In delivering a service to the public, the role of police officers, special constables and police support staff can regularly involve a requirement to respond to situations involving confrontation and violence. Very often, these situations carry a clearly associated risk of personal injury.
This report is the result of a thematic review of police personal protective equipment in Scotland.
Number | Recommendation |
|---|---|
1 | HMIC recommends that ACPOS identifies the range, scope and type of data that adds value to the development of policy, operational response and training in the arena of confronting violence and conflict. HMIC recommends the development of an agreed Scottish wide approach to this issue. |
2 | HMIC recommends that ACPOS gives consideration to the question of commonality of protective equipment to ensure that opportunities for shared learning and development are realised along with the potential financial benefits of joint procurement of such equipment. |
3 | HMIC recommends that ACPOS, in consultation with the other police staff associations, reaches agreement upon the detail of a generic mandatory protective body armour wearing policy to be adopted throughout Scotland. |
4 | HMIC recommends that forces introduce a documented process to ensure that all items of officer safety equipment are properly maintained and inspected on a regular basis. |
5 | HMIC recommends that initial officer safety training at the Scottish Police College should be extended to include training in the deployment and use of CS incapacitant spray. |
6 | HMIC recommends that all officers who are required to undertake operational duties, irrespective of rank, should be appropriately equipped and trained. |
7 | HMIC recommends that forces continue to maintain a clear focus upon operational officer safety and that one day refresher training is provided to all officers on an annual basis. Within such refresher training programmes, forces should also consider how best to address individual officer needs. |
8 | HMIC recommends that ACPOS adopts an effective mechanism to facilitate the wider sharing of knowledge and good practice across Scotland in the field of operational officer safety. |
9 | HMIC recommends that ACPOS continues to pursue and commit to the concept of a limited catalogue of uniform garments for the operational police officer. |