Should All Policemen And Women Be Armed

[emmie]

going on yesterdays and previous terror attacks.

[chrissa1]

I take it that's a joke, Togo!

Naomi. Of course it would encourage criminals to "arm up" before committing a crime. They commit robbery not to murder the police but to get away with money, etc. If they knew that the police would all be armed, that would be the reason they would carry the guns. No armed police - no reason to arm themselves in the first place.

Murderering a policeman means, life imprisonment.

[Sqad]

chrissa

"No armed police - no reason to arm themselves in the first place. ".......and that would do away with the crime of Armed Robbery?
I don't think so and it hasn't done so in the last 100years.

[naomi24]

Chrissa, //No armed police - no reason to arm themselves in the first place. //

Oh right. That must be why criminals in this country don't bother to obtain guns then.

[ladybirder]

Thank goodness the policeman who killed him had a gun or who knows how many more he would have gone on to stab. Would that be OK?

[naomi24]

Indeed, ladybirder.

[chrissa1]

For heaven's sake!! I know that there is armed robbery going on but there is no way Our police, want every one of them to carry guns at all times.

I heard an interview with the head of the Police Federation on the radio this afternoon and he stated very strongly that, that was not what his members wanted.

Our country is not, America!!!

[chrissa1]

Plus. There is armed robbery to subjugate the victims, not the police.

[jno]

"that would do away with the crime of Armed Robbery?"

It's not doing badly, Sqad.

21 deaths from shooting in 2015 (the most recent stat I can find). 13,286 in the USA the same year. Which suggests arming police isn't exactly doing much to solve the problem.

[chrissa1]

Hear Hear, jno. My point exactly.

[jamesnan]

As the mother of a serving officer - my answer is No

[sapelesam]

In Westminster an armed officer is always close at hand. In June 2010 Derrick Bird went on the rampage in Cumbria killing 12 and injuring a further 11 people. I seem to remember that the nearest armed officers were over 50 miles away along rural mainly single carriage way roads. The first ARV on the scene lost Bird in traffic after many people were already dead. If terrorists struck away from major cities using a truck as a weapon, dozens could die. I believe every fit able officer who is capable of being armed should be armed. When an officer fires his weapon the presumption should be that he was within his rights unless proved otherwise and by law, any enquiry should be concluded within 30 days. I was in Eskdale that day and Bird passed less than 10 yds from our campsite. I felt very lucky.

[Old_Geezer]

Policemen should never be routinely armed. Every time there is one of these rare incidents someone asks if we should destroy our relationship between the public and police by arming them, thus pleasing the terrorist and making society a worse place. One might have hoped this question was considered answered by now.

[ChillDoubt]

The PSNI are routinely armed as a direct result of terrorist activity and it doesn't even get a mention.

Talk about routinely arming the Met in the 21st century with all its facets of home-grown and international Islamic extremism and terrorism and it's a matter of endless, hand-wringing debate.

People need to wake up to what's going on around them. Every capital city in Western Europe has a routinely armed police service and have done for some time yet I don't see or hear of any increase in criminality involving handguns. As Military Policemen in West Germany (way back when) we were all routinely armed when on patrol, but none of us underwent any psychometric tests or had our backgrounds checked to the enth degree, we just got on with our jobs and took responsibility.

[emmie]

so it would seem most don't want to see them armed. Or perhaps some more police should be trained who will guard the hotspots around the capital,

[youngmafbog]

Most probably dont want to be armed because if they used the weapon Mr Shyster or his ambulance chasing mates would be pursuing them for murdering a terrorist.

[emmie]

surprised that hasn't happened already.

[Mamyalynne]

I posted that, in slightly less flowery terms yesterday.


//However, police chiefs say they have struggled to recruit firearms officers, claiming that many fear they could spend years under investigation if they used their weapon in the line of duty.//


I still maintain the decision to arm Police or not is theirs to make.

[hereIam]

Probably no, armed police are brought in anyway at certain times aren't they .. ?

[naomi24]

I was very surprised to learn that the police on the front line manning the gates into The Palace of Westminster aren’t armed. I suspect they will be in future.

Speaking to a friend in the police force about the police carrying arms, he said that many are reluctant to do so because of the of the stringent inquiries the officer faces following the use of a weapon.

[Islay]

So they should Naomi, discharging a weapon should not become so routine that there is not investigation afterwards.
Oh and Chilldoubt all policeofficers in NI also have personal handguns that they carry whilst off duty too.