Armed Police?

Know How

Yes and then maybe the prisons won't be full.

st.abbs

No, it should be only a highly trained well balanced police officer who is allowed to carry a firearm.

There are some officers who are not as professional as others who would make "mistakes", and surely there would be a lot of officers who would fail a psychological test to see if the were mentally stable to carry a firearm.

I don't think it is the stiff upper lip that is preventing it at the moment, it is more likely that the majority of beat Police officers do not want to carry firearms.

bruce m

why don't you let the police themselves answer that one, last i heard they don't want them, as for the first answerer i hope if ever you need them they ignore you and let you die, it will be one less retard for us to keep

Really torn on this one.

On the one hand, gun crime is a problem in the UK and unarmed police officers have lost their lives coming into contact with armed assailants. Tragically, they just did not stand a chance.

On the other hand, on the basis that gun crime is far, far, far from endemic here, I'm not sure I want to live in a society in which police officers are routinely armed, particularly if it means the standard of firearms training drops as a result of enabling such a policy. On the basis of past performance, do you trust our government to ensure such a scheme would be properly funded, bearing in mind it costs thousands of pounds and a significant amount of time to train a firearms officer?

People can and do sometimes overreact in the heat of the moment. There are many police officers in this country who are extremely competent in what they do, but who just do not have the critical judgment skills that would enable them to become effective firearms officers.

Furthermore, would it not just result in proliferation? I really don't know on this one - virtually impossible to prove.

Accordingly, only if it could be guaranteed that training standards were maintained and that the situation deteriorated dramatically here would I support such a policy.

p.s. Dr Dufflecoat - my sentiments exactly - don't imagine that there are that many UK Officers who would want to carry either.

trueblue3167

I don't know the crime situation in Britain, but I have seen Hot Fuzz, and while I understand that isn't an accurate portrail of law enforcement of the UK, it was very entertaining, but I digress.

I'm an American police officer, at any given time in my vehicle I have access to three weapon systems, my handgun, a shotgun in the vehicle, and a long rifle in the vehicle. I also have access to a number of less-than-lethal weaponry including a taser, beanbag shotgun, 30mm less-than-lethal gun, pepper spray, and baton.

The fact that I have to carry all that crap says alot about our society, I don't know enough about firearm crime in the UK, but I'm a firm believer that anyone who enforces laws and may have to take someone's freedom should be armed. People take their freedom very seriously, and it's a massive responsibility to have to take someone's freedom. People will fight, and kill to maintain their freedom, which is something a police officer must be ready to deal with.

As an American to a Brit, I couldn't do my job without all of the lethal and less-than-lethal weaponry, can you? Do you want to?

Dylan

A criminal with a handgun vs. an officer with a plastic stick...hmm. No wonder crime is on the rise in Britain.

R, P, then B

well, lets imagine an armed druggie has just kicked in the door to your flat. You call the police and they arrive unarmed, or they arrive after 20 minutes because they couldn't contact the proper people to authorize the use of force.

I say arm them.

Ian UK

This is a question that's often asked with many different answers.

Personally, I would carry a firearm if it became a requirement. I would also make damn sure that I knew how to use it if necessary and by that I don't mean in order to kill, that would be the last thing on my mind. I would much rather be confident that I could disarm someone with a non lethal shot than just firing blindly and hoping for the best.

I do however think that a taser would be a better first option as it obviously causes less harm. Just like my current 'weapon' of choice is the pepper spray over the baton for the same reasons if I'm ever in the unfortunate situation where such force is necessary.

The debate goes on...

crusader rabbitt

Arm those Bobbies!
My hat is off to them, they walk into the most dangerous situations without a sidearm. They are some brave men & women. God bless them.

sarah1962

i don't know what they should carry, they need something to protect them, just don't think a gun is the right choice. all the best

ZIP

We have nuclear weapons as a deterent so why should the cops not have weapons.

english guy 1985

the answer is clearly yes for very simple reason - almost all other countries have armed officers, and the UK has a far higher crime rate than many of those countries.

perhaps that tells you something about why that is, aswell.

sorry but in my opinion the fact that many serving police officers do not want to be armed is not particularly important, their opinions are to be respected but being entrusted with a firearm is a huge responsibility that could have life-altering consequences for a person - so of course many of them will be reluctant to take on that responsibilty.

UK society is changing and our gun crime rate is surely among the highest in western Europe now - I find it frankly ridiculous that a local policeman in rural Normandy has a firearm but a copper on the beat in Harlesden or Hackney probably doesn't.

If we think that the fact the police are not generally armed is a true reflection of our society , who are we trying to kid!

Bear

At the present time I say no to all officers carrying guns. In any case I believe from surveys conducted recently that the vast majority of police officers do not want to carry guns.

It can be argued that our society is becoming more and more violent and the use of firearms by the criminals more prevelant. If we arm all our police officers will the offenders also arm themselves equally?

In recent years I can think of three police officers shot dead in the line of duty. In my mind two of those would not have been saved by carrying firearms. The latter and most recent colleague was carrying a firearm.

I think the biggest threat to unarmed police officers is from persons carrying a bladed article. To combat this it may be possible to arm all our police with Taser. This is an option that is currently being looked at.

In my mind what we need first is a first class justice system that deals with the criminal swiftly and effectively. I want sentences that reflect the crimes committed. At present offenders only serve half what they were sentenced (whats the logic in that!!). I want more prisons that are tougher than the current holiday camps. I want life to mean life. I want something that sends out a message to the criminal.... basically a deterrent....that we don't have now.

nc_hull

In my view all Police Officers should be routinely armed with taser that are carried at all times whilst on duty, there should also be an increase in the number of officer trained to use small firearms and those should be ready available for use but not carried on the oficer all the time. Even if they are kept at local stations or in a secure safe in the vehicle.

papuman2000

Well they already shot an unarmed brazilian on the tube seven times in the head after lying about the guy. Covered their tracks by telling lies, buried the video evidence and no-one is to face prosecution. He was shot because he had 'olive skin' and was followed after an 'intelligence' operation, sounds familiar. Yeah, arm the BNPOLICE!

bobby d

yes they should

fosyfos

All uk police should carry tazer. non leathal force is always better

The Instructor

if not everywhere at least in areas where there is high gun crime, high violent crime etc. I can tell you this is some wee thug has a knife he is more likley to drop it when a copper is pointing a gun at him than if he is wavin his truncheon at him. If handguns were legalised again with proper controls and mandatory training and handling classes i think gun crime would fall. People would respect guns, criminals would fear that people might have them. The police could have an experience of handling guns before joining and therefore wouldnt be so hard to train.

statesman

ITS WHAT

neilywealy2003

No because th dopey buggers would shoot eachother ! !

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