New policing ethics panel launches to examine key issues of concern

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, chair of a new ethics panel for London, has announced the first set of issues that the panel will examine, including the deployment practice for water cannon, undercover policing tactics, and the use of stop and search.

The ‘London Policing Ethics Panel’, an independent panel set up by the Mayor Boris Johnson, will complement the existing structures in place in the capital to oversee the way London is policed, and will provide in-depth consideration of ethical issues around current and future policing practice in London.

Following consultation with the Mayor and the Metropolitan Police, Lord Carlile has confirmed that the panel’s first priorities for inquiry will be:

• ‘Use of force by the police’ – including use of tasers, public order tools including water cannon, and firearms;
• ‘Surveillance by the police’ – covering undercover tactics, and use of surveillance technology;
• ‘Public encounters’ – in particular looking at stop and search, including traffic stops.

Lord Carlile will be supported by a team of four experts also announced today including:

• Grace Ononiwu OBE, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the East of England;
• Professor Leif Wenar, academic and Chair of Ethics at King’s College London;
• Baroness Elizabeth Berridge, barrister and life peer;
• Meg Reiss, former criminal prosecutor from the US and expert in policing oversight.

All the panel members have a strong personal or professional connection to London and each has been selected for a unique set of skills suited to the task of examining the ethical context for police decisions, beyond what is required by law. The new panel will meet monthly and will also convene public evidence hearings. The reports and recommendations of the panel’s inquiries will be published.

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, said: “Public confidence in the police is fundamental to the British model of policing by consent and just as there has developed a discipline in military ethics, it is right that the police have a similar body of research to draw upon. Through the workings of this panel, I want to look firmly to the future and make practical recommendations to help the police make better decisions in the difficult tasks they face. This is the first time that a body of this nature has been established to examine ethical issues in policing and I am pleased to have been asked by the Mayor Boris Johnson to lead this pioneering work for London. I am delighted to be joined in this task by my fellow panel members who each bring a wealth of expertise in these matters.”

The Mayor has agreed with the Chair that ‘use of force’ will be the panel’s first theme of work and the first inquiry – Ethical practice for the police use and deployment of water cannon in London – will report by July. Following a six week public engagement, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson recently announced that he has agreed to support the Metropolitan Police’s request to purchase water cannon to help enhance their response to riots or other serious and exceptional public disorder. The final decision on whether to license the water cannon for use on the UK mainland now rests with the Home Secretary. If licensed, the panel’s decision to examine the deployment practice around water cannon would give further assurances to Londoners before the tactic became available to the police.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said: “In the course of their vital work individual police officers and the Metropolitan Police as a whole confront a host of challenging ethical dilemmas. I firmly believe the vast majority of our police officers do an outstanding job and we are seeing a general rise in levels of confidence. But I want to see a boost in public confidence still further and to help achieve this goal, I’ve tasked Lord Carlile’s independent panel of experts to advise on the very best ethical practice so that the police can maintain the confidence of Londoners for the extremely difficult job they do.”

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe QPM said: "The Metropolitan Police Service is committed to the highest professional standards across the very complex world of modern policing. We will undoubtedly benefit from carefully considered external advice on the wide range of difficult ethical issues which until now, the police service has wrestled with, largely on its own. "It will help us ensure we are setting the right professional standards and help the public to have more confidence in the work officers do on their behalf every day. I welcome the work that the panel plans to undertake and I have asked that the staff of the MPS lends the panel their full support."

The panel may be commissioned to conduct other inquiries, or may choose to pursue other topics at its own discretion.

As part of his Police and Crime Plan for London, the Mayor has challenged the Metropolitan Police to achieve a 20 per cent improvement in public confidence by 2016.