source: The Justice Gap

published: 26 September 2023

Image Credit: Worradmu at www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

INQUEST has stated that proposed reforms to investigations of police misconduct amount to ‘a license to kill’, in response to comments made by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Home Secretary in the wake of murder charges for the officer who shot Chris Kaba.

The decision of the CPS to bring a murder charge against the officer responsible for the shooting has been met with protests by Metropolitan police firearms officers who surrendered their weapons. The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, called for a review of armed policing.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley welcomed the review’s potential to ‘address a number of imbalances’ in the way police officers are held to account for decisions to use force.

They include a call to increase the standard of proof required to find unlawful killing in inquests and inquiries, along with increasing the threshold at which the Independent Office of Police Conduct could launch criminal or misconduct investigations.

In response, Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST, emphasises that ‘accountability for officers involved in wrongdoing and deaths is exceedingly rare’ even when there is ‘clear evidence of disproportionate, dangerous and unnecessary use of force.’

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