Police officers will be given more clarity and confidence when making split-second decisions to protect the public, as the government announces new rules.
The legal test for the use of force in police misconduct cases will be returned to the criminal law test. This means that when officers need to act quickly in the face of danger, they must have an honest belief that use of force is necessary. This will help ensure that police officers will not be penalised for making genuine mistakes, to reflect the incredibly high pressure they work under.
The move has been recommended by an independent review carried out by Sir Adrian Fulford PC and Tim Godwin OBE QPM and published by the Home Office. The reviewers found that police officers do not have the confidence to use their powers of force effectively, due to past legal cases complicating their decision-making.
The current legal test used to assess a police officer’s use of lethal or other force in a misconduct case is known as the civil law test, which has less mitigation for genuine mistakes.
While the criminal law test was used in the past for misconduct cases, a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 found the civil test should apply. The review found that this change has created confusion and inconsistency, resulting in a negative effect on police morale, particularly among firearms officers.
The minister responsible for crime and policing, Sarah Jones said:
Our brave police officers are required to make split-second decisions when faced with danger in order to protect the public. It is vital that they have the confidence to act decisively in these moments.
These changes will empower officers to keep our communities safe while ensuring those who fall short of expected standards are still held to account. This is a crucial step in rebuilding public confidence in our police.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said:
It is right that police officers are held to account for their actions, but the system that scrutinises them must be fair, consistent, transparent and timely. Too often they face months and even years of uncertainty, having to go through two or sometimes three separate legal processes and hearings, being judged against a different standard each time, in order to justify a split-second decision taken often in the most challenging circumstances.
The case for reform isn’t just about fairness, it’s about public safety. The chilling effect of an accountability system not fit for purpose is officers not prepared to do the most challenging roles or fearing the consequences of their actions more than the criminals they are confronting. Communities are less safe as a result.
I welcome this review’s recommendations. The force officers use will still need to be necessary, proportionate and reasonable in all the circumstances, but they can have greater confidence that they will be held to a consistent standard, judged on what they honestly believed at the time and not what others conclude with the benefit of frame by frame hindsight long after an incident.
The change in legal test for use of force in misconduct cases will apply to all situations in which a police officer uses force, including in self-defence or in defence of others.
The government will legislate to make this change to the use of force test following consultation with the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales as required by law and as soon as the Parliamentary timetable allows.
The review also recommends that the government carries out a public consultation on the standard of proof in unlawful killing inquests.
The announcement builds on the considerable progress already made on the government’s delivery of police accountability reforms, including measures in the Crime and Policing Bill to give firearms officer anonymity up to the point of conviction in criminal cases, speed up charging decisions following use of force and strengthen victims’ right to review charging decisions.
Police chiefs have also been given greater powers to sack officers who are unfit to serve, and a further longer-term review into timeliness in the accountability system will be launched in due course.
