FIREARMS BROKEN SYSTEM
A BARRIER TO RECRUITING FIREARMS OFFICERS
Most popular demotivator to join a firearms team
was to the scrutiny following a police shooting, according to survey results, explains PFEW Firearms Lead Phil Jones
• “The potential life changing consequences and stress if you were to
• “There is far too little support of firearms officers following a shooting.
shoot someone is a big factor in putting people off.”
• “Until firearms officers receive more protection when actually discharging
That is the sole reason I would never join a firearms unit.”
• “The physical risks of being a firearms officer are acceptable to me. The risk of
a firearm as they are taught to do then officers will be discouraged from joining”, disclosed a second female non AFO.”
It is no secret that the specialist role of a firearms officer is a difficult one for forces to fill, however, with the recent trial of NX121, clearing him of murder, more questions have sprung up about the treatment of AFOs (authorised firearms officers) and how it impacts recruitment. Latest Home Office statistics show since 31 March 2019, the number of operationally deployable armed officers has decreased by 760 (to 5,861 on 31 March 2024). This is the fifth consecutive year the number has fallen.
If this trend continues, it
would bring the numbers back down to 2015 levels a decade ago (5,647). The Government’s five-year armed officer uplift programme in 2016, with the aim to train and equip 1,000 extra firearm officers, was a success. At its peak, we saw 6,621 operationally deployable armed officers in service, but it is evident more must be done to get to the bottom of retention issues which includes pay
24 | POLICE | FEBRUARY | 2025
respondents, the most popular demotivator to join a firearms team was due to the scrutiny following a police shooting, followed by not wishing to carry a firearm and the role being too physically demanding. The following were typical of responses that expressed respondents’ concerns about how they might be treated following a police shooting:
and rewards.
In 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council commissioned Liverpool John Moores University to conduct a survey, focusing predominately on diversity and inclusion within the role. However it also provided insights into other issues. Out of all non AFO survey
“Street cops don’t want
to apply as they know as soon as there is an incident the job will drop them like a stone.”
• “Street cops don’t want to apply as they know as soon as there is an
hounding from the press, the IOPC and others in the event of a death or injury are not.”
incident the job will drop them like a stone.”
The reasons behind why forces are struggling to recruit firearms officers are numerous, so providing greater legal protection wouldn’t be a panacea, but it would encourage more police officers to consider the role. On 25 February last the year, The Telegraph reported just six officers had applied to join the Met’s
Specialist Firearms Command MO19. In a statement to Parliament in
October last year, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper set out new measures that will be taken forward in response to the Accountability Review started under the previous government, including:
• A presumption of anonymity for firearms officers facing criminal
proceedings following police
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