Collecting forensic evidence will come second to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of West Australian police under new regulations.
The changes have been introduced after an officer was not allowed to wash blood from his hands after trying to resuscitate hostage-taker Brendan John Lindsay.
Mr Lindsay, 38, was shot several times by police as he held a kitchen knife to the throat of a Carlisle deli manager in November.
After the shooting, the internal affairs unit was criticised for not allowing the responding officers to leave the scene until hours later and then arresting them under the Criminal Investigations Act.
WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said on Thursday that police shootings would now be investigated by the major crime squad and internal affairs' role would be be restricted to audits.
Mr O'Callaghan said the unit's decision to arrest the officers had been reasonable under the circumstances.
However, it was not the only option available to investigators and a number of things could have been done better.
"In my mind, the welfare of a police officer and their health is the most important thing," Mr O'Callaghan said.
"Forensic procedures are secondary to that. You can't have a situation where an officer is left at risk while you mess about trying to do forensic procedures."
Mr O'Callaghan said all the officers involved in the shooting had returned to work and no charges would be laid against them.
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