Should all police be armed.

[Dbac300566]

Do to the terrible event's in London,is it time for our police to be armed for their safety and the publics.

 

[Holianl]

I think they should. How is an officer meant to defend themselves against a knife or machete. in the north west we do have police called the Matrix that are armed. But i dont think a taser is as good as everyone thinks. i have nothing against woman police officers and i think they do an amazing job but a 6ft 5 heavy set male is going to over power her if he gets close enough. A taser is affective close range and if a individual is wearing thin type clothing but a thick coat over a jumper and t-shirt is enough to stop taser barbs from penetrating the skin.



This is exactly what i mean

Please remove this video if it offends anyone

 

[Bebo]

No.  Look at America.

 

[Worcs]

I think they should. How is an officer meant to defend themselves against a knife or machete. in the north west we do have police called the Matrix that are armed. But i dont think a taser is as good as everyone thinks. i have nothing against woman police officers and i think they do an amazing job but a 6ft 5 heavy set male is going to over power her if he gets close enough. A taser is affective close range and if a individual is wearing thin type clothing but a thick coat over a jumper and t-shirt is enough to stop taser barbs from penetrating the skin.

This is exactly what i mean

Please remove this video if it offends anyone

They should have aimed for his balls.

 

[Hamster]

If such things happened in slow motion which allowed officers of widely varying faculties and abilities to spend two or three minutes assessing the situation and working out a plan of action that would result in the disabling of any would be assailant without harm coming to either themselves or the general public, then yes I think we should all be armed never mind the police. 

Unfortunately real life isn't like that, people can't even drive cars without hitting one another, most of us couldn't think straight if confronted with such dire situations AND what many forget is that criminals and terrorists will always plan accordingly. This means they will kill police officers first, do you really want that ?

Just look at the farce that is the US in terms of their policing and the mentality of half the population that think more guns can cure the ills that guns created in the first place. 

 

[Holianl]

Why do people always compare gun use with Americans. Look at Germany. All German police officers are issued with a firearm. 

 

[Nimbusgb]

NO!

There are a hundred reasons why not, not the least of which is that armed police officers rarely have the time to stop something happening before the situation is already out of control. In France the truck driver was unhindered by lots of armed police until he was already at a standstill.

The US is a good example of just how ridiculous the concept is.

Most UK police officers do not want to be armed!

Why do people always compare gun use with Americans. Look at Germany. All German police officers are issued with a firearm. 

Berlin 19/12/2016. 12 deaths 48 Injuries in a 'truck attack' .......... so how did regularly armed police affect the situation?

 

[bob]

The unarmed police officer who was killed would probably disagree.

 

[Nimbusgb]

The unarmed police officer who was killed would probably disagree.

Want to bet on that? 

When they were asked earlier this year only 1 in 5 had any desire to be armed. A large percentage of those would have been happy with a taser.

 

[Dbac300566]

a armed officercannot stop some one ho drive's into crowded pavement,unless had a very lucky shot.The police officer who was knifed, if armed he could be alive today,he did have a stab vest on.

 

[Salopian]

All British Police Officers should certainly not be armed.

Many many incidents of negligent disharge by 'trained ' Police .

What we need is far better Border controls and immigration selection.

Nearly every terrorist incident , home and abroad is perpetrated by 'known' criminals that are or have been on a watch list.

But I will say that if a member of the British Forces or Constabularies shoots someone dead in the event of an incident , they should not be imprisoned , prosecuted or penalised in any way for doing their duty, once an investigation as been correctly carried out.

 

[Holianl]

Berlin 19/12/2016. 12 deaths 48 Injuries in a 'truck attack' .......... so how did regularly armed police affect the situation?

How could anyone safely take a shot at a moving truck ploughing through a crowd of people - look at it this way, imagine if the guy wasn't shot after stabbing the police offer. How far would have he got with a knife, how many more people would have been injured or killed? i would rather have it and not use it than need it and not have it.

 

[bob]

I just feel times are changing, the current threat being faced where individuals are carrying out attacks such as this, the police need to be armed to stop such individuals as quickly as possible to protect both themselves and the public.

What if this attack had taken place in a venue where there are not armed officers routinely on duty. The impact could have been worse. He was only stopped by being shot.

 

[Holianl]

What we need is far better Border controls and immigration selection.

Nearly every terrorist incident , home and abroad is perpetrated by 'known' criminals that are or have been on a watch list

This person was British born - but was also heavily Watched by police, so i do see where you are coming from

I just feel times are changing, the current threat being faced where individuals are carrying out attacks such as this, the police need to be armed to stop such individuals as quickly as possible to protect both themselves and the public.

