The head of Scotland Yard has said anxiety led scores of firearms officers to refuse to carry their weapons after a colleague was charged with murder, with “significantly less than normal” armed police still on London’s streets.
Sir Mark Rowley said his force could provide credible firearms cover, but the continuing refusal to carry weapons by some meant “difficult choices” remained.
On Monday the Metropolitan police said some had started to return to their normal duties. The downing of weapons followed the charging of a firearms officer with the murder of Chris Kaba, who was unarmed when shot dead last September in south London.
Rowley was speaking to the new London Policing Board, set up after Louise Casey’s damning report into the Met in March found widespread failings and that the force was “broken”. Her report also criticised the firearms command as riddled with bias and with some members believing they could bend the rules.
The downing of firearms left the Met having to plead for armed officers from neighbouring forces and even having to ask the military for help, but that request has now lapsed after the partial return to work.
Rowley said: “Over the weekend, it had a very significant effect on our capability. We’re now in a position where the numbers are strengthening. We can provide credible firearms cover for London, but I must be honest, it’s still significantly less than normal which will create some difficult choices.”
An open letter from the commissioner calling for reforms, and a review into armed policing announced by the home secretary, both on Sunday, are believed to have helped stop the situation from worsening.
Rowley said: “Officers are extremely anxious … A lot of this is driven by families. Many of them are under pressure from their partners, wives, husbands, parents, children … The core of this issue is not protest, the core of this issue is real personal anxiety.”
He added: “They are frustrated that it can be five-plus years later that all these accountability processes finish but they fully welcome that accountability and recognise it’s so critical for families and communities to have trust in the policing.”
Casey told the board she had found the Met was “profoundly broken” but fixable, and that people should be focused on reforming firearms as well as other parts of Britain’s biggest force. She said the biggest barrier to reform was the Met’s culture.
The officer charged with murder, known only as NX121, is expected to face trial next year.
