Chris Kaba drama leaves armed police 'more scared of prison than facing down crooks'

Armed police officers are more scared of ending up in jail than facing down violent criminals, a senior chief has warned.

Chief Constable Simon Chesterman spoke out as police chiefs and former officers said they fear forces will struggle to recruit new armed officers in the wake of the prosecution of Met Police officer Martyn Blake after he shot dead gang member

Mr Chesterman, the lead for Armed Policing, said: "We are proud have the most restrained and professional armed officers in the world, but increasingly they are more afraid of going to prison for doing their jobs, than facing the violent and dangerous individuals we rely on them to protect us from."

There are fears that would-be recruits will be put off by potential legal repercussions for drawing and using firearms in the line of duty.

The number of operationally deployable armed police officers in England and Wales has been steadily falling since 2018/19 when there were 6,621.

The figure at 2023/24 was down to 5,861, while the peak was 6,976 in 2009/10.

Mr Chesterman added: "Good police officers need to know that if they do what they are trained to do, they will be supported by the leaders of the police service, Government and most importantly the public."

Mr Kaba was shot in the head during an armed vehicle stop in Streatham on September 5, 2022.

After an investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct, firearms officer Mr Blake, who shot him as he sat in his car, was charged with murder.

He was on Monday cleared of that charge by a jury at the Old Bailey who heard from Mr Blake, 40, that he feared Mr Kaba would use the car as a weapon against him and other officers.

After the trial, and was named as the gunman in a nightclub shooting six days before he died.

Mr Kaba's family said the verdict was "painful proof that our lives are not valued by the system" and the case has about armed policing.

The government this week said a review of how police officers are held to account will be published as a result of the case.

Mr Chesterman added: "Police officers are not above the law, and nobody expects them to be, but the system that holds officers to account when they use force to protect the public, their colleagues and themselves, has become broken.

"We are supportive of the Home Secretary's announcement and welcome their commitment to getting it right for officers and the public they serve and improving overall policing standards for communities."

Brian Booth, Acting Deputy National Chair of union the Police Federation said the case had an impact on armed officers and potential new ones across the country.

He said: "The ramifications of the (Blake) case going to court has gone far wider than the boundary of the Metropolitan Police Service, with police officers across the other 42 forces in England and Wales rightly asking what protection they have when doing such a dangerous, complex and demanding job.

"The Government must now urgently implement the Accountability Review recommendations so that legal safeguards can be established to allow police officers to have the confidence to do their job, serving and protecting the public."

Harry Tangye, a former Operational Firearms Commander with Devon and Cornwall Police, believes that the failure of police leaders to fully support armed officers after such incidents when firearms are discharged will discourage people from coming forward for what was historically a much sought after role.

He said: "There is too much moral cowardice in leadership at the moment.

"I think the CPS have just shoved it up, they didn't want to make a decision, so they let a jury do it because a lot of fuss was being made.

"But that fuss is being made by a tiny minority of people and a bereaved family who with all due respect, I understand they are grieving, but the rest of society needs to be protected from their son.

"A lot of police bosses, mayors, politicians and CPS decision makers are hiding behind this argument of prosecution being 'in the public interest'. They're bowing to pressure from angry people who don't know any of the facts and just conclude that the police must be guilty.

"We need to start ignoring these people."

The Met Police refused to say how many armed officers it currently has or if it is struggling to recruit new ones.

However, in 2016 Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch asked at the Mayor of London question time about its levels and was told there were 2,074 firearms officers in the force with plans to and intends to increase this by a further 600.