Letter from Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson to MPA chair Len Duvall following a review of the decision not to deploy a diplomatic protection officer to the Israeli embassy

The following is a letter sent by Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson, to MPA chair following a review of the decision not to deploy a diplomatic protection officer to the Israeli embassy.

29 November 2006

Following media attention regarding Pc Omar-Basha and his work within the Diplomatic Protection Group relating to the Israeli premises, you will recall that I instructed a review into the decision not to deploy him at the premises and the subsequent management of the issue by the MPS.

Underpinning the approach to that review was the clear recognition by the MPS that the principle of impartiality in the delivery of policing services continues to be critical to the maintenance of public confidence.

That review is now complete and I have summarised below both the findings and learning to be acted upon:

• Fairly or otherwise, our handling of this matter risked a perception that the MPS failed to act impartially in not deploying this officer at Israeli premises. It is recognised that the principle of impartiality must be reinforced through every avenue to ensure that the services we provide are not inappropriately affected by private or personal views of staff. The Human Resources Directorate will take the lead in reinforcing this principle with all staff.
• This issue was rightly recognised and dealt with as a welfare matter when it was first raised with supervisors by the officer. The wider organisational issue of impartiality and the perception that this officer was being allowed to choose his own duties should have received the same consideration and attention.
• Where a decision is made not to deploy an officer to a particular duty on a temporary basis the reasons must be fully documented.
• The importance of Gold groups, including the range of independent advice available, will be reinforced across the MPS.
• The management of the media in terms of preparation and response once the story broke was not as vigorous as the potential scale of coverage warranted. This has been recognised by relevant Business Groups involved, including the need to ensure they are appropriately responsive in coordinating activity and information to ensure the organisation is best positioned to present accurate and up to date information.

In conclusion it remains vitally important that we continue to encourage officers to raise issues that might have the effect of undermining their ability to discharge duties in an effective manner. This is, of course, especially important where they are engaged in particularly sensitive or critical tasks, such as the carriage of firearms. However, in doing so we must not breach the principle of impartiality I refer to above, and which has been such an important part of the proud traditions of policing within this country. Neither must we allow the perception that this is the case. I believe the learning from this incident will assist us in this purpose.

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