00:01We remain acutely aware of the profound loss experienced by Mr Baker's family
00:05and the enduring impact this case has had on them over the past decade.
00:11Nevertheless, today's outcome is the right one.
00:15It follows a criminal investigation and a public inquiry
00:18that both found Whiskey 80 acted appropriately during a fast-moving police operation
00:23to stop a highly dangerous gang freeing a prisoner.
00:26Whiskey 80 should never have been put in this position
00:31an astonishing ten years after the incident
00:34an astonishing ten years after the incident
00:37of having to once again justify his actions to counter a very real threat
00:42that he believed that he and his colleagues faced that day.
00:46It goes to the very heart of the imbalance in how police are held accountable in this country.
00:52Too often I see the trauma of good officers
00:55who are prepared to confront dangerous criminals
00:57but are then left destroyed by a broken, bureaucratic and slow system of police accountability.
01:06We must overhaul how policing decisions
01:09which are taken in split seconds
01:11are later reviewed with the benefit of hindsight on freeze frame.
01:16Indeed, the current system allows criminals and their legal teams
01:22to weaponise those decisions against officers
01:25undermining their confidence to pursue criminals
01:28or to use force.
01:32In a recent one-to-one meeting with Whiskey 80
01:34I was left both upset and angry
01:37to see the effect this decade of legal madness has had on him
01:40and on his family.
01:44A rapid independent review was commissioned last October
01:47as part of work by this government on police accountability
01:50and it reported to the Home Office this spring.
01:54This rapid review examined the legal test
01:56for the use of force in misconduct cases
01:59the exact issue at hand in Whiskey 80's case.
02:01I do hope that the government will now meet their commitment to officers
02:07by publishing and acting upon the review's findings and recommendations
02:10without further delay.
02:14Finally, as I've said before
02:16until we have a more just and more timely system
02:20it will continue to crush the spirit and confidence of good officers
02:24who go out there every day to police London
02:27and to keep us all safe.
02:31If it's OK, what effect does this ruling now have on officers' morale
02:35the fact that it was dismissed?
02:38Officers will be encouraged by the fact this has been dismissed.
02:42It will give them some confidence
02:43that the right decision has been reached in the end
02:45but when they see a colleague
02:48who for 10 years has had his whole life put on hold
02:51with all the stress that entails
02:53through multiple complex and convoluted legal processes
02:56they will look with despair
02:59how they made themselves fall into that situation
03:02if they face a particularly difficult moment in their career
03:04on the streets fighting criminals.
03:06What is your message to the IOPC?
03:08We were very clear with the IOPC
03:12that we weren't sure this hearing was necessary
03:14but the more important message today is
03:17the system itself
03:18the regulations which hold police to account
03:21do not have the right balance
03:22as I say they're exploited
03:24too often by criminals
03:26and their legal teams to undermine police officers' confidence
03:28and we need a system
03:30which looks fairly at split-second decisions
03:32taken by officers
03:33in the most difficult operational moments.
03:35Thank you very much.
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