Coppers with guns

[Punky]

Alritey then..... i just got back from a tad of clothes shoppin in birmingham, and there are a suprisingly large amount of coppers walkin round with machine guns. this makes me poop meself when i see em for some reason. what does everyone else think of lettin police walk around with guns in the UK?
obviously its needed in america, as they have lots of guns, but in the uk?
peace (please?)

[Skii]

Yep - no problem with coppers being armed - at least they can shoot back. Armed robbery and gun crime is on the steady increase over here, just look at the 2 policemen shot in the last 24 hours.

Actually I feel safer around an armed copper

[PanzerKnight]

voted no, armed police dont make me feel safer just uneasy around them

[daverobev]

Voted no, though would probably vote yes for airports more as a symbol...of course it should be dealt with by crims not having guns to start with. I think we have to find an alternative to america's answer, else we are in serious trouble...

[Angus]

Yes, as long as they're trained properly (which knowing the current govt. probably wouldn't happen.

After all, aren't they just a civil army?

[Howard]

Yeah of course they should. Look what happened to those Yorkshire officers. And as said, the steady increase of gun crimes. I'm 100% all for them carrying guns. I doubt it'll happen in this country though. .

[spikegifted]

I'm against a fully armed police... Let me give you my reasoning.

For a good number of years, I was living in Hong Kong and the US and in both places their police forces are fully armed - ie. everyone office has a piece. Is there less gun crime in Hong Kong or the US than in the UK? The answer is a big fat 'NO'!!

There is a very simple relationship between an armed police and a higher level of gun crime - the criminals want to beat the police and if the police are armed, the criminals will want to be better armed!! An armed police will actually encourage the spreading of illegal gun ownership which can only mean bad things for the society. Additionally, with an armed police force, people will find guns more ‘acceptable’ than in a society where the policed force is largely unarmed. In another word: familiarity breeds contempt. The argument that ‘it is not the guns that are dangerous, but people who have them’ is completely correct and we all know how many idiots there are in this world.

Instead of spending money on arming and training our police to use guns, why don’t we spend the resources on training them to be better police? Or spend the same resources on tighter gun control? Or spend the time and money recruiting more police? Arming the police is a populist propaganda - it will not solve the underlying problem of gun ownership! It is just trying to fight fire with fire and we’ll end up with a bigger mess!!

[spazman]

Yes, although their should be laws saying when and who they can shoot. I dont think its right when most dangerous criminals garry some sort of gun and all the police have are big sticks. Dosent seem fair to me.

[DeludedGuy]

Voted yes, I believe the reason England is flooded with crime is becuase the Police do not carry guns, and the justice system is too weak.

If you take a look at other European countries where police always carry guns, they have less crime rate. I went on vacation to Portugal, where crime is virtually non-existant, all the police carried guns, i actually felt a lot safer. I live in Brixton, a very bad part of brixton, and I have witnessed 2 shootings, and a stand off between armed police and some jamaican drug dealers, scary stuff.

IMO, there are too many t*ssers who think they can do anything they want, becuase they are not scared of the police. If the police carried some M16s around, im positive there would be less crime.

[Richie]

Originally posted by spikegifted
For a good number of years, I was living in Hong Kong and the US and in both places their police forces are fully armed - ie. everyone office has a piece. Is there less gun crime in Hong Kong or the US than in the UK? The answer is a big fat 'NO'!!

Nothing to do with the fact there is a VASTLY greater population in these countries and the fact that (in the US anyways) guns are bought over the counter with your loaf of bread and pint of milk ??

Access to guns is a lot easier in the US than the UK hence arming police there is needed.


I also beleive that arming police more regularly in the UK is the way forward.

You say that the "criminals want to beat the police" so they will use gins more if the police are armed. Well, TBH the criminals are using guns in an increasing manner at the moment and the police have nothing more than a bit of kevlar between them and probable death.

[TeePee]

I work with armed police every day, and without having them around as backup my job would be a hell of a lot more dangerous. Believe me, when you have to wear kevlar every day, it feels a lot more flimsy than it looks! It is a neccesity that some police be armed, and at the moment they are well trained selected units, such as the Diplomatic Protection Group. On the other hand, I have had dealings with rank and file officers on some occasions, and some of them I wouldn't arm with a truncheon, let alone a firearm. A few years ago the average officer carried only a truncheon, in a specially modified trouser pocket, where noone could see it. Now they carry a side handle extending baton (which is a vicious weapon in the right hands), and cs spray, on a batman style utility belt. The requirments of police work are changing, and with the rising gun crime it's no surprise that more police are carrying weapons. Proper selection and training is the important thing.

You should also know that 'Machine guns' is a little inaccurate. They were probably MP5's which are carbines (not guns) and would be modified to semi-automatic fire. There is only one police unit in this country who have access to fully automatic weapons, and you'll never hear about them!

[Gr44]

other, you can geet 10 years got copyright fruad and 8 yars for killing a cop.
Killing a cop should be a life sentance in most cases, if not the death sentance.

i think that cops should be armed in large groups in places with heavy crime, to make a point more than any thing, get 10 coppers in a small area all with big guns, its going to intimidate people, and stop alot of crime, airports etc should all have armed police. we should tighten the level of checking on imports to help lower imported guns, this should raise the price, making them less publicly available.

[Richie]

Side handled batons still being used in the English forces then ?? They are/have been phased out up here for the extending style telescopic batons (extend from around 6 inches to 24) in Scotland

Uniforms have also changed (being rolled out now). Combat style trousers (black, not camo) and poloshirts altho full uniform is there for occasions etc.



Not best pic of it. Note the baton on the left hip of the female officer in its "holster" and the CS spray and "solid" cuff on the male officer

[spazman]

CS spray is for nancys

[Richie]

Nice and constructive there

[Zathras]

I don't believe in arming every single copper on the beat ala the US, because that will lead to the problems Spike's already mentioned. However the policy of having specially trained armed units on normal patrol in certain troublesome areas such as Nottingham and certain areas of Leeds is something I'm not against, though I'd like to see proper analysis of the figures and results. It's far less simple than "bad guys have guns, so the good guys should have them". Oh, and airports have always had carbine-equipped police officer patrols as standard - one thing Americans always commented on before 9/11 as it was very rare to have such a show of power in US airports.