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- Shortage of new recruits after one in 10 police officers quits
The Metropolitan Police received just six applications during its latest armed police recruitment drive, with hundreds of people quitting after a police officer was charged with murdering Chris Kaba.
Authorized Firearms Officers (AFOs) are made up of approximately 2,500 Metropolitan Police officers who work on a volunteer basis without additional pay. More than 250 AFOs left the force between April and December last year, in addition to six people who applied to join the Specialized Firearms Command.
Britain’s largest police force fears its AFO officers will be unable to fulfill their promise to keep London’s streets safe through 24/7 patrols, with around a tenth of its members resigning.
Compared with recent departures, only 22 armed police officers left in the 12 months to March 2023.
Recruitment has become so difficult that police are now inviting applications from officers still on probation – although they must be fully qualified before they can go out on patrol, The Sunday Telegraph reports.
A firearms source told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s not surprising that officers don’t apply to join the armed police force. They see what’s going on and then they rightly ask themselves ‘is it worth it?’ ”
The growing impact felt by the force since the murder of Chris Kabbah has raised the question of whether it is worth joining.
Mr Kabbah, an unarmed black man, was shot in the head in September 2022 in Streatham Hill, south London.
The officer charged with the murder, known only as NX121 but is expected to be named after a court hearing next month, has caused further outrage among the Met’s firearms specialist.
Last September, dozens of people handed over their weapons to protest against a decision to charge a colleague with murder. Hundreds more have quit the force amid widespread anger at police.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has pledged to push for new safeguards, including reducing and speeding up investigations into alleged police misconduct, after a spate of autumn resignations left the Army on standby.
Sergeant Charmain Brenyah, of the Specialist Firearms Command, said: “We know that many firearms officers are concerned about the impact this role will have on them and their families, and we are pleased that the Home Office is conducting a review of police accountability Review.”
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