Do you think our police force should be armed?

Bear

I believe that we do not need to arm more officers with firearms.

Each force within England and Wales have Firearms Departments, which operate to provide an adequate response to the criminal use of firearms. This is done by having patrolling ARV's (Armed Response Vehicles), available to respond to spontaneous incidents.

Armed officers also conduct pre-planned firearms operations to arrest individuals, following a risk assessment of the individual. Tactics used all depends on the nature of the risk.

At present the the numbers of firearms officers is adequate. Yes we hear of more shootings, however having more firearms officers on the streets will not negate this. The shootings will still occur. What we do need is robust sentencing to a) Take offenders off the streets for a long time and b) Send out the right message to all the other people who carry and use firearms.

A recent survey by th Police Federation showed that the vast majority of UK officers do not want to be armed.

Very rarelly do officers come face to face with armed criminals. We will all remember recent incidents where UK officers were shot and killed attending incidents. Having a firearm will not necessarily prevent this. On the occasions that I remember the officers were responding to incidents where no firearm was mentioned. On one occasion the officer was a fireams officer and was shot before he had time to react to the threat.

My personal opinion, which is now coming to fruition is that response officers are armed with Taser. These are being trialled on non-firearms officers in 6 UK forces. The biggest threat to those officers is from edged weapons. Hopefully this will endeavour to give those officers the protection they need and the capability to deal with such subjects.

There is no Shermer in Illinois

As long as everyone is allowed to be armed. The playing field would be leveled.

trooper3316

I can not imagine doing my job unarmed, but apparently things are different outside the US.

I guess when the police can not safely do their job without a gun, things need to be changed.

joan k

No definitely not. Half of them couldn't be trusted with a pea shooter never mind a gun. Only trained Firearms Officers should be armed.

topcat1

This question is about the UK which is in a different situation to the USA. Gun crime in England is on the increase but it is nowhere near the levels of gun crime in the USA.

I totally disagree with arming all of the UK police force with guns. If you arm all police, more offenders will also carry guns to provide them with a level playing field. The fact that offenders know that most UK police are not armed means that far fewer arm themselves. It is still the minority that carry guns.

Police are trained to overpower and restrain offenders carrying knives and other similar weapons. They are also armed with batons, CS gas, and tasers are currently being trialed in police forces around the country.

In the UK, there are armed response teams that carry guns and they are responsible for responding to gun crime when it occurs.

By arming all UK police, it would simply increase the likelihood of an offender matching them by also carrying a gun when a committing a crime. It is not the answer in the UK.

DanHants

I think all Officers should carry Tazer.

In the UK there are already routinely armed Officers (airport patrols etc) and they would be at a weapon incident very quickly.

PCSOs should be issued with CS Spray for their self defence.

That's face it, with drugs on the rise in the UK especially drugs like Crystall Meth (Ice) Police need to be able to protect themselves as well as the public.

If someone grabbed my Mum in a street with a knife to her throat and the Police came I would like to think they would tazer the subject to defuse the situation safely.

st.abbs

No, the ordinary beat police officers should never have guns, they are not trained, probably most of them would fail the psychological test anyway.
I think if you were to ask the ordinary bobby the majority would not want to carry a gun, with the exception of the ones with the Gung Ho attitude.
The Officers who are fully trained have made too many mistakes as it is.

starbrite.

You are not from the USA or you would know
that most police officers carry a side arm,and
in there patrol car other weapons.It's been
this way dating back to the early west.The US
MARSHAL.S AND TEXAS RANGERS was feared
by outlaw as,cattle rustlers,and bank robbers,and stage coach hold ups

KERRY G

this is a very sticky wicket,two of my friends are police officers in the uk and dont think its a good idea,i have lived in other countrys where police carry guns but i have never seen them shoot anyone.The avalibilty of guns is heavily restricted here but gun crime is still rife,I belive our police should at least have a chance of protecting themselves against firarm attacks but i still think guns would have to be a last rersort.It only gos to show how much society has deterorated when police are being shot dead on a weekly basis,but i still like to think we could manage without them.If things got really bad thouh id like to know that our police could protect themselves and others from harm

charles t

no way in most of the world.could cops do their job. without weapons..who wants to go to jail.

of course how else can they arrest people with guns?

