Recommendation 1
IOPC recommendationThe IOPC recommends that the Metropolitan Police Service provides access to resources for Met CC and local borough command units with the locations of lifebuoys or other rescue aides along the River Thames and any other significant bodies of water.
This follows an IOPC investigation where a male entered the Thames after he was informed that he was to be placed under arrest. Shortly after, the male experienced difficulty in the water and despite efforts made by Metropolitan Police Service officers to assist him, the male was pronounced dead at the scene. Despite public rescue equipment being available close by where the male entered the water, this equipment was not utilised or acknowledged by multiple officers who attended the incident. Instead officers awaited for the arrival of a throwline.
A review of current officer training indicates that water safety training provided to officers as part of their Operational Safety Training relates specifically to the use of throwlines, but also details the consideration of looking for other rescue aids. However there is no information provided to officers in boroughs located along bodies of water with an awareness of where to locate public rescue equipment or how they may be able to find them in the event a throwline is not available. Furthermore within the METCC SOPs operators are advised to tell officers to look for rescue aids, however they do not have tools to provide information on where these might be located.
As noted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA), land owners, including local authorities and business owners, often install public safety equipment along bodies of water so that it is readily available for use by anyone located nearby. Further to this, there is public information available online which provides the location of life buoys, river wall grab chains and exit points which could be of use to Met CC staff and local boroughs when they are advising officers attending water based incidents.
Not accepted
The recommendation is not accepted on the following basis:
The recommendation whilst in theory is a good idea it would be difficult to achieve for the MPS and require significant time, resource and cost to create a database of locations for rescue aids. This database would only be accurate on the day a rescue aid was visited and verified. It is further complicated by the various stakeholders who install and maintain them as they are not installed or maintained by the MPS. Research has not been able to readily identify a reliable online resource of such locations.
As further context to the scale and complexity of the tasks required to achieve the recommendation; the MPS is responsible for policing 47 miles of the River Thames from the Dartford Bridge to Teddington Lock. If you include both north and south of the River Thames, that is nearly 100 miles of river. The MPS also polices 250 miles of canals in London. There are also numerous lakes, ponds and reservoirs in the capital, some of which are publicly accessible and many are managed by privately run utility companies. There are 32 Boroughs in London that also maintain various waterways.
Officers can be advised to “look around” by MET CC operators (separate recommendation for MET CC) to see if they can see a public rescue aid, but directing officers to potential sites that we do not maintain or control, could have missing equipment or have been removed, could cause further delay and endanger lives.
Officers are trained in the use of throwlines as per MPS policy and these are situated in police vehicles. MPS officers complete the online training package on water interventions and use of throwlines. This provides guidance on making a risk assessment, and provides an intervention framework to assist officers as well as how to use a throwline.