Government must translate assurances into law at the earliest

23 October 2024

Acting Deputy National Chair, Brian Booth, welcomes Home Secretary’s promise of reforming police accountability process and appeals to the Government to take into account the NPCC’s proposal to include in the new anonymity law all use of force by police officers.

The Police Federation of England and Wales welcomes Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s announcement of the policy package on police accountability promising to bring protective legislation to instil confidence amongst police officers to use their training and powers to keep the public safe.

Acting Deputy National Chair Brian Booth said: “We have been drawing to the Government’s attention that police officers up and down the country, who put their lives at stake in the line of duty to protect their communities, are feeling more and more vulnerable in doing their work because of weak and disproportionate accountability arrangements in law.

“The police are the public and the public are the police, hence, officers must have the confidence that they have the backing of people and the law when they use their specialised training and powers to ensure safety of the communities they serve.

“The Home Secretary’s assurance of legislating presumption of anonymity for firearms officers, up to the point of conviction, who are subject to criminal trial for offences relating to their professional duties is certainly a step in the right direction for ensuring the safety of officers and their families. I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the Government to consider the NPCC’s proposal that the new anonymity law goes further to include all use of force by police officers while on duty and not just shootings.

“It is encouraging that the Government aims to include the highly specialist nature of policing tactics and tools in relevant guidance for investigating police driving incidents. We are also viewing positively the assurance of speeding up processes allowing the IOPC to send cases to the CPS where there is sufficient evidence instead of waiting for the final investigation report.

“However, these are promises and will remain mere words of support until endorsed by Parliament. We have lost considerable amount of time since the Accountability Review was announced last year, during which time significant damage has been caused to the morale of police officers who do the incredibly difficult and dangerous job of keeping the public safe.

“The Government must work at pace and ensure the assurances made on the floor of Parliament today are translated into law at the earliest.”