Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday ordered an internal review to give armed UK police officers greater protection from prosecution, amid fears that security forces do not have enough legal backing
Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday ordered an internal review to give armed UK police officers greater protection from prosecution, amid fears that security forces do not have enough legal backing to use guns in the case of a Paris-like attack.
The review will examine whether the law gives enough support to officers making a “split- second” decision to shoot in the wake of the Paris attacks in November that killed 129 people.
It follows concerns from the senior police that fire-arms officers in Britain do not have the necessary legal or political backing to work with confidence in the instance of a similar attack in the UK.
Of the 1,30,000 officers in England and Wales, around 6,000 are trained to use guns, but the government has announced plans to significantly inc-rease that number.
Currently, the UK’s Cri-minal Law Act 1967 allows police to use “reasonable force”, while the Criminal Justice Act 2008 recognises the defence that an officer had an “honest and instinctive” belief that opening fire was reasonable. The internal review, to be carried out by the UK Home Office, the attorney-general’s office and the ministry of justice, is expected to examine whether those laws go far enough to protect armed officers and prevent them hesitating in the event of an attack.
A senior UK government source told the Sunday Times: “We must make sure that when police take the ultimate decision to protect the safety of the public they do so with the full support of the law and the state.”
