Police Federation says a third of police back carrying guns

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  • More than a third of police officers in England and Wales believe they should be able to carry guns at all times, a survey of 32,000 officers has found.

    The Police Federation interviewed a quarter of the workforce, saying 34.1% supported routinely arming officers.

    In 2006, when the body last conducted firearms research, 23.4% of officers backed routine arming.

    The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) is currently reviewing whether UK police need more armed capacity.

    Of the 32,000 officers who responded to the survey, 8.9% said police should be routinely armed on- or off-duty, and a further 25.2% said police should be armed on-duty only.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41361091

    Which of these options would you choose

    1. Police officers carrying guns at all times.

    2. Police officers armed on duty only.

    3. As now when armed units are a special force.

    Personally I think it should be up to the individual officer to choose whether or when to carry arms or not, assuming his senior officers have no doubt about his temperament and ability.

  • That first option, has thrown me there, Morgan. I know in America, off duty police regularly carry guns, perhaps it may even be a requirement for them to do so.

    My experiences with the police over my scum neighbours, has not been a good one over the last 10+ years, so my faith and trust in the police is at absolute zero. The flip side to that is if some nutter wants to meet Allah and intends to take me with him, I would prefer that didn't happen and he got shot instead!:)

    I think for now, we need more armed units as a special force. Perhaps this will lead to the routine airing of police. In some areas of London, Manchester, Birmingham. Nottingham and other places, the police are armed. It's not something I want.

    As for your first option, I don't know.... that's quite a leap to take.

  • I don't think a lot of police want to carry guns. If they use them it's suspension while the circumstances are investigated, if arms are found to have been used mistakenly then it's their jobs, pensions and possibly a prison sentence. I know the police sometimes make mistakes but I think they should be given every support if they choose to carry arms. After all, they risk their lives voluntarily and while we definitely don't want them behaving as some have appeared to in the USA recently, there are sometimes occasions when carrying a gun may save an officer's life.

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