Released on = December 15, 2006, 1:40 am

Press Release Author = Andrew Greenfield

Industry = Government

Press Release Summary = The former leader of Britain's senior police officers has
warned that the service could face difficulties finding enough policemen and women
willing to carry firearms unless those officers are given greater legal protection
following shooting incidents.

Press Release Body = Chris Fox, the former President of the Association of Chief
Police Officers (ACPO) and ex-chief constable of Northamptonshire, told an audience
of security experts while officers were willing to be fully accountable and
understood that they had to be able to justify their actions, they did not seem to
get the same levels of protection that other members of society received.

Asked whether police officers were no longer willing to come forward to take up
firearms, Mr Fox said: "Certainly that's an issue, and it will become more of an
issue if officers cannot be given some level of legal protection."

Examining the consequences of fatal shootings by police officers, Mr Fox continued:
"When a Crown Prosecutor or a coroner looks at a case and decides that the shooting
was lawful, the prosecution stops there. But because we are seen as an agent of the
state, or of security, this is somehow seen as the police not being accountable
enough, as the prosecutor or coroner is viewed by some as being part of the same
state organisation.
"There are plenty of other incidences of prosecutions not going ahead because a
prosecutor has decided that certain actions are lawful, but when it involves police
firearms officers some people don't seem prepared to accept that. In reality police
officers aren't even getting the same level of protection as other members of
society."

Mr Fox was speaking at the Counter Terror World Conference in London, where more
than 300 delegates from around the world gathered to discuss and debate the latest
techniques and technology involved in combating terrorism.

The conference ran alongside London's largest ever security exhibition, featuring
more than 150 leading companies including SecurityOracle.com, the website for the
security industry. Andrew Greenfield, SecurityOracle.com MD, said: "The standard of
debate in the conference was matched by the innovation and technology on display in
the exhibition, and we had a fantastic response over the two days from delegates and
exhibition visitors alike."

Web Site = http://www.securityoracle.com

Contact Details = Andrew Greenfield
Security Oracle
http://www.securityoracle.com
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