New reforms to boost confidence in police accountability system

Confidence in the police, and in the systems that hold them to account, will be boosted under a package of reforms announced by the Home Secretary.

The announcement will reassure both the police and the public that the system of vetting and accountability is working.

It will tackle delays in investigations, ensuring the complexity of specialist police roles are considered from the outset, and introduce stronger vetting processes so the highest standards are always upheld and maintained.

This follows the long-awaited accountability review and draws on findings of the reviews undertaken by Dame Louise Casey and Lady Elish Angiolini.

In a statement to Parliament, Yvette Cooper set out the government's mission to put confidence back into policing, ensuring both that the police have the confidence of the communities they serve, and that officers have the confidence they need to do the vital job of keeping people safe.  

She set out new measures that will be taken forward in response to the accountability review started under the previous government, including:

• a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers facing criminal proceedings following police shootings, up until the point of a conviction
• raising the threshold for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to refer police officers to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), so that only cases that have a reasonable prospect of conviction are referred – as is already the test for members of the public suspected of committing a crime
• a rapid independent review to consider the legal test for use of force in misconduct proceedings and the threshold for unlawful killing in inquests
• an examination by the Director of Public Prosecutions of CPS guidance and processes in relation to charging police officers for offences committed in the course of their duties
• the creation of a national lessons-learned database for deaths or serious injuries following police contact or pursuits to ensure findings are incorporated into future training and guidance
• placing the IOPC victims' right to review policy on a statutory footing

The Home Secretary also announced reforms to address fundamental flaws in police vetting and misconduct processes, including delivering on key manifesto commitments. These will:

• for the first time, place vetting standards on a statutory footing
• empower chief constables to promptly dismiss officers who fail their vetting
• strengthen requirements relating to the suspension of officers under investigation for violence against women and girls
• ensure officers convicted of certain criminal offences are automatically found to have committed gross misconduct and create a presumption of dismissal in gross misconduct cases

The Home Secretary set out these reforms to address concerns held by police, local communities and the families of those impacted by police use of force. 

As well as legislating for a presumption of anonymity, ministers will take forward 3 measures set out by the previous government. These will align the threshold for IOPC referrals of officers to the CPS to that used by police for members of the public, accelerate processes by allowing the IOPC to send cases to the CPS prior to their final investigation report where there is sufficient evidence, and place the victims' right to review policy for IOPC decisions on a legislative footing to ensure the voices for victims and bereaved families are heard.

The Home Office and Ministry of Justice have also appointed 2 independent reviewers, Tim Godwin OBE QPM and Sir Adrian Fulford PC, to undertake a rapid review of the legal test for use of force in misconduct cases, and the threshold for determining unlawful killing in coronial inquests, to bring greater clarity and prevent delays in the accountability system following recent legal rulings.

The Attorney General has also requested that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) reviews CPS guidance and processes in relation to charging police officers for offences committed in the course of their duties, reflecting the complexity of specialist roles.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

The British tradition of policing by consent relies on mutual bonds of trust between the public and the police. For our policing model to work, it is essential that the police have the confidence of the communities they serve and that officers have the confidence they need to do their vital and often extremely difficult job of keeping us all safe.

Too often in recent times, both elements of that confidence have become frayed. The government have made it a mission to put confidence back into policing.

The measures I have outlined are practical steps to rebuild confidence, tackle delays, provide clarity and ensure that high standards are maintained. The government is determined to take the necessary action to strengthen public confidence in the police, and to strengthen the confidence of the police when they are out on the street every day, doing the difficult job of keeping us all safe.

Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Armed Policing, said:

Police officers are not above the law, and nobody expects them to be, but the system that holds officers to account when they use force to protect the public, their colleagues and themselves, has become broken.

We are supportive of the Home Secretary's announcement and welcome their commitment to getting it right for officers and the public they serve and improving overall policing standards.

The ongoing work on the accountability review now has momentum to continue and is a real opportunity to get the balance right in the interests of the public we are here to protect.

We are proud to have the most restrained and professional armed officers in the world, but increasingly they are more afraid of going to prison for doing their jobs, than facing the violent and dangerous individuals we rely on them to protect us from.

“Good police officers need to know that if they do what they are trained to do, they will be supported by the leaders of the police service, government and most importantly the public. > > We remain determined to get police accountability right and we will support government to address concerns about the current accountability system to restore the confidence of police officers and the public.