David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, ordered the review of a new law that enables armed police officers to have greater legal protection on the use of firearms. The move comes after the death of a 28-year old man in north London during a police operation.
According to The Guardian, Cameron has ordered the review of a law that offers greater legal protection for armed "shoot-to-kill" police officers should they pull the trigger against terrorists and other suspects. He looked into the inquiry on the concerns of officers who fear opting to shoot people should circumstances arise. The move was requested following police concerns over protecting the public from Paris-style terrorist attacks.
The call to action was expressed by authorities namely, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe during the meeting at the National Security Council. According to the Mirror, the whole affair is considered controversial as the move came a week after an officer was arrested and interrogated as part of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry over the death of Jermaine Baker. Baker met his demise after being shot during an operation in Wood Green, north London that attempted to spring two convicts from a prison van.
Jeremy Corbin, leader of the Labour party, also expressed his reservations of raising a "political stunt" should a "shoot to kill" policy be enacted outside anti-terrorist operations.
He warned of damaging community relations saying, "If you want the public as a whole to have confidence in the police force and confidence they can cooperate with them in the future, any shooting on the street diminishes that confidence... There has to be a very robust and strong independent inquiry into what the police do. Like any other public organisation, they must be held to account."
According to the Independent, the review will be carried out by the Ministry of Justice and Home Office. It will cover all areas of police shooting and is seen as an attempt to boost the morale of armed police officers. An unnamed government source commented, "In the world we now find ourselves in, post Paris, there's certainly a need for police officers to feel they have backing."
Cameron has moved to review the law supporting legal protection for police officers prompted to engage in a lethal decision and for defending them against potential prosecution for their actions. Police chiefs expressed their concern over the need for political and legal backing in an event of a terrorist attack in Britain.
