Prison Officers: Crimes of Violence

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is satisfied that the protective body armour issued to specialist staff is appropriate for its intended operational purpose. The equipment was selected to provide protection against identified risks while remaining suitable for prolonged operational use. Feedback from users and operational assurance arrangements continue to inform our assessment of its effectiveness.

Following the serious assault at HMP Frankland in April 2025, HMPPS has taken steps to strengthen staff safety and is progressing a range of protective capabilities intended to reduce the risk and impact of assaults on prison officers.

This includes a significant expansion in the provision of protective body armour, with HMPPS committed to equipping up to 10,000 staff by March 2027. Protective body armour is already mandated for staff working in some of the highest-risk areas of the Long-Term High Security Estate, and it also used in other high-risk operational contexts.

HMPPS has introduced Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs), commonly known as TASERs, on a phased and controlled basis, by staff in its specialist Operational Response and Resilience Unit. This has enabled HMPPS to test capability in the prison environment, learn from operational use and develop the necessary policy, training, assurance and safeguards. Subject to the necessary governance and operational arrangements being in place, HMPPS plans to begin training Local Response Team staff across the Long Term High Security Estate in the use of CEDs later this year.

These measures form part of HMPPS’s wider risk-based and evidence-led approach to staff safety, ensuring that new protective capabilities are introduced in a controlled and proportionate way and informed by operational learning.