THE Chairman of Essex Police Federation says he supports a structured national approach to the length of time authorised firearms officers should be on duty.<\/p>\n
Shift lengths of firearms officers are being looked at by the National Police Chiefs\u2019 Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing, alongside the Police Federation of England and Wales.<\/p>\n
The Home Office has published nine recommendations on how forces can improve their firearms practices – one of which is that the NPCC and the College of Policing should jointly decide, in the light of independent expert advice, whether there should be a maximum period of time during which authorised firearms officers are permitted to remain on continuous duty.<\/p>\n
If so, they should ensure that this maximum period is specified in national guidance.<\/p>\n
Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor said: \u201cAgain the Independent Officer for Police Conduct comes to the fore, because one of the first things those charged with investigating the police will do in a police-involved shooting is ask how long have those officers been on duty. Almost straight away putting the suggestion of wrongdoing onto the individual officer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIndividual officers are sometimes hung out to dry because they\u2019ve been working too long and culturally we don\u2019t discourage overtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn that sense we are potentially setting people up to fail, and that perhaps is most acutely felt in the firearms world where a very intense situation can develop and you\u2019ve got to step up and think very, very quickly, with extremely serious consequences for making the wrong choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore there is an argument, I think, to explore around individual firearms officers almost being saved from themselves, and with a more structured national approach to expectation on length of duty being levelled particularly at firearms officers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve admitted it could be a controversial conversation when many officers feel they can\u2019t afford to turn down overtime. He said: \u201cI fully accept that view will be unpopular, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the wrong view. I\u2019d welcome more structure in that area and more evidenced guidance from the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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