Getting the Balance Right: The Use of Firearms in British Policing

Abstract

Deborah Glass is Commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). A lawyer, she joined the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission at its inception in 1989. In 1998 she became Chief Executive of the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation until its merger with the Financial Service Authority. She was appointed as a Member of the Police Complaints Authority from 2001 to 2004. In 2004 she was appointed to the Independent Police Complaints Commission which replaced the PCA. Deborah is responsible for City of London, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Thames Valley and the Metropolitan (North East) police forces, as well as London borough parks, Royal Botanic Gardens and Royal Parks police in North East London. She also carries lead Commission policy responsibility for firearms and less lethal options. No one could forget the shocking events of the London bombings on 7 and 21 July 2005, followed so closely by the tragic death of Jean-Charles de Menezes at the hands of Metropolitan Police officers the same month. But what must have been particularly disturbing for the police service and firearms officers, in particular, was the subsequent public debate on the police use of lethal force. To give a typical example, the BBC reported on 22 July 2005: will police now shoot to kill?