*****

Yes

NackNicks

yes, it would probably offer them more respect.. but i dont see how they can earn it if crime is on the rise but nothing is dont..
i was on the bus the other day and the ticket inspector got on with 2 policemen.. i was thinking to myself, havent they got crime to be fighting and not checking up on bus tickets for christs sake..

iceman

god no. most of them are truncheon happy, let alone give them a gun!

one shot

No.

But in this day & age there should be return to the 19th century idea of each town having it's own barracks with armed troops ready to go and shoot a few yobs and criminals if required. At least the streets would be a lot safer.

Copgirl

Say you are being robbed and I am unarmed. I come rushing to you with....what? Guess we will both have to stand there and let you get robbed.

dont know much

Yes of course.
I have yet to meet a policeman in the uk who does not have arms. That would be absurd. How would he be able to sit in his Police car and eat macdonalds or dunkin do nuts !
Or How about when he stops a madman would you think he would say Escuse me madman would you be so kind as to put this set of handcuffs on yourself please as I have no arms inside these sleeves !

Korky

It will come soon enough, they law and prison services cannot cope and are at there limit now, the criminals know this and will exploit the situation upping the anti, more violent crime more guns and knives equal more armed police,
the shame is, if someone in power was strong enough, you could put in place laws and punishments that might advert this disaster from happening.

irishnomad1

Of course they should be armed.......and legged but take that you don't give then guns, they do enough damage with the batons they have and we would not like them shooting themselves in the foot

SWATorNOT

Is this a serious question? How would you expect the Police to do their job unarmed?

Bank teller trips a silent alarm during an armed robbery. Bad guys have got a couple of shotguns and some pistols. Officers responding show up with.....? Their fists? During a traffic stop a dude with a felony warrant for his arrest facing 20 years in prison jumps out of his car firing a handgun at the Officer. The Officer responds by.... running away?

I'm a little confused by your question.

Army Dirt mover

It's a jungle out there. What do you think?

kieth

of course if a criminal was about to shoot you and the police were the only ones who could stop it would want them using thier fists duhhhhhhhhhhhhh you ever seen the movie clueless

curmudgeon1955

You must be posting from England? United States police are normally carrying firearms, England is noted for unarmed police patrolmen. Also currently noted in Guardian articles to have some violent crime problems, gun armed gangs.

whip

wow.are you serious.yes i do.

smart boratt brother

Are you a U.S. citizen? I can't believe the naivete of your questions. The gang situation is nearly completely out of control, so the police need to be the biggest, baddest, heavily armed gang around. There are currently a lot more "less than lethal" weapons option for general take downs than there used to be.
As for psychos in the police dept, very few get past the basic psychological testing they are mandated by law to undergo, along with polygraph, weapons and tactics training. Do a few get past? of course, but the percentage is so small as to be statistically insignificant. Our police force is the only thing between you and the bad guys. ( unless of course you carry ),
It is of course unfortunate that the reality of violence is an issue at all. In a perfect world, there would be no need for lethal force. If you think the police ought not to be at least as well armed as the bad guys,, after you are mugged or worse, and your only recourse is an armed police response
to save your life, see how fast you change your mind.

Capone

Sh#t, they awta carry bigger guns.

~*shea*~

Absolutely not! Until every single citizen is unarmed then maybe your question wouldn't be so ridiculous. You can't bring a knife to a gun fight. What do you expect them to do during an ARMED robbery?

confidentgal

Uhhh, they are armed! (Sidearms, Tasers, nightsticks, in some cases, rifles). The SWAT teams are more heavily armed. In order to gain control of a situation in which lives are threatened, it's unfortunate, but the police do have to be armed.

untouchable

what do you mean'should be'?they are,ask the relatives of the many poor bxxxxx they have shot and killed in recent years they are armed just that you don't see the ARU lurking around any town and city,I know I've been a victim of these headcases for some crank reporting me handling a gun..............I was with my 12 yr old son and he showed me his harmless BB gun and the next thing I was surrounded by these arxxxxxwith Beretta's and rifles,this gung ho mentality is why so many Innocent people are murdered by the police in UK!!

Not To Serious

Are you for real.

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