What if this attack had taken place in a venue where there are not armed officers routinely on duty. The impact could have been worse. He was only stopped by being shot.

Correct, Look at the Lee Rigby attack. the 2 men who killed the poor lad could have killed allot more people if they wanted to.

 

[schmokinn]

No,it will simply cause more criminals to carry guns to be on equal terms.

Arming all police will just cause an escalation of gun crime.

 

[Salopian]

Wednesday's incident and indeed the Continental ones were dreadful , but unfortunately often perpetrated by people who are mentally ill or certainly unstable.

In relation to knife / machete crime it can be perfectly feasable to disarm someone without resorting to the use of guns .

Sadly I have been a victim on two occassions , but sadly also I was brought up in a very rough area where life was very tough.

Fortunately I was not harmed in either incident , but on one occassion I did spend 14 hours in custody for being too rough. :smile:

I now most certainly encourage us to talk our way out if possible .

Let us all calm down but also be more vigilant and help our Police Officers.

Protect yourselves by running away if possible

 

[ExSCA]

As always - this isn't a black or white answer for me.    I'd say YES - I'd like to see more armed officers, and NO - I don't want all officers armed. 

In crowded city hotspots, I'm always comforted by seeing an armed policeman,  it doesn't engender or increase fear for me and I'm grateful for the protection afforded TO and BY the thin blue line - so there I'd like to see a few more armed officers.   In rural areas, where armed response is sometimes needed, I understand that distances can be far - so I'd like to see more spread out armed officers so they can reach the rare incidents quickly. 

On the other hand, as people rightly point out - stopping a moving car incident, or a suicide bomber is not always possible with firearms and we need to make sure we have tactics that allow us to tackle and match the wide-ranging tactics that the bad guys have.

All of this is a simple exercise in decisions making and logistics - decide the level you want your police force armed and make it happen - at relatively low cost. 

The much bigger, and more thorny issue is getting to the 'why'.  Why do so many people feel so disenfranchised from the norms of our society that they feel that violence is the only answer, whether its jihad, or gangs, or drug-related crime or just glassing each other on a Friday night in a small town? It feels to me that everyone is quick to violence and anger, and that's a more divisive and corrosive force pushing us towards having to make the big decisions above, which in turn drive the snap decisions that take lives away.

 

[Holianl]

Wednesday's incident and indeed the Continental ones were dreadful , but unfortunately often perpetrated by people who are mentally ill or certainly unstable.

In relation to knife / machete crime it can be perfectly feasable to disarm someone without resorting to the use of guns .

Sadly I have been a victim on two occassions , but sadly also I was brought up in a very rough area where life was very tough.

Fortunately I was not harmed in either incident , but on one occassion I did spend 14 hours in custody for being too rough. :smile:

I now most certainly encourage us to talk our way out if possible .

Let us all calm down but also be more vigilant and help our Police Officers.

Protect yourselves by running away if possible

Nicely Written. unfortunately some people are not street smart and have never encounted a intimidating situation.

 

[Dbac300566]

As always - this isn't a black or white answer for me.    I'd say YES - I'd like to see more armed officers, and NO - I don't want all officers armed. 

In crowded city hotspots, I'm always comforted by seeing an armed policeman,  it doesn't engender or increase fear for me and I'm grateful for the protection afforded TO and BY the thin blue line - so there I'd like to see a few more armed officers.   In rural areas, where armed response is sometimes needed, I understand that distances can be far - so I'd like to see more spread out armed officers so they can reach the rare incidents quickly. 

On the other hand, as people rightly point out - stopping a moving car incident, or a suicide bomber is not always possible with firearms and we need to make sure we have tactics that allow us to tackle and match the wide-ranging tactics that the bad guys have.

All of this is a simple exercise in decisions making and logistics - decide the level you want your police force armed and make it happen - at relatively low cost. 

The much bigger, and more thorny issue is getting to the 'why'.  Why do so many people feel so disenfranchised from the norms of our society that they feel that violence is the only answer, whether its jihad, or gangs, or drug-related crime or just glassing each other on a Friday night in a small town? It feels to me that everyone is quick to violence and anger, and that's a more divisive and corrosive force pushing us towards having to make the big decisions above, which in turn drive the snap decisions that take lives away. 

 I agree with what you are saying,the root of our problems is certain people feel the need to conmmit these deeds for their religious beliefs,the point I was trying to make is,if police officers feel they cannot arm themselves,are they capable to do their job in that situation.It was armed officers who dealt with the matter quickly and efficiently which resulted in no lost of life to the public or officers.