The Public Safety Foundation
Writing in today’s Telegraph, with coverage on pages 1 and 2 of the paper, our Founder made an impassioned plea to take officer and public safety seriously:
“If one of their children joined the police tomorrow, would our leaders really be content to send them into an alleyway against a man with a sword or machete, armed only with spray and a short truncheon?
Would they be prepared to entrust the safety of their son or daughter to whether a Taser deployment was effective? Speak to front-line officers and they’ll concede it often fails, and when the stakes are high, we shouldn’t leave the safety of officers and the public to the outcome of a coin toss – at best.
It is time for honesty. The threats have changed. The training is inadequate. The kit is incomplete. And the brave men and women on the front line are paying the price. We must act before more names are added to the roll of fallen officers.
Britain’s police deserve more than respectful applause at funerals and platitudes about bravery. They deserve leaders – political and professional – willing to confront reality. Bravery should be matched with competence, with training, with equipment, and yes, as the Met’s own secret review in 2022 called for: serious consideration of routine arming.
Anything less is not character. It is cowardice.”
