WIREDGOV

APCC Chair Emily Spurrell responds to the Home Secretary’s announcement yesterday regarding police accountability

“We welcome yesterday’s announcement by the Home Secretary. In her statement to MPs, she acknowledged how challenging it is being a firearms officer. They are deployed to the most dangerous of incidents and must make split-second, often life and death, decisions to keep the public safe. The Home Secretary also recognised the backdrop of long-standing concerns in some communities regarding police accountability standards.

“It is right that measures are taken to help build public confidence in policing, while at the same time ensuring that firearms officers and the families of victims are protected and have access to quicker recourse to justice.

“Yesterday’s commitments, including new legislation for police vetting and police performance standards, are vital to ensure we have a police force with the skills, training and culture, that the public want to see.”