Firearms review is ‘woefully’ inadequate, says Federation Chair

THE Government’s ‘woefully’ inadequate Firearms Review does not reflect the reality officers face at the sharp end of policing, says Essex Police Federation.

The Home Office recently finalised the report after three years of review.

Published on a single webpage, it’s just 325 words long and states that investigations which took place after the 2017 terrorist attacks ‘worked well and were quickly concluded’, that the length of time to investigate cases following a fatality can be stressful, but that significant delay had only been recorded in a ‘small number of cases’.

“It doesn’t reflect the realities and what’s happening on the streets,” Steve said. “Regardless of how small the number of cases are in which investigations are taking too long, the fact that there are any investigations which take too long is deeply disappointing.

“We saw how quickly the Government moved when some of its own MPs and Lords were felt to have been under investigation for too long in criminal matters, resulting in far reaching changes to the bail structure, and yet are they suggesting that because the number is so small it’s therefore acceptable that our colleagues are under the microscope for inordinate amounts of time? It clearly isn’t.

“The review is woefully inadequate and is a betrayal of promises made by this Government, albeit under a different leader, but it’s cynical.”

At the time the review was instigated under David Cameron’s Government, retention of firearms officers was a real issue, and it’s indicative of other delays to legislation which could provide all officers with the protection they deserve, Steve added.

“We’ve suffered at the hands of poor retention of firearms officers here in Essex and that has led to a real vigorous shakeup of how we do business,” he said.

“Now, if we can achieve that at the local level it’s difficult to understand that the Government hasn’t been able to achieve it at national level.

“We deserve better treatment across the board; whilst there are unique aspects to firearms policing and that’s where this conversation started, let’s not forget roads policing, let’s not forget the seven, coming on for eight years in which the can has been kicked down the road when it comes to driver protection for officers.

“It’s clearly not an agenda item of any significance for this Government and it’s disappointing, to put it mildly.”

Critics of the way firearms officers are treated in the aftermath of firing their weapon on duty say the investigations make them feel like suspects, rather than the professional witnesses they should be.

“What’s important in that whole context is officer’s perception is their reality. By and large officers perceive themselves, despite the best efforts of those practitioners that work in this area, officers perceive themselves to be suspects right from the get-go,” Steve said.

“Now, we work hard to try and confound that expectation but that is their perception, and when we see acceptance of the status quo and no intention to change or improve matters is it any wonder that officers think that, despite our best efforts?”