Police chief hits out at ‘army of armchair commentators’ who film officers

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said future recruits could be put off joining the service because officers are so frequently filmed and critiqued by the public. (James Manning/PA)

The head of Britain’s biggest police force has hit out at “armchair commentators” who film officers while on duty.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley claimed the prospect of frequently being filmed and later critiqued on social media might put off future recruits from joining the police.

In the piece, first posted on business networking site LinkedIn, he said: “The reality is that policing is complex, challenging and can look messy.

“We expect officers to arrive on scene quickly and act with limited information based on what they see.

Sir Mark Rowley comments — Sir Mark said every minute of some jobs that officers attend are filmed and later analysed by armchair commentators (Yui Mok/PA)

“They don’t have the benefit of being able to watch a full incident unfold before deciding what to do, they have to be decisive and act quickly.

“And they do so in the glare of hundreds of people ready to film their every moment.

“There aren’t many professions where from the minute you arrive at an incident to the minute you leave, you are filmed and then critiqued by an army of armchair commentators.

“Yet this is what happens to our officers and they still come back to work the next day.

“I’m proud to call them my colleagues and am in awe of their resilience to continue … turning up day and night knowing that whenever they get out of a vehicle more and more cameras are focusing on their actions.

“But we shouldn’t underestimate the toll this has on them and their families, and how off-putting it is to the next generation who may think: ‘Why would I put myself through that?’”

Metropolitan Police commissioner — The Commissioner said officers often find themselves caught in the middle of public debate and face abuse online and in real life (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Sir Mark said it is now a regular occurrence for officers to find themselves caught in the middle of public debate, “being accused of being both woke and fascist for the exact same actions”.

He bemoaned the level of abuse directed at Metropolitan Police officers, including one who posted a picture of herself online at a firearms event on International Women’s Day.

And the Commissioner said in the previous 48 hours 12 officers had been hurt while on duty, including one who was hit over the head with a bottle and another who was stabbed in the hand.

The Met has suffered severe reputational damage in recent years, including then-armed officer Wayne Couzens committing rape and murder in March 2021, and fellow marksman David Carrick being unmasked as a serial rapist.

This is one of the factors thought to be behind the Met’s struggle to recruit officers, with numbers set to fall 1,400 short at the end of March, and 2,650 short by March 2025 at current application and recruitment levels.