Over 100 Metropolitan Police in London turned in their permits that allow them to carry guns on Sunday to protest an officer being charged with murder after shooting a black man who was believed to be linked to a firearms incident, arguing that they need stronger legal protections, the BBC reports.
Consequentially, the Ministry of Defense is offering armed soldiers to help support policing in the interim, an act that a former firearms officer said would constitute “a very sad day” for the Met Police.
Speaking anonymously, he stated, “What is obvious to me, they are not acting out of anger or petulance.”
"It's not a co-ordinated protest. These are individuals with partners and families who are incredibly committed to their profession.”
"They're incredibly concerned it's not worth it anymore."
Arguing for more legal protections, Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley stated in an open letter to the home secretary that the system investigating firearms officers for "safely pursuing suspects" should have never been put in place, adding that “the issues raised in this letter go back further.”
He said that firearms officers are weary of responding to situations out of fear of legal action, "even if they stick to the tactics and training they have been given."
"Officers need sufficient legal protection to enable them to do their job and keep the public safe, and the confidence that it will be applied consistently and without fear or favour.”
He welcomed a review into armed policing by the Home Office, stating his officers are “held to the highest standards.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Londoners "depend on our brave firearms officers to protect us,” while announcing the review.
"In the interest of public safety they have to make split-second decisions under extraordinary pressures."
The prime minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak backed the review but added that armed police need "clarity".
He said to Hertfordshire: "Our firearms officers do an incredibly difficult job. They are making life or death decisions in a split-second to keep us safe and they deserve our gratitude for their bravery."
Former Greater Manchester Police chief constable Sir Peter Fahy told Today that when officers respond to reports of suspects carrying firearms there are often "issues about intelligence and information.”
"It is part of a bigger picture where there is a huge level of discontent among ordinary police officers where there is a huge gulf between policing and the Home Office.”
He continued, “Officers feel a lot of the criticism is unbalanced, that they are underappreciated and that the media and politicians don't understand the reality of day-to-day policing."
The MoD received a Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) request from the Home Office to “provide routine counter-terrorism contingency support to the Metropolitan Police, should it be needed".
MACA is typically requested in emergency situations and "in specific circumstances and where an appropriate policing response was not available" and not “in a routine policing capacity.”
The Met stated on Saturday that while they are receiving support from armed soldiers, most of the policing force remains Met officers.
