Professor Leif Wenar to sit on Policing Ethics Panel

A new policing ethics panel has been launched to examine key issues of concern to Londoners.

Professor Leif Wenar, Chair of Ethics in The Dickson Poon School of Law, is one of four experts who will sit on the panel chaired by Lord Carlile of Berriew QC.

Following consultation with the Mayor Boris Johnson and the Metropolitan Police, Lord Carlile has confirmed that the panel’s first priorities for inquiry will be:

• ‘Use of force by the police’ – including use of tasers, public order tools including water cannon, and firearms;
• ‘Surveillance by the police’ – covering undercover tactics, and use of surveillance technology;
• ‘Public encounters’ – in particular looking at stop and search, including traffic stops.

Also on the panel are: Grace Ononiwu OBE, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the East of England; Baroness Elizabeth Berridge, barrister and life peer; Meg Reiss, former criminal prosecutor from the US and expert in policing oversight.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said: 'In the course of their vital work individual police officers and the Metropolitan Police as a whole confront a host of challenging ethical dilemmas. I firmly believe the vast majority of our police officers do an outstanding job and we are seeing a general rise in levels of confidence. But I want to see a boost in public confidence still further and to help achieve this goal, I’ve tasked Lord Carlile’s independent panel of experts to advise on the very best ethical practice so that the police can maintain the confidence of Londoners for the extremely difficult job they do.'

Find out more about the London Policing Ethics Panel on the Greater London Authority website.

Visit Professor Wenar's profile on The Dickson Poon School of Law website.