Met police firearms officers are right to pick up their guns and return to work. They can’t have prestige without risks

‘A critical mass of armed officers pu their rational thinking to one side’ … A City of London armed police officer. Photograph: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

There were many reactions this week when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) made known its decision to charge a police firearms officer with the murder of Chris Kaba a year ago. Mine was: why has it taken so long?

I was thinking of the pain and suffering the family had gone through waiting for the decision. And about the officer, and the anxiety he must have gone through waiting for a disproportionate amount of time to see what would happen next. I knew there would be an outcry by his colleagues in the various armed response units across the Met. That was right.