Society of Editors criticises firearms anonymity plan
Crime / Mon 28th Apr 2025 at 06:29am
THE Executive Director of the Society of Editors has described plans by the government to grant anonymity to police firearms officers who shoot suspects as “deeply concerning”.
The comments come after the Home Secretary announced yesterday (Thursday 23 April) that she would pursue legislation that would introduce a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers facing criminal proceedings following police shootings, up until the point of conviction.
The government’s planned amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill comes despite the Society having written to the Home Secretary in October 2024 setting out its concerns with the proposals which followed the acquittal last year of Metropolitan Police Service firearms officer Sergeant Martyn Blake following the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba in September 2022.
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Seamus
2025-04-28 14:10:51
I can certainly understand the anonymity till a court decision on a trial. Some statistics given the media make it look like there is a policeman firing at people on every corner. "Police use of firearms statistics, England and Wales: April 2023 to March 2024 Published 11 July 2024". "There were 17,589 firearms operations in the year ending 31 March 2024, a decrease of 811 (-4%) compared with the year ending 31 March 2023 (18,400)." "In the year ending 31 March 2024, there were 2 incidents in which police intentionally discharged firearms at persons, which represents 0.01% of total firearms operations. This is lower compared with all previous years since 2009. " To have 17,589 firearms operations and only in 2 occassions was a firearm discharged shows our police are not gung ho, nor are they unprofessional. Any death, rightly should be investigated thoroughly but as with most reporting, context is often over taken by social media, leaving mainstream media playing catch up and often offering apologies after for incorrect reporting.
Phil Wilson
2025-04-29 03:45:39
Imagine being critical of the very foundation of a legal system that leads with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. This legislation is fine and does little more than what the current system fails to do in many areas. This news website often times runs a story or two, whereby a name is given about an individual, and the charges against them are dropped or they're found innocent in a court of law. By which time, the name and face is plastered over the Web with countless websites regurgitating the same story without a followup. I support this legislation. There is nothing lost here.
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