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'Film police marksmen to stop them colluding'
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent24 Jul 2008
Police firearms officers should be videoed and recorded as they compile notes after a major shooting to avoid accusations of collusion, a watchdog recommends today.
The Metropolitan Police Authority makes the proposal in a report into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station three years ago.
Members of the MPA and senior Scotland Yard officers were meeting this morning to discuss the report which also criticises the Met for being too slow to implement recommendations for change following the shooting.
Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot dead on 22 July, 2005 by two firearms officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber. The police operation which led to the shooting was strongly criticised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission last year.
In particular, the IPCC criticised the accepted practice of allowing firearms officers to "confer" about their version of events before giving evidence.
It highlighted how eight firearms officers at Stockwell gave evidence to say they heard or shouted warnings of "armed police" or "police", but they were heard by none of the 17 passengers on the train. More recently, the family of Mark Saunders, shot dead by police marksmen in Markham Square in May, won the right to go to the High Court to challenge the practice of allowing officers to confer.
The MPA has called for a national review of the system. In the meantime, it says there should be audio or video recording of such meetings. One senior member said: "If police persist in the present system, people will just say they make up stories."
Rank-and file-officers were cautious about the proposal. Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: "One immediate concern is it would remove any possibility of firearms officers remaining anonymous-Our view is that the names of firearms officers should not be bandied about if what they have done is lawful."
The report says: "The MPA recognises that firearms officers are volunteers and their work is highly dangerous. However, the panel believes that conferring on notes causes more problems that it solves."
The report also criticises the Met for delays in improving its surveillance procedures and calls for changes in the command structure for major terrorist incidents to allow more "clarity".
Gaps in technology should be addressed, in particular the failure to ensure a new radio system works on the Tube.
