Changes to law would give police ‘licence to kill’, UK rights groups warn

UNITED KINGDOM: Police want changes to the law giving them “a licence to kill”, leading rights groups have warned as the government prepares to give officers new protections from prosecution.

A government-ordered review into police accountability is expected to report within weeks. It followed fears of a walkout by angry armed officers in London after a police marksman, Martyn Blake, was tried for murder over the shooting of Chris Kaba. Blake was acquitted in October by a jury in three hours.

Police say they want the system to be fairer and protect officers who use force as part of their duties. Rights groups believe the system holding police to account is already too weak, and diluting it would “undermine public trust”.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, groups including Inquest, the Centre for Women’s Justice, Liberty and Black Lives Matter warn the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, against weakening police accountability.

“This review is less a kneejerk reaction but rather a dangerous and calculated attempt to use a high-profile case to push for less scrutiny and accountability of police actions,” they said.“The number of cases where police officers are prosecuted for a death is vanishingly small (since 1990 there has only been one successful prosecution of an officer for manslaughter and none for murder).

“2023-24 saw a 10 percent increase in police use of force and the highest figure of police-related deaths for nearly a decade.“Our work has exposed disturbing levels of neglect, violence and excessive use of force by police officers, particularly in cases involving black and racialised people. The institutional impunity afforded the police at an individual and corporate level indicates in most cases that police officers remain above the law.”