Protocol for Post-Incident Debriefing

DCC Chesterman agreed with recommendation 2 in his own Tayport review, and AC Rowley endorsed his national recommendation reproduced below. The MPS has actively engaged with this recommendation through the head of Professional standards and the Deputy OCU Commander of SCO19. We have been unable to secure agreement or co-operation from the IPCC to date, although a meeting has been arranged on the 28th April 2014 at the ARI in order to discuss these issues. The reality is that any debrief process will be disclosable evidence in any future judicial proceedings and is not wholly capable of being anonymised. This will restrict its effectiveness.

No statement on delivery from Metropolitan Police Service has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.

The Metropolitan Police Service, College of Policing and the National ACPO Lead for Armed Policing have worked together to produce approved practice for conducting Organisational Learning Debriefs in Death or Serious Injury Cases. We recognise that previous practice of only conducting debriefs in exceptional circumstances limited our ability to learn from experience in a timely manner. Whilst it is imperative to allow an independent investigation to progress we should act, as soon as practicable, in order to identify areas which can help improve public safety. Conducting a debrief in controlled circumstances is a way of achieving that purpose.

The MPS with the College of Policing, and in consultation with the IPCC, has drafted an extensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) covering the procedures for conducting organisational learning debriefs in cases of 'Death or Serious Injury' (DSI) following police contact which are referred to the IPCC. ACPO will seek to ratify this SOP w/c 12 May 2014 at the Armed Policing National Working Group. The MPS is already in the process of implementing the changes through a working group with its Directorate of Professional Standards.