Poll: Should British Police be armed?

[Custard_Angel]

Without a clear deterrent, what do criminals have to fear?

 

[SinisterGehe]

They do a good enough job beating up newspaper sellers and guys in wheel chairs without firearms so I would say no.

Even when they have guns the mess up, like the shooting dead of that guy that sparked the london riots with a police bullet ending up in another police mans radio not to mention the shooting dead of said man without justifiable intent

I personally love this comment, it completely lacks any kind of aspect to the fact that if your mentality would be bit different you wouldn't be destroying half a city, loot everything that is loose (and even then you screw it loose) and burn everything that can be ignited, also destroy the legacy and life of innocent people (referring to a certain elderly barber).

Yeah, the other side is completely innocent, it is all because of the police yeah. Please come to Finland and still say the with a straight face, see the difference in mentality and our level of responsibility over our actions even when we are pissed off. And btw, our police is armed and armed well, each one of them is armed with a melee, non-lethal and lethal weapon. We even have a theoretic riot unit also, but that sees less action than our special operations unit. We trust our police and they trust us, we aren't stupid neither are they.

In my opinion, if the other side would have any care or feelings of responsibility there would be no need for use of weapons, there would be no riots, there would be no need for anyone to use violence against anyone.

If you are ready to point flaws in your government, you should also point the flaws in the people. Since both are really flawed at the moment. Just to think about, you used to be able to control half of the world. It is not just the government what I have seen is that the people give no reasons for the government to trust the people, expect from the "they have to".

 

[Ruairi iliffe]

Great, going to have to be the Token Northern Irish here, but oh well.

The UK has most of their officers Unarmed apart from specialists, but if you are Counting all of the British isles, Northern Irish police are fully armed FYI, so less blanket statments.

And as ive said in other Similar topics, Yes they should be armed but ONLY to the level the local crime rates are at, also they should be fully and reguarly trained in the use of said weapons.

 

[SilentCom]

I'm American and I voted no. The reason for this is because the UK has a different culture that isn't as tolerant of firearms and giving police routine access to firearms would probably upset the general public. Police are meant to protect the peace not upset. In certain circumstances, the police should be given access to weaponry to subdue dangerous citizens. It should be a progression, so they would be allowed tasers and teargas and whatever first. When it gets really bad, then they should be allowed to utilize firearms. This would be like an armed confrontation by the criminal or some kind of hostage situation or something.

Overall, the police in the UK probably shouldn't be allowed access to firearms when they are on patrol but only in the most extreme circumstances.

 

[alrekr]

a criminal thinks he'll get shot, he'll avoid the crime that could get him shot.

Most people who commit crimes think they will get away with it and do not think about what the police might do or what the law courts will do.
If police carried guns more often it would encourage criminals to pack heat and then we'd have an arms race.

The police here do good job without guns. If a situation happens in which guns are needed; armed response units are called in.

Yeah, and criminals just play fare and don't use guns if the police don't have them. Escalation is going to occur regardless of what you do.

However, you did clarify something that makes me feel a little better about the question. I wasn't aware that there were special armed units for those cases. That does make a lot more sense. I don't agree with it, but it makes sense.

Thing in the UK (at least where I am (I know in Northern Island a large number of police on street patrol are armed response units due to history of unrest and armed IRA members)) is that it is really hard to get an unlicensed firearm and the only ones you can get a license for are shotguns (non automatic) and hunting rifles (bolt action). Whats even harder is getting bullets; most gangs who do have guns tend to have a few clips between a couple of dated weapons. Thats why we have lots of knife crime; criminals can those quite easy.

I get your point about how criminals not playing fair. Thing is as guns are hard for gangs to get they tend to save them and not carry them around; so unless they plan on shooting someone they won't be packing heat. Also police always send in the armed response guys (who can always be seen at likely terroits targets such as airports) if a gang is suspected of being armed with firearms.

 

[poleboy]

Guns don't solve problems, unless your problem is zombies.

 

[nakininja]

Frankly, I'd much rather arm the cops who are PART OF the community than some "elite" outside force. Canteen Culture is a big problem with British policing - by that I mean how our police force are so separate from the communities they police only ever socially interacting with other police in canteens (which is the only designated place junior officers are allowed to eat.

I find it an infuriating contradiction that high ranking Police Officers are permitted to have exquisitely expensive lunches and hotel visits with rich media moguls (who depend on police "leaks" to fuel their tabloid newspapers) yet a beat copper isn't allowed to go into Burger King for their lunch break while in uniform.

