A long time to arm the law...
This recent post from The Bow Street Runner shows another officer gunned down in the line of doing her duty. Doubtless it may get the 'Should we be armed' debate for frontline officers up and running again. For the argument, my stance on this is that I wouldn't actively lobby for a gun, but would take one without argument if they were offered, and would vote 'yes' on a referendum. I'd ask for a taser though, I honestly can't see why they aren't on our already overloaded kit belts.In my force, the quickest I have ever heard a firearms unit be able to reach one of us without prior arrangement is 10 minutes. Thats a lot of time for someone to consider pulling a trigger or not. It's all very well asking us to 'risk-assess' everything carefully first, but you aren't always sent to the job with the clear information that the offender(s) may be armed. Sometimes you walk through the door, and thats the first time you see the gun. Sometimes you hear an alarm going off, get out of the car and thats the first time you see the gun. Sometimes its the last thing you'll see as well.
I doubt very much that this shooting will be the one that forces a change in British policing. No, I think that a good number more officers will need to be shot - hopefully not killed - before that happens.
posted by A non mouse
5 Comments:
Best wishes for a speedy recovery Rachel .. and no you haven't let anyone down, in fact you gave your level best, no one can ask for more than that.
My heart goes out to you guys. I hope they arm you asap. I'm not a gun nut, but I can't imagine not having access to a firearm if I needed one.
The reason you are not issued with a Taser is that, at all times, 'less than lethal' force must always be immediately backed up with lethal force. This is a principle that has always been followed by the British Army in Northern Ireland and was a lesson learned by the USA when operating in places like Somalia. There are no two ways about it I'm afraid.
I'm not sure if I fully understand onlookers comment. Are CS, and batoning someone "less than lethal force"? What about batoning someone to the head - thats lethal force.
We aren't asking for tasers because they are more lethal than what we have, but less lethal than guns. We are asking for them because they are much more effective than CS and batons at disabling an opponent without killing or severly injuring them.
I am a member of the MoD Police,we are armed on a daily basis as a matter of course,it makes no difference to the way we interact with members of the public but they do seem a little wary
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