Strategic firearms command course

Aims

​To enable officers to provide effective, strategic leadership of incidents and operations that may require the deployment of firearms and less lethal weapons as part of the policing response, by being intrusive, supportive and objective.

Objectives

• Demonstrate the ability to command an armed operation, displaying an awareness of the needs of key stakeholders, the roles and responsibilities to be discharged within an appropriate command structure and the leadership challenges they face.
• Apply the national decision model (NDM) in accordance with European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), demonstrating the ability to evaluate information in order to make an appropriate assessment of threat and risk within a dynamic situation.
• Prioritise and continually review the strategic aims and tactical parameters of a firearms operation, engaging with and communicating key decisions to multiple stakeholders whilst maintaining appropriate records.
• Assess and approve tactical plans, ensuring that they incorporate appropriate professional advice and deploy appropriate resources in light of the legal framework, the strategic aim and the specific dynamic context within which they will be deployed.
• Demonstrate to a range of stakeholders that the continuing justification for the resources deployed by police within a firearms operation is in accordance with ECHR.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the circumstances that should trigger post-incident activation and of the key roles and the issues to be addressed.