Police Officers Fear Being Prosecuted For Doing Their Job

Police officers are less willing to take up high risk roles due to fear of being prosecuted for doing the job, Hampshire Police Federation says.

Outgoing Federation Chair Zoe Wakefield said high-profile incidents of police being publicly scrutinised for doing their job had created an “absurd situation” for officers to act under.

She said officers from firearms to those specialising in pursuits were all now working in a high-pressure environment where they were forced to second guess themselves.

Zoe explained: “How can it ever be right that you are driving in the way you’ve been trained to drive, an accident happens and you find yourself in court on a dangerous driving charge?

“You’ve got firearms officers acting in accordance to their training who take action and then find themselves in court charged with murder.

“I think every member of the public, if you explained it to them, would go ‘That is crazy, how can that be possible?’.”

“It’s an absolutely absurd situation for any police officer to be in.”

Zoe said the impact of the challenging working environment for officer was already being seen by way of less people wanting to take on the riskier roles.

She added: “If you lose your job or go to prison, the impact on your wider family, everybody – not just you – is massive.”

Zoe said Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners should be responsible if something happened because of an officer acting in accordance with their training.

She called for a change in legislation to protect officers performing their duties as currently they are “really vulnerable”.

Zoe added: “We’re going to get to the point where officers are now scared to use force, scared to drive fast, or are scared to shoot someone – it’s crazy.”