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Broudie Jackson Canter’s Chris Topping challenges Radio 4 panel on police trust and accountability

Sitting on a panel for the Law in Action programme broadcast on Tuesday, March 25 with former Minister for Police and Criminal Justice Nick Herbert and Irene Curtis, President of the Police Superintendent’s Association, Chris debated whether the police were held fully accountable for their actions and alleged misdeeds and whether the public still had trust in them.

Following cases such as the deaths of Mark Duggan and Ian Tomlinson, the ‘Plebgate’ row and the Hillsborough disaster, each of which called into question aspects of police behaviour and process, Law in Action host Joshua Rozenberg asked the panel if trust in the police had been eroded.

And while Irene Curtis and Nick Herbert MP dismissed the suggestion, having represented clients in a number of actions against the police, Chris said that in fact people no longer had the implicit trust in the police that may have existed in the past.

“It is difficult to make the police accountable for their actions but that is what we must do,” said Chris following the broadcast, which can still be heard on the BBC iPlayer. “We were asked if the problem was a few bad apples or a much wider issue and to be honest, in my experience, I believe there is a fundamental lack of accountability throughout the police force in the UK.

“Instead of attempting to write off these cases as the acts of a few rogue officers, we need to take a good, honest look at the culture and processes of our police and examine how we can improve them so that the police can win back the trust of the public.”

If you would like to contact Broudie Jackson Canter, call 0333 321 4580.

Sitting on a panel for the Law in Action programme broadcast on Tuesday, March 25 with former Minister for Police and Criminal Justice Nick Herbert and Irene Curtis, President of the Police Superintendent’s Association, Chris debated whether the police were held fully accountable for their actions and alleged misdeeds and whether the public still had trust in them.

Following cases such as the deaths of Mark Duggan and Ian Tomlinson, the ‘Plebgate’ row and the Hillsborough disaster, each of which called into question aspects of police behaviour and process, Law in Action host Joshua Rozenberg asked the panel if trust in the police had been eroded.

And while Irene Curtis and Nick Herbert MP dismissed the suggestion, having represented clients in a number of actions against the police, Chris said that in fact people no longer had the implicit trust in the police that may have existed in the past.

“It is difficult to make the police accountable for their actions but that is what we must do,” said Chris following the broadcast, which can still be heard on the BBC iPlayer. “We were asked if the problem was a few bad apples or a much wider issue and to be honest, in my experience, I believe there is a fundamental lack of accountability throughout the police force in the UK.

“Instead of attempting to write off these cases as the acts of a few rogue officers, we need to take a good, honest look at the culture and processes of our police and examine how we can improve them so that the police can win back the trust of the public.”

If you would like to contact Broudie Jackson Canter, call 0333 321 4580.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dan Minchin .