Ref:126 October 24, 2008
ACPO position on firearms incident note-taking

Revisions to guidance governing the way in which police officers record events following a firearms incident are to be introduced, following a decision made by the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Chief Constables’ council.

The revisions fall within the ACPO manual of guidance on the police use of firearms. A working group including representatives of ACPO, the Police Federation of England and Wales, the Police Superintendents’ Association and the National Policing Improvement Agency and operational firearms officers had been reviewing ACPO’s operational guidance.

The revised guidance takes account of the recent judgment following the judicial review of the Independent Police Complaints Commission and others, brought by the Saunders and Tucker families.

Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes, ACPO lead on uniformed operations said:

“Those police officers who accept the responsibility of carrying firearms voluntarily put their lives on the line in carrying out their duty to protect the public. ACPO fully understands the importance of maintaining public confidence around firearms incidents, particularly those involving death or serious injuries.

“Our guidance must serve the public interest, allowing highly-trained and professional officers the space to make critical operational judgments decisively. It must ensure the service remains accountable, and both open and transparent in how it meets legal requirements under human rights law.

“This is a difficult and complex issue and in addressing it the police service has demonstrated the quality of its professional leadership and judgment. A period of time will be required to inform firearms teams and their commanders of these changes and provide the appropriate training and support to respond to the challenges they bring.”

The revised guidance states that:

“As a matter of general practice officers should not confer with others before making their accounts (whether initial or subsequent accounts). The important issue is to individually record what their honestly held belief of the situation was at the time force was used. There should therefore be no need for an officer to confer with others about what was in their mind at the time force was used. If, however, in a particular case a need to confer on other issues does arise, then, in order to ensure transparency and maintain public confidence, where some discussion has taken place, officers must document the fact that this has taken place, highlighting:
• Time, date and place where conferring took place.
• The issues discussed
• With whom
• The reasons for such discussion

There is a positive obligation on officers involved to ensure that all activity relating to the recording of accounts is transparent and capable of withstanding scrutiny.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

• The ACPO Press Office can be contacted via 020 7084 8946/47/48/49 (office hours) or via 07803 903686 (out of office hours).

• The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is an independent, professionally led strategic body. In the public interest and, in equal and active partnership with Government and the Association of Police Authorities, ACPO leads and co-ordinates the direction and development of the police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In times of national need ACPO, on behalf of all chief officers, coordinates the strategic policing response.

• ACPO’s 341 members are police officers of Assistant Chief Constable rank (Commanders in the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police) and above, and senior police staff managers, in the 44 forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and other forces such as British Transport Police and States of Jersey Police.