Police officers don’t fear being shot or stabbed but are scared of how they will be treated if they use their training to defend themselves, according to a senior representative.
Paul Matthews, a national board member of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) – the organisation that represents rank-and-file officers – said there was a growing feeling among members that they would not be supported by their bosses.
His comments came after many Metropolitan Police firearms officers put down their guns after one of their colleagues, only known as NX121, was charged with the murder of 24-year-old Chris Kaba.
PFEW professional development lead Mr Matthews told the organisation’s annual conference on Tuesday: “There is an overwhelming and growing feeling among officers, not just in firearms units, that they will not be supported by their leaders even when they apply force in the way they have been trained to.”
He said one officer recently posted on social media that they had left the police because they no longer felt safe and supported.
“They said they didn’t fear getting shot at or stabbed but feared how they would be treated if they used their training to defend themselves.
“These comments were later supported by countless other officers who felt the same.”
The Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge NX121 last month over the fatal shooting of Mr Kaba in south London sparked concern among some police officers as more than 100 Met marksmen refused to carry their weapons.
The crisis has since been resolved as they returned to normal duties but armed officers around the country have said they may down their guns if the officer, who has been granted a temporary anonymity order by a judge, is publicly named.
Speaking at a session on leadership in policing at the conference, which is being held virtually this year, Mr Matthews criticised a “failing leadership” where officers feel “unsupported, demoralised and at times ostracised” and said there was a “disconnect” between federation members and their senior bosses.
He said “no other profession is scrutinised so intrusively as the police” with officers regularly “pilloried” in the media for just doing their job, but that senior leaders rarely came out in their defence and were more likely to refer them to the Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog.
Mr Matthews said poorly implemented systems of recruitment, vetting, management, training and promotion” has allowed “a culture in which poor performance, behaviours and attitudes has been allowed to go unchallenged”.
“Good organisations encourage constructive dissent but current management in police forces constrains it,” he said.
“You cannot sack yourself out of a problem. The police as an organisation champions its ability to work proactively. Well, I am far from convinced that it does.”