Should the British police be armed?

You realise that ARU's drive through the area right?

They can be in the area in minutes.

I do not think it is time, netheir do the police.

yeah i agree they could be passing through but we only had if i remember rightly two armed response vehicles covering the county, the rest were on call, i mean i dont know how often they are used but we are quite a large county and i dont believe its enough!

Originally posted by andy_ssr
yeah i agree they could be passing through but we only had if i remember rightly two armed response vehicles covering the county, the rest were on call, i mean i dont know how often they are used but we are quite a large county and i dont believe its enough!

Two for the entire county sounds right, they have just 2 or the entire of london, the rest are on standby.

You know that those ARU's can reach your position probably in minutes, single figure ones.

Lets see..your stated that your county has little or no gun crime yet you seem to think that there arent enough ARU police in your area.So i whats your thinking behind that then ?
Theres no point in allocating extra resources ARU wise to a county that has no need for them,and as stated outside assistance can often be minutes away.It all depends on the scenario that is being faced,as often ARUs are required to attend to siege situations or where the potential threat is static,where police units in attendance can cordon the area to control the situation.
The death of the Police Officer occurred when responding to an incident where no mention had been made that firearms where present or potentially there,so the Officers acted accordingly.

What about automatic sniper system (lol A.S.S. for short lol,lol vkjav sorry fell out of my chair) attached to the cameras I keep hearing about. I'd say that would do it...

Originally posted by OneGodJesus
What about automatic sniper system (lol A.S.S. for short lol,lol vkjav sorry fell out of my chair) attached to the cameras I keep hearing about. I'd say that would do it...

I doubt that will be implemented as much as scotland will win the world cup anytime soon...

I was sort of joking but now that I think about it, couldn't this be done? I mean not automated but with monitors that are sworn law enforcement. Maybe have some non-lethals and lethals in one package. At the entrance to every public transportation place, have a sniffer for explosives. If one is detected, an electrical shock is administered. The good guys come and sort it out.

What happens if it goes wrong?

Oh...just an innocent person harmed, killed...so on and so fourth. What if it hits the wrong target? Oh doesn't matter...

Originally posted by Odium
What happens if it goes wrong?

Oh...just an innocent person harmed, killed...so on and so fourth. What if it hits the wrong target? Oh doesn't matter...

Well that depends on the current or amps flowing through the circuit (Ie the human subject).

Well if it hits the wrong target then we get what we will always get, bad press.

Take every incident where the police have made a mistake and compare them to when the police make a good call...notice the lack of press coverage when something good happens?

Originally posted by devilwasp
Well that depends on the current or amps flowing through the circuit (Ie the human subject).

You don't suppose that the current itself would trigger or detonate the device do you. I mean most of the zappers are lots of volts but no push (I think amps? or whatever) so it doesn't electracute (sp?) the poor guy.

Maybe one of those sticky foam guns but on a massive scale, like a flood of it, so even if he blows up it is minimized.

I suppose less lethal and non-lethal systems could be issued to police officers but only one or two would help dealing with an armed individual intending on taking the life of an officer.

I hope that the Police are never armed, but i fear that it will happen soon. I do belive that gun culture has gone way over the top here in the UK.

What else can be done, i dont know, but i do know that if someone had a gun pointed at me or an innocent person i know i would not hesertate to shoot them dead.

Originally posted by OneGodJesus
You don't suppose that the current itself would trigger or detonate the device do you. I mean most of the zappers are lots of volts but no push (I think amps? or whatever) so it doesn't electracute (sp?) the poor guy.

Maybe one of those sticky foam guns but on a massive scale, like a flood of it, so even if he blows up it is minimized.

Frankly you get electrocuted no matter what amp or voltage, to what degree is the question.

I mean it takes less than half an amp to kill , and we do know the ranges of current needed just to wound.

Now electricity COULD set off a device but so could anything really.

British police will never be routinely armed. To undertake such a feat would be astronomically difficult for police forces. You have the following points to consider:

1. ARU crews are highly trained, and spend the majority of their time training - how can we expect a beat bobby to reach the same standard? Its not possible, and what would be the compromise?

2. As mentioned previously, over 80% of officers don't wish to be armed, the Police Federation would fight tooth and nail to oppose such a proposition - officers would leave in their droves;

3. Independent Police Complaints Commission investigations into police shootings take on average 2-3 years to finalise (the one in london with the table leg took 6 years ), the system would become overwhelmed by an increase in police shootings.

4. Forces are simply not equipped to cope with such a change, unless a massive cash injection was added.

I do agree that a greater firearms presence is required in certain inner cities, but the initial outcome of any incident involving firearms will largely be determined by the information that control rooms give to the officers before they attend the scene.

The British Police are the finest in the world, we should be proud of that. That fact that they conduct their duties on a day to day basis unarmed should make us even more proud.

They aren't entirely defenseless, they have access to CS incapacitant and an extendable baton. The body "amour" (if you can call it that, most refer to them as "stab vests") protects against the majority of knife attacks and limited small arms fire, although you'd be hard pressed to find a bobby who wants to test these claims.

Police stab vest cover the vital organs. PC Rachael Brown was shot in the lower abdomen where the vest barely covers and PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot in the head.

The number one weapon in a bobbies arsenal is his or her's mouth and brain. You'd be amazed how many situations you can defuse just by using these tools. Of course, unfortunately, this alone did not help to two officers mentioned above.

Morbid reading here where the BBC claim that since 1900 more than 160 police officers have been killed on duty.

It's worth pointing out that knife culture is bigger in Britain than gun culture.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they start arming the police already because of the terrorist attack that happened months ago? I coulda sworn that was the case...

Ether way, I can't imagine how cops stop crime without using guns, it sounds impossibe to me...

Atleast a gun stops a crime quicker, usually guns don't need to be fired to be useful. =P

Originally posted by Kacen
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they start arming the police already because of the terrorist attack that happened months ago? I coulda sworn that was the case...

No, they just put Authorised Firearms Officers on overt street duties.