Guidance on uniformity of firearms commands
Jermaine Baker Inquiry · Report into the Death of Jermaine Baker · Issued 5 July 2022 · Addressed to: College of Policing
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, 15.19
Advice should be given by the College of Policing about the benefits of uniformity in instructions and commands. Ultimate discretion as to what is said must be left to the CTSFOs, based on the situation that confronts them, but the protocol should encourage agreement to be reached on the command/instruction that is to be given.
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 incorporating guidance on uniformity of instructions and commands for CTSFOs, while preserving operational discretion (College of Policing APP-AP update, August 2023).
Response — verbatim from government
●Metropolitan Police Service — initial response
MPS formally responded on 28 October 2022 (para 37). MPS in consultation with College of Policing on uniformity of commands and instructions.
Metropolitan Police Service · 28 Oct 2022 Written response →
●College of Policing — follow-up
College of Policing updated Authorised Professional Practice – Armed Policing (APP-AP) in August 2023 incorporating advice on uniformity of instructions and commands for firearms officers.
College of Policing · 1 Aug 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Aug 2023 Status as of College of Policing APP-AP update (August 2023): Completed 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.