Use Of Force Change 'Cannot Come Soon Enough'

28 October 2025

The decision that police officers who use force in the course of their duty should only face future misconduct charges if their actions meet the threshold for criminal proceedings cannot come soon enough, Kent Police Federation has said.

Chair Neil Mennie was speaking after a report was published this week saying the legal test for use of force in misconduct cases should be raised to the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.

Currently, officers will face misconduct proceedings if their actions meet the civil law test of ‘on the balance of probabilities’.

Neil said: ‘This change cannot come soon enough and is very welcome. Too often we see officers appearing in court and misconduct processes where they should never have been.

“As unpalatable as it may seem to some, officers on occasion have to use force or else they cannot safely carry out their core purpose. This very often is a decision made in seconds during dynamic and dangerous situations.

“A lot of time is spent training and reinforcing the appropriate use of force and officers are very aware of this. This decision will hopefully increase confidence and reduce the amount of over scrutiny and hindsight that too often leads to the wrong decisions.”

The recommendations were made in the Police Accountability Rapid Review, by Timothy Godwin and Sir Adrian Fulford. They were asked to look at the legal test for use of force in misconduct cases, and the Home Secretary has accepted the report’s recommendation to change the threshold. The Government is set to amend Police Regulations to reflect this.

The changes will mean that an officer will no longer face misconduct proceedings if their actions are not deemed to meet the threshold for criminal charges. However, any use of force will still need to be considered necessary, reasonable and proportionate.

The review also looked at the threshold for determining a short-form conclusion of unlawful killing in inquests, and recommended further consultation on this issue.