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Police officers in London are retiring from armed duties after a member of the Metropolitan Police Service was charged last week with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in 2022.
According to a police service statement, an unspecified number of Metropolitan Police officers are no longer carrying firearms “while they consider their position.” The number of officers taking a break from armed duty has increased in the last 48 hours, it said, adding that the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge an officer with murder “signals a change in the way decisions are made.” .” [that police] The most difficult circumstances will be judged.”
Compared to the United States, a relatively small proportion of police officers in Britain carry firearms. They require a special license for this and are only used in limited situations. “Where firearms assistance is required, this will be provided by specially trained and accredited firearms officers, known as authorized firearms officers,” says guidance on the Metropolitan Police website.
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Armed officers from neighboring police forces have been asked to assist the Metropolitan Police, the service said. Additionally, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it had received a request to provide “routine emergency counter-terrorism support” to the Metropolitan Police as needed.
Citing unnamed sources, the BBC reported on Monday that more than 100 armed officers had surrendered their firearms permits. The Washington Post could not independently verify the figure.
“The Met has significant firearms capability and we continue to have armed officers deployed in communities across London as well as other locations including Parliament, diplomatic buildings and airports,” police said.
The unnamed officer was charged Wednesday in the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba on Sept. 5, 2022. The 24-year-old who was shot dead in south London was driving an Audi with a number plate linked to a “firearms incident” the previous day, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which oversees England’s police forces.
According to the office, an unmarked police vehicle followed Kaba until he turned onto a street where a marked police vehicle was waiting around 10 p.m. Officers approached the Audi and “contact occurred” between the Audi and police vehicles, the office said. An officer standing outside the Audi fired a shot through the vehicle’s windshield, hitting Kaba, the Independent Office for Police Conduct wrote.
According to the office, Kaba was taken to a London hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:16 a.m. on September 6, 2022.
Kaba’s family members and lawyers said he was unarmed. Rallies in support of Kaba took place across London. Days after the fatal shooting, the Metropolitan Police suspended the officer who fired the weapon. After the officer was arraigned on Wednesday, he was released on bail and is expected to stand trial next year.
Daniel Machover, an attorney representing Kaba’s family, said in a statement Wednesday that the charges give relatives “some hope that justice can be served for Chris.”
“Over the past year, Chris’ family has shown extraordinary dignity and strength in demanding answers to how Chris was killed and in demanding justice and accountability for him,” Machover said.
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According to local authority figures released in June, the Metropolitan Police employs about 2,600 firearms officers, a small fraction of the more than 34,000 officers the service employs.
Fatal shootings involving a police officer are relatively rare in Britain. According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, there were three in the year to March 31, 2023 – one more than the previous year.
On Friday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said his officers were “understandably concerned” as they considered how their future conduct on duty might be assessed.
“When officers are as uncertain and worried as I saw with my colleagues today, it is brave to just go in and do their job without knowing what incidents they will face,” Rowley said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Monday morning that police officers needed certainty about their legal powers.
“Our firearms officers do an incredibly difficult job. They make split-second life and death decisions to protect us, and they deserve our thanks for their courage,” he said. “It is now important that they use these legal powers with clarity.”
Interior Minister Suella Braverman wrote on X – formerly known as Twitter – said it would launch a review to ensure police “have the confidence to do their jobs while keeping us all safe”.
In a letter sent to Braverman on Sunday, Rowley wrote that a review was “long overdue.” He said the UK’s civil servant accountability system was “not designed to help civil servants succeed” as there were “years of protracted legal proceedings which impact on their personal wellbeing”.
Rowley suggested that investigations into officers move more quickly and only take place once all the facts are known. He also suggested that the Crown Prosecution Service provide stronger protection to officers who use force.
“Accountability is important, but we should not have allowed ourselves to develop a system in which police officers are investigated for safely pursuing suspects simply because the suspect acts recklessly and thereby injures himself or someone else,” he wrote. “This is unfair to our officers and discourages them from chasing criminals.”
Kaba’s death is linked to wider trust issues for the Metropolitan Police. The police have come under intense criticism for the behavior of some of their officers and the way they investigated government parties during the pandemic lockdowns. Public trust took a particularly big hit after a serving London official was convicted of the murder of Sarah Everard, a marketing executive.
Leo Sands and Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.