Recording and documentation of firearms planning meetings and briefings
Jermaine Baker Inquiry · Report into the Death of Jermaine Baker · Issued 5 July 2022 · Addressed to: Metropolitan Police Service
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, 15.7
MPS Armed Policing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be amended so that: a. Notes and/or audio recordings should be made of all meetings in relation to general strategy where it is envisaged that firearms may or will be deployed during the course of a planned operation, and training given to explain why it is so important – for reasons of accountability and to establish an audit trail. b. Such notes should include the date, location and duration of the meeting, the identity of those present, the capacity in which they are attending, and details of decisions made and actions accepted or rejected. c. All planning meetings should be properly minuted and the minutes thereof should be centrally retained. d. All briefings relating to firearms operations should be audio-recorded unless it is not reasonably practicable on the grounds of sensitivity of information/intelligence to do so, in which case they should be minuted in the same way as planning meetings.
Jermaine Baker Inquiry, Report into the Death of Jermaine Baker · 5 Jul 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The College of Policing updated APP-AP in August 2023 but the MPS Armed Policing SOP amendment was noted as ongoing (College of Policing APP-AP update, August 2023).
- No published evidence of a completed MPS Armed Policing SOP amendment covering all elements of this recommendation has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●Metropolitan Police Service
MPS formally responded on 28 October 2022 (paras 17-20). Internal guidance issued to all SFCs and TFCs on comprehensive minutes for planning meetings. PUoF SOP consistent with APP-AP. Recording of firearms briefings still under review with College of Policing.
Metropolitan Police Service · 28 Oct 2022 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Aug 2023 Status as of College of Policing APP-AP update (August 2023): In Progress Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.