Chair responds to Prime Minister's call for police to end 'mob rule'

8 March 2024

West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke has responded to comments by the Prime Minister that the UK is heading for ‘mob rule’.

Rishi Sunak’s comments came in a meeting with police chiefs, where he called for more robust responses to protests.

Rich said there may be a number of reasons why officers do not use their powers in a given situation, and that there was a balance to find.

He said: “We shouldn’t be recoiling from the proactive use of our powers and appearing to stand by to avoid confrontation in public order situations.

“We joined the police to confront wrongdoers.

“There’s always a risk assessment, which is resource dependent.

West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cook has responded to calls by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for police chiefs to end what he calls 'mob rule'.

“It depends on the threat that you’re facing, and the response comes down to the basis of numbers a lot of the time.

“It’s not for political reasons but ends up being perceived as being political.”

Rich said one of the main issues was ‘a crisis of confidence’ driven by inexperienced officers and ‘a justified fear of arbitrary discipline that is more about clamouring to a mob, than a just outcome’ if things do not go to plan.

“There’s a risk aversion in policing and it’s at ground level with individual officers,” he said. “They fear using their powers in a proactive way to stop crime because they fear being over scrutinised and dealt with by an arbitrary misconduct system. That system is going to get more arbitrary with the removal of independent chairs.

“Then you have some risk averse senior officers, who are worrying about social issues.

“There has become a different risk assessment over the years. The risk assessment has become more averse to taking action, and that’s what some sections of the public are criticising us for.

“It’s always a balancing act, but for some people the risk aversion has gone too far,” he said.