Fri Jun 18, 2004 7:31 am
cops in the UK do not ordinarily carry firearms, although tactical response and anti-terrorist units (SWAT to you) always do. however in reality esp in large urban centres, up to 40% of officers can be expected to carry firearms on a regular basis, esp in London.
however as gun crime is far less than in the USA, even an armed police officer is highly unlikely to draw his firearm let alone use it, unless confronted by an armed offender. And most British people are still very wary of allowing our police to carry guns as an everyday occurence. Not only is the population gnerally proud of the fact that we maintain law and order without instantly resorting to the threat or the actual use of firearms, unlike most other countries, but also we don't entirley trust handing such responsibility over to "bobbies" and neither do the Police forces, who are generally happier with having trained units to deal with firearms.
Several high-profile instances where inexperienced or ill-trained coppers have shot and killed people brought this issue into focus some years ago. Even the trained units make mistakes based on incorrect identification or bad intelligence, how much more so your local plod, especially the arrogant young ones who are full of the "i am a copper and I'm really hard" attitude? they'd pull out their guns straight away and shoot first , i guarantee it; so it's best things stay as they are, at least for us.
we do have a tradition that the Police forces are essentially civilian; citizens in uniform, drawn from the local community, distinct from military forces imposed upon communities by central govt. This is derived from our history and our resentment of standing armies and rule by force (which of course we had once)
I still find the idea of Police with guns abhorrent, no matter where i go in the world.
Edited by - Tawakalna on 6/18/2004 8:37:14 AM
however as gun crime is far less than in the USA, even an armed police officer is highly unlikely to draw his firearm let alone use it, unless confronted by an armed offender. And most British people are still very wary of allowing our police to carry guns as an everyday occurence. Not only is the population gnerally proud of the fact that we maintain law and order without instantly resorting to the threat or the actual use of firearms, unlike most other countries, but also we don't entirley trust handing such responsibility over to "bobbies" and neither do the Police forces, who are generally happier with having trained units to deal with firearms.
Several high-profile instances where inexperienced or ill-trained coppers have shot and killed people brought this issue into focus some years ago. Even the trained units make mistakes based on incorrect identification or bad intelligence, how much more so your local plod, especially the arrogant young ones who are full of the "i am a copper and I'm really hard" attitude? they'd pull out their guns straight away and shoot first , i guarantee it; so it's best things stay as they are, at least for us.
we do have a tradition that the Police forces are essentially civilian; citizens in uniform, drawn from the local community, distinct from military forces imposed upon communities by central govt. This is derived from our history and our resentment of standing armies and rule by force (which of course we had once)
I still find the idea of Police with guns abhorrent, no matter where i go in the world.
Edited by - Tawakalna on 6/18/2004 8:37:14 AM