Home Secretary Announces Policing Changes After Chris Kaba Shooting

Transcript

00:00So let me turn to the policy measures. First, we will take forward the three

00:04measures proposed by the previous government in March to strengthen and

00:08speed up the system. We will align the threshold for the referral of police

00:12officers from the Independent Office of Police Conduct to the Crown Prosecution

00:16Service to that used by the police when referring cases involving member of the

00:22public. Currently that threshold is lower for police officers and that is not

00:26justified. We will allow the IOPC to send cases to the CPS where there is sufficient

00:32evidence to do so instead of having to wait for a final investigation report and

00:36we will put the IOPC victims right to review policy on a statutory footing to

00:42ensure there's an appeal mechanism for bereaved families when a decision is

00:45made not to seek a charging decision. And then we will go further. When officers

00:51act in the most dangerous situations on behalf of the state it is vital that

00:56those officers and their families are not put in further danger during any

01:00subsequent legal proceedings. So we will therefore introduce a presumption of

01:05anonymity for firearms officers subject to criminal trial following a police

01:10shooting in the course of their professional duties up to the point of

01:14conviction. We will also ensure that the highly specialist nature of particular

01:19policing tactics and tools are reflected in relevant investigative guidance. That

01:24includes ensuring that in investigations of police driving incidents evidence

01:28from subject matter experts and in-car video footage is considered at the

01:33earliest possible opportunity and that more widely an officer's compliance with

01:37their training and guidance is appropriately taken into account in

01:41investigative decision-making. I've also established a rapid review of two

01:47specific areas where recent legal judgments have now meant we have

01:50different thresholds for criminal misconduct and inquest investigations

01:54adding complexity, confusion and delay to the system. In particular it will look

02:00at the legal test for use of force in misconduct proceedings and the threshold

02:04for determining short-form findings of unlawful killing in inquests. The

02:10independent review will be conducted by Tim Godwin and the Right Honourable Sir

02:13Adrian Fulford and will report jointly to myself and to the Lord Chancellor by

02:18the end of January and I've asked for further work to be done on timeliness

02:22standards and misconduct procedures as part of our wider policing reforms.