is it time to arm all UK Police Officers?

[gary martin]

no, slippery slope onto a constant downward tradjectory

[eboswan]

I think its time to have a greater armed police force. Maybe not all of the police to be armed, but a lot more than we currently have, especially in the cities. I dont think the average bobby on the beat requires arming. However these armed police will need to have the correct attitude towards the general public and not be too bullish or pushy (if thats the right words) towards people. If people are doing nothing illigal there should be nothing for them to worry about.
Armed police MAY be a deterent to a whole range of people, but once people realise they could be shot I think this will deter a lot of "petty gun crime".
However the extremists will always push the boundaries and not worry about the armed police, and wont see them as a deterent. But I feel it is better to have the capability to respond quickly and possibly minimise any attrocities like we saw in France.
If the security service can do their job then the armed police would be a great asset to them.
Kevin

agreed 100%

Totally agree with you kevin
There is a police officer that patrols around my estate he is a large guy(ok fat) he could never use a firearm too defend anyone he would never put his pastie down long enough

[bgaltd]

My father was a copper and a good old punch up between a Bobby and a local scrote was common, Police killers were extremely rare hence the unarmed force.
They are only human and to expect them to deal with an ever increasing video and litigation society not to mention masses of paperwork and human rights for outright bastards is a bit much when we cut their numbers, why? Not as a result of falling crime that's for certain, but to finance a 'bribe' or tax cut as Cameron calls it.

You only have to look at the case on Merseyside recently where a crook would rather murder a copper than face a vehicle theft charge.

Arming the Police in times of high threat should be mandatory, OK, so Mr Nobhead extremist won't be put off as he believes dying gets him virgins in heaven, but he could be stopped before the tally got too high.

And then think about the lesser criminals who simply take the piss out of common decency, maybe they would think twice about breaking into your home and murdering you and yours.

arming the public (the decent ones that is , stringent tests etc) would work better . only police who recreation-ally shoot should be armed. all of the ARU members i've had the displeasure to deal with are gung-ho tossers(who know little or nothing about the law regarding firearms) and shouldn't be in charge of pea shooters never mind live firing weapons .

[Geordie]

I'd definitely arm at least 80% of them. Coppers on the beat, no, but I think all police vehicles should be equipped for the job, it's unfair to ask someone to do a job (that is becoming ever more dangerous) without the correct tools!

You have to move with the times and cut your cloth accordingly IMO. Gone are the days when a copper could give you a kick up the arse and tell you to scarper! It's a deadly serious job these days, not just because of these fanatics, there is so much violence going on these days I find it almost laughable that we still ask these folks to go out there with nowt more than a tin of hairspray and a chair leg.

Its a no brainer for me

[wastrel]

never mind ifs buts & maybe`s, lets look at the evidence of armed officers in the past- John Charles De menezes anyone!
the Stephen Waldorf case? he was mistakenly shot 5 times then pistol whipped by one officer who was attempting to shoot him in the head but ran out of ammunition!
would armed officers have stopped the 7/7 attacks? would they have stopped the attack on Lee Rigby?
I`ve discussed with my family many times recently, the gun debate, I see evidence repeatedly that more guns = more violence, IMO more armed officers would lead to more shooting mistakes & since a lot of terrorists nowadays are suicide bombers, I can`t see armed officers making much difference to them!
need more actual facts- nearly every police officer in America is armed, does that make America the safest country in the world? has non armed petty crime stopped? does ANY criminal over there stop to think he may get shot whilst carrying out a crime- I doubt it.
I say again, more guns means more shootings, regardless of who actually has the guns, our armed cops for the most part are highly trained specialised units despite their faults, to arm every cop would be a recipe for disaster I think.

[Geordie]

Mistakes will always be made, I wonder how many criminals in the states were stopped before going on to kill more? If I were a copper I know I'd rather be armed with a gun than a baton/spray/taser when it was needed!

It's easy to pluck a couple of obvious mistakes out of the air that were VERY well published. We can do nothing against suicide bombers that blow themselves up, granted. Intelligence is the only way to fight this and even then it's going to happen, Im saying give our lads n lasses on the front line the tools to do the job!

As I type this Im hearing the Germany Belgium game has been cancelled due to security reasons Twitter reckons there may have been another attempted bombing outside Never mind though, lets not get gung ho about this, a couple of coppers on their bikes should see to it!

[Gnome of the Woods]

Dear God no, not unless they actually train them a whole lot better!
Thankfully they are still a deterrent rather than an active part of day to day policing.

[Outandabout]

I stand by what i said, but maybe was misunderstood when i said to arm the police. All of the armed police should be trained accordingly, i would not dream of just giving people a basic training when using firearms. And if the security services worked properly with the police i think it would stop a lot of the attrocities we have seen in the past. Maybe ex sevicemen or even serving soldiers could be used as armed police - ready to be mobilised at a moments noticed, people who have used firearms in real situations and not likely to panic and maybe shoot before they think. They could even be the armed police persons training officers.
As for the average bobby on the beat they could do with the help of the public. The minority of the public must be made to take responsibility for their actions whatever their crime. Sentences must be tougher for these people and if they take a gun to commit a crime they should take whatever consequence comes their way and in my opinion this should be a police officer with a gun pointed at them with the certain knowledge that the police will shoot - maybe then they will reconsider the folly of using guns.
Obviously this is a long way off but i think it will eventually come. It takes generations to change society or peoples ways of thinking its not something that happens overnight and maybe what is happening now is a catalist to this change.
I could go on but dont want to bore everybody with my views.
I live in hope.
Cheers
Kevin

[granville]

100% yes .

[Brooksy]

Like I said before, in a way, if a petty lowlife crook can murder a copper for the sake of facing a charge of vehicle theft, what would he do to you if you dared to ask him what he's doing in your house. Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York went to zero tolerance and reduced the crime rate by 70%.

Nobody fears the law in a lot of areas, therefore nobody helps the law.