Armed police introduced to the UK via back door
Dirtyhippy
Posts: 2,059 Forum Member
✭✭✭
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28656324
Armed police in Scotland are on routine patrol, they are an "Armed Response" unit that have to do routine work as part of their normal day but remain armed.
This is pretty disturbing given the total lack of publicity or warning to the public, there has been no discussions, the police just decided they would go ahead and trample over the UK's policy of non armed (routine) policing.
Armed police in Scotland are on routine patrol, they are an "Armed Response" unit that have to do routine work as part of their normal day but remain armed.
This is pretty disturbing given the total lack of publicity or warning to the public, there has been no discussions, the police just decided they would go ahead and trample over the UK's policy of non armed (routine) policing.
0
Comments
I saw armed Police Officers in Waterloo train station only last week.
This cannot be allowed to go unchecked.
What are you going to do about it?
Why, what is the problem? I'm happy with it. I just go about my business and it doesn't bother me at all.
Well the BBC have already picked up on it, I won't be the only one to object, my MP could be a starting point, facebook campaign, twitter etc.
Your OK with it, fine, but plenty won't be.
Have you got your hands on your hips while saying that, sort of like a street thug?
No. Why would I? For one thing I'm not a thug, street or otherwise. For another you're the one saying something should be done so I wanted to know what that was and what you personally would be doing.
Someone did a thread about this about a month ago. it's nothing new. Police have been armed for years, and carried out other tasks at the same time.
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1986150&highlight=armed+police+scotland
Would you prefer that coppers armed with pointy sticks arrived to deal with a nutter running amok in a school with a machete ?
But what about poor ickle Mark Duggan and Raoul Moat?
The problem is that it could lead to a situation like you find in the states where an increase in armed police officers means an increase in armed criminals and shoot-outs between police and criminals often leaves innocent people getting caught in the crossfire.
Then you also have the problem of jumpy police officers shooting people because they decided that the game controller they are holding is a gun or they are carrying a sawn off table leg.
Seriously, ARV's have been patrolling our streets for a long time now... I'm not really sure what the problem is?
They're personally responsible for every round they fire while on duty and have to be able to explain their reasoning behind the decision every time they press the trigger so it won't be like the US where the cops will empty a few clips into someone and then perhaps a few more just for the lulz
At the moment armed response officers are highly trained with firearms and their primary job is to respond to situations where firearms are needed which is why the number of shootings is so low.
The number of police shootings has been steadily decreasing over the past few years and the number of gun related crimes has fallen at a steady rate as well, if the number of police carrying guns increases then you can guaranty that the number of criminals using them will increase as well.
If you start handing out guns to all police officers then there will be neither the time or resources to give them the same level of training as armed response units so they will be more prone to mistakes and less accurate when they use their firearms. The police have used their tasers over 10,000 times since they were introduced, do you think that if they are handed out guns they will not be willing to use them as well?
Even in America the officer just can't fire his gun "willy nilly" he is accountable just like our officers, and should they kill someone, they have to hand their gun in, until an investigation takes place.
There should be an open and fair debate where the police outline their case and it is agreed by democratically elected civil leaders, not crafty and arrogant police chiefs.
Cops actually do get away with murder and that is the problem.
Or perhaps it's because they don't believe the police should be routinely armed? Cops are allowed to have opinions on stuff that aren't directly related to their own personal circumstances, same as the rest of us.