'His whole life has been on hold': Met chief calls for faster probes into firearms police after Chris Kaba shooting case
The officer, referred to as NX121, will not face disciplinary proceedings after Mr Kaba was shot dead in 2022
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has called for faster misconduct investigations into officers after the Sergeant who killed Chris Kaba had to wait nearly four years for his case to be dropped.
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Sir Mark told LBC that the wait for officers facing investigations forces them to put their lives on hold as they can't get mortgages, move house, and in some instances have to delay marriages.
It comes after firearms officer Sergeant Martyn Blake was told by the police watchdog that he will not face disciplinary proceedings, after almost four years of waiting.
Sergeant Blake, known during proceedings as NX121, was cleared of murder at the Old Bailey last year after a jury unanimously acquitted him following the death of Mr Kaba.
But he was still subject to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation.
Read more: I was there when Chris Kaba died. The NX121 ruling lets us firearms officers get on with the job
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Sir Mark described the decision as a "great relief" and welcomed a Home Office review into the delays.
He said: "You could see the weight of this on his shoulders and I understand the weight on his family.
"It's massive pressure to carry this for this period of time when you go out and do your job and have to do something very difficult.
"Of course it's tragic. No operation starts with the intent of taking a life, that's never going to be the intent.
"Sadly, on rare occasions when you're confronting dangerous and violent people, the officers have no choice.
"We understand there needs to be an investigation, a life has been taken, but this shouldn't take four years to get to this point.
"I wouldn't criticise the IOPC on this, they've got to the right answer, [but] we have a very complicated regulatory framework that creates delays and all sorts of problems.
"The Home Office have commissioned a review of that which starts shortly, which I think is a really good opportunity to make this more pragmatic so we can get to the right answers quickly.
"Regardless of Chris Kaba's criminal history, his family have lost a loved one and they deserve an answer quickly as well. So I think for everyone involved, a better system that works more quickly is vital."
Speaking of the affects on the officers, he added: "It's your whole life's on hold.
"I speak to officers who are under investigation who, because their career is at risk, can't get a mortgage.
"They can't move, they're delaying marriages, and if that's four months then that's tolerable.
"But we had an officer finally cleared at end of last year after ten years sort of having his whole life in limbo. What that has done to him and his family is just unconscionable."
After being cleared at court, the IOPC had initially ruled that Mr Blake should face a gross misconduct hearing which prompted a number of firearms officers to hand in their weapons in protest.
But asked why the probe went ahead despite the Old Bailey verdict, Sir Mark said: "There's this complex legal framework where officers are held to account at least three times.
"There's a potential criminal investigation which he was cleared, and I question whether it needed charging but the jury cleared very quickly.
"There's been a criminal investigation, potentially a misconduct investigation, and an inquest.
"So because you've got three different legal processes, which historically they've worked to different thresholds and that means one can't rely on the other, so these things then take place one after the other, take place sequentially, and that makes it drag out."