimately and properly?  

“Too often now we see cases going through PSD departments, through IOPC investigations, that are unwarranted. Or the investigations put new interpretations on the use of powers that officers couldn’t reasonably be expected to have.  

“I think that, for all parties, the officers using the powers and those people who are investigating us, there should be some clarity around the scope of investigations so that it sets limits on what the IOPC and others can reasonably expect from the behaviour of police officers. That set of guidelines should be in place for everybody, across driving, across use of force, from public order tactics through Taser, police dogs, the whole remit.”