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Time to hand your uniform in.
PC Keith Palmer was let down by a police chief not brave enough to help save him
From my Facebook feed.
"Well - woke up this morning still fizzing about that useless senior officer who so disgraced the service.
So I have sent the following email to the Home Office and the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Whether it does any good is another matter, but I could not let this pass;
Sir Craig Mackey
"Sir,
I refer to the aforenamed person and the evidence he gave at the Old Bailey Inquest yesterday (8th inst).
As a retired Police Officer, I read the reports of this evidence with an increasing sense of disbelief, horror and disgust. I am not alone, according to various social media sites, in feeling that this officer has disgraced the uniform that I was so proud to wear.
There is no doubt that the incident in the grounds of Parliament was a fast moving, terrifying experience. A Police Officer encountering such circumstances has several options open to him/her when faced with danger of that level.
1. The Officer can utilise the vehicle they are in as a weapon.
2. The Officer can create distractions to confuse the attacker.
3. The Officer can wade in and stand with his colleagues in an effort to effect an arrest.
An option that is NOT available, is to lock the car doors and sit safely within, whilst watching a colleague being brutally murdered.
Every officer knows that the primary function of a Constable is to "Guard, Watch and Patrol and Protect Life and Property". When one takes the oath to begin one's service - it is perfectly clear that under the law you are a "Constable" irrespective of what rank insignia may be appended to the uniform.
By sitting and doing nothing Mackey completely neglected his duty to "protect life and property". From his evidence in court, it is clear what his reasoning was - self preservation.
He stated, "it was his "instinct" to get out of the car"
He then stated, " If anyone had got out, the way this Masood was looking, anyone who got in his way would have been a target" and then added,
"I think anyone who came up against that individual would have faced serious, serious injury, if not death"
Officers are facing serious injury if not death on a daily basis and they do so willingly, in the belief that as they get involved in an incident, their colleagues will be there to assist them as soon as possible. Mackey had a duty and obligation to assist PC Palmer - he failed to do so.
In trying to somehow justify his inaction MacKey states that " he was in a short-sleeved shirt with no equipment following the ministerial meeting."
Far from a justification, that is an admission of failure. I am given to understand that it is a Metropolitan Police "Standing Order" that no officer shall leave the station without being in possession of his or her Personal Protection Equipment and a Radio. No doubt Mackey himself would have sat in judgement on a junior officer who so wilfully disobeyed Force Standing Orders.
We shall never know if MacKey had acted as a Police Officer on that day, whether he could have saved the life of PC Palmer - but surely an Officer of such experience and position should have at least tried.
I feel strongly that this matter cannot be left without investigation and if warranted, disciplinary action against MacKey. In my opinion he has failed to meet his responsibilities to the public, his oath and his colleagues. Furthermore he has brought the Metropolitan Police and the service as a whole into disrepute and has committed the most gross misconduct and dereliction of duty that I can ever remember.
To let this matter pass without action would, in my opinion compound the whole sorry saga. Disciplinary Action would, I believe, serve three purposes;
1. It would reassure rank and file officers that no matter what the position or rank, no officer can neglect his or her duty without facing the consequences
2. It would reassure the general public, who must today be thinking "if they will not protect their own, what chance do we have"
3. It would serve as a reminder to all those officers now and in the future, that they are Constables and as such, they are expected to face serious injury if not death. To that end they, like every rank and file officer should at all times carry the equipment they are issued for personal protection.
If even one of these purposes is achieved, then perhaps PC Palmer's death will not have been in vain."
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26-11-2019 01:45:30
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