Posted on 11/21/2005 4:42:21 PM PST by Starman417
Police officers in Scotland should be armed when responding to incidents involving firearms, according to the Scottish Police Federation.
The call followed the death of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot in Bradford on Friday while responding to an armed robbery at a travel agency.
But the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland said arming more officers was unnecessary.
Acpos president Peter Wilson said the nature of policing was "unpredictable".
The SPF said its policy since 1999 had been that police should not be routinely armed.
But it said some members felt its policy should be revised since firearms incidents had escalated by 20% last year.
Joe Grant, general secretary of the SPF, said: "There is also a feeling that a large percentage of officers should be armed and that we should be less reluctant to deploy firearms."
Mr Wilson said the issue of officers carrying firearms was complex and it was sometimes up to them to make the assessment at the scene because of limited information available to their radio controllers.
He said: "Sometimes it means waiting until back-up arrives or waiting until firearms arrive.
'Unpredictable' policing
"But it's unpredictable in most instances what might evolve, that's the nature of policing."
Mrs Beshenivsky, 38, a mother-of-three, was fatally shot on the day of her daughter's fourth birthday.
Her colleague Teresa Milburn, 37, was injured in the shooting.
Both officers were probationers with less than two years' service.
Six people have been arrested in connection with the shootings.
I thought firearms were illegal in Scotland; therefore the police need not be armed.
Apparently the mental disease of extreme leftism has so infected Great Britain that they don't even allow their cops to have guns.
stuck on stupid comes to mind...
STATEMENT of the OBVIOUS of the WEEK
I think ACPOS President Wilson, unarmed, should respond to the next call of an armed robbery in progress.
Some of the most ignorant comments about the U.S. and the "wild west" atmosphere, the "horrible gun death" rates in the U.S., etc...
A very few commenters had a realistic understanding of the U.S. crime rates and gun vs. crime statistics..
The majority however, were frothing at the mouth anti-gun loonies, that would rather have thier police unarmed and at the mercy of criminals than accept the idea of armed cops..
Many of the comments seemed to believe that arming the police would actually ignite some sort of "arms war" between criminals and the cops in which all british citizens would end up dead..
Totally disgusting..
Please add banglist to keywords whenever posting a gun-related article..
President Wilson, he puts the POS in ACPOS.
They should start sending their firemen out on calls without fire engines. The sun has definitely set on the British Empire.
I'm going to offer this insider tip free of charge: If you have to wait until firearms arrive, it's too late to save whoever you were saving.
Actually, having disarmed cops was not a bad thing around 1900. It meant that police would solicit help from armed citizens when necessary. Would be a good situation to return to here if the politicians would allow it.
I can't stop reading that line over and over. It's simply beyond my comprehension.
I can't imagine them sending officers into situations where criminals undoubtedly have guns and the officers have nothing to defend themselves with. It's total insanity.
They NEVER carried guns. Even now, only 10% of London's police are armed.
Prior to about 1920 or thereabouts, guns were totally legal in Great Britain and were as easy to get as they were in the U.S..
It was the fears of british government and british industrial leaders that the bolshevik revolution of russia would spread to britain, fostered by british workers unrest and protest over wages and workers rights.
Media campaigns were invented claiming an upsurge in gun crime among the "criminal elements" and tying guns and criminality together..
Manipulation of social attitudes allowed gun-control legislation to be passed with little resistance..
While the truncheon was the "symbol" of the british police officer, not all british law enforcement went unarmed..
Scotland Yard and many sherriffs, constables, detectives, etc., were armed when they felt the need.. and have always been ..
They have a "waiting period" for the cops!! ROTFLMAO
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