Whole life terms for police killers - home secretary
Police murders: Doubts over life sentencing call
(34 minutes later)
Criminals who kill police officers should face compulsory whole life sentences, Home Secretary Theresa May is to propose.
The Sentencing Council for England and Wales says it has no power to alter guidelines on murder so those who kill police officers get whole life tariffs.
Mrs May will unveil the proposals to rank-and-file officers at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth.
The home secretary was expected to say in a speech later she wanted the body that oversees sentencing to ensure police killers were never released.
The current minimum sentence for a police murder is 30 years.
But a spokesman for the council said murder was the only offence for which it could not introduce guidelines.
The Police Federation said: "We support any move that means a true life sentence will be applied to anyone who murders a police officer."
He said murder terms could only be set by MPs through a change in the law.
Twelve police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 2000.
Judge guidelines
Mrs May will announce that the government is to propose that the minimum term should be increased to life without parole.
The home secretary will tell officers: "To attack and kill a police officer is to attack the fundamental basis of our society.
"We ask police officers to keep us safe by confronting and stopping violent criminals for us. We ask them to take risks so that we don't have to.
"That is why I am clear that life should mean life for anyone convicted of killing a police officer."
The change will be put before the Sentencing Council which produces guidelines for judges in England and Wales.
'Risk lives'
Police Federation chairman Steve Williams said: "The public need to have confidence that the criminal sentence they read about in the paper is the sentence the offender completes.
"There is no hierarchy when it comes to victims of murder, however police officers risk their lives on a daily basis confronting danger on behalf of others.
"Would-be offenders must know that they will receive the most severe penalty possible."
Mrs May will face a question and answer session after her speech.
Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor, who is behind hotly debated changes such as fast-track recruitment and lower annual pay for new constables, will also address officers.
On Tuesday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told the three-day conference that government plans to withdraw from the European Arrest Warrant agreement would make it harder to catch criminals who went on the run abroad.
