Police will be granted anonymity in court if they are charged over a fatal police shooting in measures announced in the wake an outcry over the Chris Kaba murder trial.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper unveiled plans for firearms officers facing criminal proceedings over police shootings to be granted a presumption of anonymity up until the point of a conviction.
The announcement comes after Sergeant Martyn Blake was said to have been forced into hiding after he was accused of murdering unarmed driver Mr Kaba in a police shooting.
A jury unanimously acquitted the officer after hearing the 24-year-old tried to ram his way out of a police stop in Streatham, southwest London, on 5 September 2022.
Sgt Blake was refused anonymity in the trial despite his lawyers arguing the officer was at risk of reprisal attacks from members of a violent London gang known as the “67”.
Following the verdict, Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the police accountability system was “broken” and expressed concerns it might lead to a loss of morale among firearms officers.
The home secretary announced a package of reforms to revive and complete a probe into how firearms officers who take fatal shots in the line of duty are held to account in a Commons statement on Wednesday.
Suella Braverman had pledged to review the ways that firearms officers who take fatal shots are held accountable when she was home secretary in 2023. However Ms Cooper vowed to take the previous government’s proposals further.
She told the Commons: “Chris Kaba was killed in Streatham two years ago. His parents and family of course continue to experience deep grief and distress. A year ago, Sergeant Martyn Blake was charged with murder and on Monday the jury returned their verdict, and Sgt Blake was acquitted.
“It is imperative that the jury’s verdict is respected and that Sgt Blake and his family are given the time and space that they will need to recover from what will have been an immensely difficult experience for them during both the investigation and the trial.”
She said the trial had taken place against “a backdrop of fallen community confidence in policing” and officers were facing “unacceptable delays” in the accountability process.
Announcing plans to introduce anonymity measures under the Crime and Policing Bill, she added: “When officers act in the most dangerous situations on behalf of the state it is vital that those officers and their families are not put in further danger during any subsequent legal proceedings.
“So we will therefore introduce a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers subject to criminal trial following a police shooting in the course of their professional duties, up to the point of conviction.”
Other measures proposed include a rapid independent review of legal thresholds for use of force in misconduct and coronial proceedings and the creation of a database of “lessons learned” where deaths or serious injury has happened after police contact or pursuits.
The government will also take forward proposals to strengthen police vetting and misconduct, including placing vetting standards on a statutory footing.
The measures will “strengthen the confidence the police must have when they are out on the street each day, doing the difficult job of keeping us all safe”, she added
Shadow home secretary James Cleverly said he “agreed with almost all” of the proposals put forward by the government.
However Labour MP Diane Abbott told the Commons that “nothing could be more damaging for police community relations” than the idea that the police are above the law.
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