The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has called for a much fairer oversight process, after two firearms officers waited more than five years, before finally being cleared of wrongdoing, for tackling and shooting a dangerous armed robber.
Both Sir Mark Rowley and the Met Police Federation, representing rank and file officers, have expressed deep frustration at the current system of oversight which left the two officers stuck in limbo for years, facing serious allegations.
On Friday, a gross misconduct hearing ordered by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found the two officers "had no case to answer."
Sir Mark said: "I can't imagine how difficult it is has been for these two officers to wait so long to finally be cleared of wrongdoing. This will have put untold strain on their professional and personal lives and those of their families.
"Why is it the case that when an armed officer discharges their weapon during a terrorist incident, the system can clear them within months, but officers taking on a ruthless gang of armed robbers face a five-year ordeal? That isn't right."
On 3 December 2018, the two firearms officers, identified only as NX1 and MY55, had been following a vehicle linked to a gang of armed robbers in the Wimbledon area of southwest London.
When the two men in the car got out and approached a cash-in-transit van, a group of officers, including NX1 and MY55 intervened.
The officers identified themselves as armed police, but the suspects, Brooklyn McFarlane and Abdi Omar tried to run.
Scotland Yard said that the officers believed McFarlane was armed and posed an immediate threat, and both NX1 and MY55 fired one shot each.
One of the shots struck McFarlane and the other struck a nearby building. He continued to run and was arrested a short time later and treated for a non-life threatening injury in hospital.
He was eventually sentenced to 13 years in prison for conspiracy to commit robbery and other offences.
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Collectively, the armed robbery gang was jailed for a total of 141 years.
The firearms officers were initially investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
More than a year after the incident, the IOPC referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who took a further ten months to charge the officers with causing grievous bodily harm with intent and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.
A trial date was set for 11 October 2022, but just days before, the CPS decided to offer no evidence and the charges were dropped. At this point, the officers had faced an ordeal of almost three years.
But even after those charges were dropped, the IOPC continued to push for misconduct proceedings to follow.
In June 2022, after a request from the Met that they reconsider, they formally directed the Met to schedule a hearing.
Following multiple further delays, that hearing finally began last month, and concluded today with the panel finding the case was not proven.
The Met Commissioner said: "We ask our armed officers to confront the most dangerous criminals, taking huge personal risks to ensure the safety of the public.
"Like the majority in policing, they don't shy away from accountability. They know they're given significant powers, including the ability to use potentially lethal force against people.
"Any use of those powers needs to be open to scrutiny. But the systems that deliver that scrutiny must be fair, efficient and competent and as it stands, they fail those tests too often.
"The recent Home Office Accountability Review resulted in some initial steps being taken in the right direction, but it didn't go far enough to restore the trust of officers. It made progress on consultations that officers are anxious to see turned into change."
The IOPC's Regional Director Mel Palmer said: "We didn’t come to this decision lightly, but we felt it was right that the evidence was heard in public at a hearing. We also respect the panel’s decision to clear the officers."
