--
the London Evening Standard., 08.10.10
Police marksmen are forced to follow rules slavishly instead of using their common sense, a coroner warned today.
Dr Paul Knapman said the marksmen cannot see the wood for the trees because they have to adhere to directives written in jargon.
Yesterday an inquest jury found that Scotland Yard made a series of major errors during the siege that led to the death of 32-year-old barrister Mark Saunders. It decided there had been a lack of clarity in the marksmen's line of command.
Saunders, an alcoholic with a history of depression, was cut down in a hail of bullets in Chelsea in May 2008 after he leant out of his kitchen window with a shotgun that he had repeatedly fired. The jury found he was lawfully killed but said the operation was flawed.
Dr Knapman, who presided over the inquest at Westminster, said that at least six protocols covered the use of firearms by officers.
In a letter to Theresa May, the Home Secretary, he wrote: Highly trained marksmen and their senior officers should be allowed to use their common sense rather than be forced in to a slavish adherence to written documents and protocols. These guidance documents were tied up in jargon and needed simplifying urgently. My perception is that not being able to
see the wood for the trees' may be a problem.
He called on the Home Secretary to merge the material so police have fewer documents to read, and raised fears that officers were relying on written rules rather than common sense.
�You may also take the view that there has been an over-reliance upon the printed word of instruction in the police service in recent times.
�It may be that there is merit in encouraging one or two shorter documents instead, set out in simple and unsophisticated language thereby minimising jargon and indeed encouraging more common sense rather than slavish adherence to written documents and protocols
Dr Knapman called for a very senior police officer to review the entire operation.
�It may be that such a person would have the confidence that goes with not being too risk averse' and to look at matters afresh, he wrote.
Saunders had fallen off the wagon and had been taking cocaine for at least six months as well as Prozac. The jury decided by a 9-2 majority that he had not tried to commit suicide by cop but said that the police should have given more consideration to allowing his wife Elizabeth to speak to him.
Dr Knapman highlighted six different documents governing the use of firearms containing more than 300 pages. They are:
* Standing operation procedures on police use of firearms Met police (97 pages).
* Manual of guidance on the police use of firearms Association of Chief Police Officers (90 pages).
* Attenuating energy projectile guidance ACPO (32 pages).
* Operational use of Taser. Operational guidance ACPO (46 pages).
* Code of practice on police use of firearms and less lethal weapons Home Office (18 pages).
* Manual of guidance on the management, command and development of armed officers 1 National Policing Improvement Agency (22 pages).
Click here for the original Japanese story