Just a little side note:
I find the whole cant go into burger king in uniform thing odd
Again our police are often in a queue with me in shops or take-aways/ fast food outlets in uniform. And again this in is Northern Ireland where you generally are not permitted to be a police officer in your home town due to the risk to you and your family from violence. I also work for the Justice Department in Northern Ireland and until recently all expert forensic witnesses etc had bullet proof windows and steel doors in their houses for safety, heck we all have little mirrors on sticks to check under our cars for explosives before we get in so i find it odd that UK police cant go into Burger King!!!!!!!

 

[Treblaine]

Frankly, I'd much rather arm the cops who are PART OF the community than some "elite" outside force. Canteen Culture is a big problem with British policing - by that I mean how our police force are so separate from the communities they police only ever socially interacting with other police in canteens (which is the only designated place junior officers are allowed to eat.

I find it an infuriating contradiction that high ranking Police Officers are permitted to have exquisitely expensive lunches and hotel visits with rich media moguls (who depend on police "leaks" to fuel their tabloid newspapers) yet a beat copper isn't allowed to go into Burger King for their lunch break while in uniform.

Just a little side note:
I find the whole cant go into burger king in uniform thing odd
Again our police are often in a queue with me in shops or take-aways/ fast food outlets in uniform. And again this in is Northern Ireland where you generally are not permitted to be a police officer in your home town due to the risk to you and your family from violence. I also work for the Justice Department in Northern Ireland and until recently all expert forensic witnesses etc had bullet proof windows and steel doors in their houses for safety, heck we all have little mirrors on sticks to check under our cars for explosives before we get in so i find it odd that UK police cant go into Burger King!!!!!!!

I'm no expert on Ireland as an island, nor the Northern of Republic-Of parts, but I know that the Ulster police have been under much higher pressures and also are routinely armed. I understand there is much higher incentive for Ulster police to keep the peace and earn the confidence of the public.

I believe the August Riots of England show how different a directions community policing has gone either side of the Irish Sea.

I don't think you can just say to English coppers "EAT IN BURGER KING NAOW!" as their refusal to eat with the public they protect is a SYMPTOM of the problem, not the sole problem itself.

 

[gigastrike]

What good are law enforcement if they don't have the means to reliably subdue a criminal?

 

[Duskwaith]

They do a good enough job beating up newspaper sellers and guys in wheel chairs without firearms so I would say no.

Even when they have guns the mess up, like the shooting dead of that guy that sparked the london riots with a police bullet ending up in another police mans radio not to mention the shooting dead of said man without justifiable intent

I personally love this comment, it completely lacks any kind of aspect to the fact that if your mentality would be bit different you wouldn't be destroying half a city, loot everything that is loose (and even then you screw it loose) and burn everything that can be ignited, also destroy the legacy and life of innocent people (referring to a certain elderly barber).

Yeah, the other side is completely innocent, it is all because of the police yeah. Please come to Finland and still say the with a straight face, see the difference in mentality and our level of responsibility over our actions even when we are pissed off. And btw, our police is armed and armed well, each one of them is armed with a melee, non-lethal and lethal weapon. We even have a theoretic riot unit also, but that sees less action than our special operations unit. We trust our police and they trust us, we aren't stupid neither are they.

In my opinion, if the other side would have any care or feelings of responsibility there would be no need for use of weapons, there would be no riots, there would be no need for anyone to use violence against anyone.

If you are ready to point flaws in your government, you should also point the flaws in the people. Since both are really flawed at the moment. Just to think about, you used to be able to control half of the world. It is not just the government what I have seen is that the people give no reasons for the government to trust the people, expect from the "they have to".

I love this comment for the complete assumption that I was talking about the social-economic problems behind the riots. The police show a man dead. A protest was held about this shooting which was hijacked by thugs looking for an excuse to smash shit up. Yes that is a fact but what im talking about is the actual shooting not the after effects that had their roots in said situation. Unless your trying to say they were going to riot anyway and it just happened to be after a protest over this mans death? It wasnt the biggest influencing factor in the riots but it sure was the spark that lit the tinder box.

Finland is a pretty good country dont get me wrong but comparing them to the likes of the UK were the police force in some regions are not respected due to various things throughout history and right up to the present day that erode said trust, I dont not see how Finnish police and Finnish society can be projected onto modern day British society then compared.

Two different countries

 

[thylasos]

What good are law enforcement if they don't have the means to reliably subdue a criminal?

They do, in Britain, without firearms being routinely issued, since firearms are incredibly rare amongst the populace.