Federation: Aonymity needs to be in place as a protection for officers

23 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

Darren Pemble, Chair of Surrey Police Federation, said: The recent murder trial involving a Metropolitan Police firearms officer has again shown the challenges officers’ face when they are involved in criminal proceedings.

“It cannot be right or fair that officers are named during this process – and anonymity needs to be in place as a protection for officers.

The Home Secretary has announced that there should be a new legal presumption of anonymity for police firearms officers. Policing is difficult enough without officers and their loved ones being left in fear for their own safety as any investigation or criminal proceedings take place. We support the Home Secretary’s comments regarding anonymity as well as a review into the legal thresholds for charging in police use of force cases.

“In light of the Not Guilty finding for NX121, the Metropolitan Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said “the more we crush the spirit of good officers the less they can fight crime.” It cannot be underestimated what the impact has been on the officer, his family and friends as well as the wider policing family.

“NX121 has paid a huge personal and professional sacrifice through this process. We can only hope that he is supported through this and he is able to return to policing where he can continue to do his job and protect the public.

“Being a police firearms officers is a specialised area of policing and needs to be seen for what it is. Officers have to deal with challenging and dangerous incidents daily so we need protections in place, or we risk losing officers from this area of policing which will make protecting the public more difficult.

“We can’t have officers fearing what if when they are faced with using force to arrest someone or prevent them acting to protect the public. Education is key as the public need to understand how we police.”