Should all British Police be armed?

Earlier someone posted all the innocent people who have been shot by police.

When you are armed and given the responsibility of making a decision like that you cannot afford to ask the person whether it is an air pistol, a water pistol or a 9mm they are pointing at you. If you point any weapon at an armed policeman you cannot be considered innocent, incredibly stupid maybe, but innocent, no.

It is a very interesting question whether all policemen and women should be armed.

Taking emotion away from the subject I would say yes.

Why?

Simply break it down to a health and safety aspect. Are the police given the necessary equipment to safely perform their job?

I would say no.

If you are asked to walk into a dangerous scenario then you would expect your employer to provide ALL relevant safety equipment. They cannot say "We won't give you a hard hat because things only fall on people every now and again". They provide you with a hard hat because it is possible that during your working day something may fall on you.

Every police person knows that even during a normal working day they could be faced with a knife wielding maniac, or an armed robber, never mind a terrorist or someone with guns and hand grenades determined to kill you for the hell of it.

The biggest thing though is whether the police have the tools to protect you and your family. If you are cornered by a mob or by terrorists with machetes', determined to gut you and your family while others stand there with camera phones, would you prefer 2 armed police to turn up or 2 unarmed police? Or even better, 2 Community Support Officers.

My point in posting about the innocent people killed was to engender wider thought. Accidents happen around guns. Innocent people will be injured or even killed. Can the great British public live with things like that when it happens?

I dont know the answer but Id like to know how many armed and unarmed police are killed each year, compared to how many are shot by the police. And how this compares to elsewhere in the world.

well i once lived in a market town.....stone in staffordshire ....where my family still live....my mother recently went to watch a local activity connected to the carnival they had there.......she took my grand kids with her.......on speaking to my mum she said armed police were there for safety.......i thought about it and my feelings were that i was glad they were there........in the ever more frequent event these extremist cowards start shouting alla and causing missery to the rest of our civilised world then at least theres a good chance they are going to get there heads smashed in...the truncheon is outdated in my oppinion.

mgtfbluestreak wrote: well i once lived in a market town.....stone in staffordshire ....where my family still live....my mother recently went to watch a local activity connected to the carnival they had there.......she took my grand kids with her.......on speaking to my mum she said armed police were there for safety.......i thought about it and my feelings were that i was glad they were there........in the ever more frequent event these extremist cowards start shouting alla and causing missery to the rest of our civilised world then at least theres a good chance they are going to get there heads smashed in...the truncheon is outdated in my oppinion.

Having been an MP Sergeant, I've been an armed policeman, whilst serving in Europe. Most police in Europe routinely carry side arms (pistols) without issue. For some reason it's a big deal here in the UK.

After the 'Lee Rigby' incident in Woolwich my good lady asked me why the wheel brace was now in the glove compartment.. :bat:

My son has just become a Copper, he had his Attestation (swearing in) a couple of months ago and is now well into his two years of intensive training covering all aspects of the role. This is after serving two years as a full time SPCO.
You have to feel concerned as he is now going to be on the frontline and having to deal with many issues that no one ever should have to.
I would be so much happier if he was issued with a sidearm when he has completed his training and is out on the beat or road protecting the public and innocent.
After the recent incidents, CS spray, batons and tasers are not going to protect our police force against guns, bombs and machetes.
Now it is time for the home office to make proper decisions and decide that the lives of innocent people and those trying to protect them count for more than the backlash that they would undoubtedly receive from the few liberal do-gooders who would be up in arms about issuing our lads with proper protection.

Sundance

Now it is time for the home office to make proper decisions and decide that the lives of innocent people and those trying to protect them count for more than the backlash that they would undoubtedly receive from the few liberal do-gooders who would be up in arms about issuing our lads with proper protection.

............hear hear,bout time we started getting tougher with low life terrorists

My opinion for what its worth is a resounding no. We have highly trained fast response units in potential hotspots already which will react.
We just need to look at the States as an example.
There are several "divisions" in the Police service, just one of these is the "Bobby on the beat" albeit these are the thinnest blue line. This image is the public perception of our great police force, but heavily relies on the public to help by being their eyes, noses and ears.
Intelligence has to be improved and a way of doing this is to be more involved in the different communities to gain respect and trust, and the communities have to reciprocate to help keep the peace.
It worked reasonably well in Northern Ireland once the various government agencies stopped competing against each other, certainly was a factor bringing everyone in to talk peace anyway.

I've never known any agency not to be armed in Northern Ireland. Bobbies inclusive. Beheading a 'Beat Bobby'.. well, I'm sure that's on the cards somewhere. Fast response units are incredibly slow in comparison to a regular, routinely armed cop. Would they have gone on their murder spree, attacking the public with knives, knowing that all police were armed? I doubt it. :nonod:

Dixon of Dock green is dead. There is no respect for the police from the new age terrorists and intelligence gathering, gaining respect, and trust is a farce. Every one of those communities are living under constant surveillance. It's no small wonder that they choose to rebel.

On a lighter note.. A great big spider crawled under my bedroom door last night and my wife put an upturned, empty coffee mug, over it. As she said "Did you see the size of that!" the mug exploded. The wife looked at me in shock and said "What the hell was that?"

I said "It must have been a Jihadi longlegs." :lol: :lol: :lol:

Leigh Ping wrote: .....Would they have gone on their murder spree, attacking the public with knives, knowing that all police were armed? I doubt it. :nonod:

Probably, in close combat a knife is more effective than a gun.

In last Saturdays attack how many more innocents would have been hit with stray bullets.

The coppers here in Oz all carry side arms, they've done so since the 70's.
They seem to shoot themselves or one another, much more often than bystanders.

Seriously though, they have very strict rules of engagement, and can only shoot when there is no other choice such as when there is immediate danger to the public or themselves. If they were to do otherwise, they'd have the Ethical Standards unit, the Coroner, the media, half of the judiciary, the opposition & ratbag minor parties, not to mention all the assortment of dogooder snivel-libertarians, crawling up their arses, each with a bloody microscope!

We have very few cases of collateral damage.