Page 45 - Top Cover Issue 9

TOP COVER ISSUE 9 45

Firearms officers eagerly await guidance from ACPO as to
whether they can view body worn video before writing

detailed accounts. The guidance is long overdue.

irearms officers around the has used force. That officer is: Development Branch Home Office and Dr
country are carrying BWV • a witness, A Hyatt-Williams Consultant Psychiatrist.,
as a pilot. In the MPS two • but one who can become a suspect the research concluded:
shooting incidents in eight very quickly. The officer is likely to be in a state of
days has brought home the In a DSI that officer is subject to an physical and mental shock and suffering
urgent need for guidance. IPCC investigation, which is required to some degree of confusion. Any statement
There has been much satisfy requirements of Article 2 of the taken under these conditions is likely to be
Fdebate as to whether ECHR of … being capable of leading to worthless and need complete revision at a
officers should be allowed to view BWV a determination of whether the force used later stage. It is suggested that some way of
before providing detailed statements. was justified…and to the identification and delaying the formal investigation procedure
There are opposing views. The current punishment of those responsible … and should be considered to give the officer time
accepted process in regular (non DSI) In those cases involving agents of the and opportunity to recover from the initial
investigations is that officers can refer to State to ensure their accountability for effects of his experience.
BWV before writing statements. In DSI deaths occurring under their responsibility. That was in 1986 in the very early
cases the IPCC wants to prohibit officers The vulnerability of officers is stages of development of the PIP.
from viewing BWV before providing underlined by examples of officers who More recently in an article published
detailed statements (stage 4 in the Armed have faced prosecution for murder – the in Criminal Law & Justice Weekly on
policing APP). The IPCC rationale for Met officer prosecuted for shooting March 25, 2014 by amongst others
this is that it protects the integrity of David EWAN in 1997, the Sussex Professor Lorraine Hope of Dept of
the process and of the officer’s evidence. officer prosecuted for shooting James Psychology at University of Portsmouth –
However, this should be put into context ASHLEY in 1999, the retired Met officer Preparing a DIFA may perhaps be
of the position publicly taken by IPCC prosecuted in 2015 for shooting Azelle appropriate for a custody officer who has
that officers involved in a DSI should: Rodney in 2005, plus several restraint presided over an accidental death …
• be obliged to provide a detailed deaths and deaths in the custody suite. in custody … However, this is unlikely
individual first account – a DIFA This hybrid status means that police to apply in the case of a firearms officer
– described in their ‘consultation’ officers are uniquely vulnerable to who has been involved in a fatal shooting
document as … a full and detailed becoming suspects. They are expected incident … unlikely they will be in a
account at the earliest opportunity … to assist the IPCC investigation by psychologically optimal state to write
meaning before going off duty providing detailed accounts early on in a ‘full and detailed’ account. Their
• be prohibited from conferring, and the PIP, and yet if they do not articulate biological responses to the psychological
• be separated from colleagues until their justification for use of force clearly, and physiological stress are unlikely to have
after a DIFA has been provided. or unambiguously or are inconsistent in receded and there are likely to be significant
This flies in the face of accepted accounts given, their status can change to concerns about their ability to focus on
current practice, ignores the opinion of that of suspect. producing such an account at that stage …
experts instructed by the Home Office This is why we have CofP guidance The current version of the CofP
and seriously undermines the position of – to achieve a balance between the need guidance contained within the
the officer whose use of force has resulted to investigate the matter thoroughly Authorised Professional Practice (APP)
in death or serious injury. whilst recognising the vulnerability of the recognises the balance that needs to
This friction is misplaced. All the officer and protecting their rights. be struck between the interests of the
stakeholders want to achieve the same This is not just lawyers’ talk. The investigation and protecting the officer
goal – the provision of a detailed account Home Office commissioned a study in concerned. Para 8.5 under heading Effects
by the officer who has used force and to 1986. Entitled Study of Post Shooting of trauma on memory states:
achieve best evidence. It is important to Experiences in Firearms Officers by A person involved in a traumatic or life
consider the position of an officer who Mary Manolias Scientific Research and threatening encounter will often experience