Protecting the protectors

In this opinion piece we ask if, in light of significant changes in threat to the public, whether policies and guidelines surrounding a police Authorised Firearm Officer’s (AFOs) use of force should not be comprehensively debated and revised to provide more clarity in the light of changing circumstances.In our view it is important that a wider debate is also led by Parliament, has a wide arc of public consultation and results in clear guidance for AFOs and their commanders who, on our behalf, have to cope with life-threatening and traumatic situations. The responsibility for how armed policing operations unfold and conclude is unclear and rather than an open debate resulting in a clear and unequivocal set of principles enshrined in law we currently have what might be too easily viewed as a process of issue avoidance that allows police forces to accumulate large quantities of arms, train officers to high levels of proficiency to deal with a potent threat without clearly and unequivocally, telling them what the consequences of their actions following such a confrontation may be.