Is it time to arm our Police ?

[TomBoyNI]

Absolutely not....here is no proof that such action could prevent an attack and it ends up with every minor encounter resulting in guns being drawn and people being shot...

We need tighter security at high risk sites and a stop to the decimation of police numbers and resources ...no need for more guns....( terrorist will always find a weak spot...just have to make it harder for them to find..)

Coming from Northern Ireland, an area of the U.K. Where all police are armed I can say yes. Arm all police. Off duty and on duty. Taking here a real life uk example the police do not go round drawing weapons needlessly.

Every use of firearms is examined by a third party and scuntinised by many. Simple put we do not have Hollywood heroes running about but well trained officers who can initially reapond to many incidents types than their colleagues on the mainland would not be well enough equipped to deal with it.

Time to realise the baddies are armed so the good guys need to be too. The days of the Bobby armed only with a truncheon is outdated and dangerous.

If the current situation in Northern Ireland continues to improve to a point where the security is no more heightened than Wales/Scotland/England I wonder if the police will give up their weapons?

I doubt it. Although the threat from Irish republican terrorists is diminishing the uk as a whole is threatened by new kinds of threats. Islamic extremism, organised crime, simple thugs and physcopaths. It's time the mainland developed their mindsets. They are too attached to the fact that the Bobby is the symbol of English law and order.

But what now is he equipped to deal with. A traffic collision and two guys fighting outside a pub. That's it. Bring weapons into the equation and they are not properly tooled to deal with this and rely on specialised units. Most other European police forces are armed and rightly so.

I'm not pro gun by the way but I am pro armed police to protect people. Obviously it isn't going to work 100% of the time. But it will help.

[SteveR]

Absolutely not....here is no proof that such action could prevent an attack and it ends up with every minor encounter resulting in guns being drawn and people being shot...

We need tighter security at high risk sites and a stop to the decimation of police numbers and resources ...no need for more guns....( terrorist will always find a weak spot...just have to make it harder for them to find..)

Yes, yes, yes! Totally agree with you.

[nuttynick]

No, no ,and no! The French police and customs are armed, do they draw weapons at every minor encounter?? No, they don't!

I work in France, I was there overnight. The UK customs guys were tasked with checking car boots for terrorists. Armed with precisely bugger all, as were the UK police present. If someone in a boot had leapt out armed with an AK47 and started shooting they had nothing to defend themselves or the public, it was idiotic.

Times have changed, for the worse. We need to counter any current threat with an appropriate action, not bury our heads in the sand.

[bowber]

NO, and no again, I wouldn't want our police armed, and most of the police I've known wouldn't want to be either.

Steve

[ZX Raziel]

Russian coppers are armed but they rarely pull them out - the guns of course before anyone goess off topic

[nuttynick]

I work with a lot of police, most I know WANT to be armed!

[CRAIGREVO]

:blink: How many people have unnecessarily been gassed and tasered since they were introduced? :whistle:

Lets leave the guns to the specialist armed response units. (thumbs)

[TomBoyNI]

:blink: How many people have unnecessarily been gassed and tasered since they were introduced? :whistle:

Lets leave the guns to the specialist armed response units. (thumbs)

I don't know the answer to that but I'd like to.

Taser is a bit different but gas. It's 20 mins of discomfort and I'd imagine very few are randomly gassed. In fact I'd say very few are randomly tapered either.

Take examples that are relevant to the uk not gun crazy America and such. How many firearms incidents occur in Northern Ireland and how many are found to be inappropriate or illegal?

Minuscule.

Again having grown up with it here it seems almost irrelevant to me. The norm. The standard. The fears people have in the mainland are more like movie opinions. Crazed trigger happy cops pulling guns every time they stop a car for having a brake light out.

It simply doesn't happen. Police are armed to protect people and themselves, that is it. To keep good people safe from bad people. The power of a uniform alone does not cut it any longer.

As long as physcopaths walk freely amongst good people the government have a duty of care to make sure they do their best to keep the good people safe.

Imagine the scene. Gunman on the street. Policeman with a truncheon. Well sorry that isn't ending well. Armed policeman (woman) and a gunman. Let's be honest it still isn't going to end well but it may end just slightly better.

[Earwig]

Arm the Police .... Next step in an arms race

Information to the security services is the best action, so that the instigators of terrorism can be sought out and stopped before they act

[CRAIGREVO]

CS gas was used like air freshener when it was first introduced.

If there was a gunman on the street then a fully trained armed response unit would deal with it.

In your scenario where all UK police were armed then it would still end badly because arming police would cost more money meaning more cuts, and more time in training (hopefully!). So that leaves the PCSOs to deal with it armed with just a walkie talkie. (thumbs)