Arm all police officers? Depends if you’re Jean Charles de Menezes, Marc Duggan, Pc Fiona Bone or Pc Nicola Hughes
PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes were murdered on duty. Last summer, when Marc Duggan was shot dead by police, the call was for less police guns. When unarmed Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police as he ran for the Tube, did arming all police look like a sensible answer to maintaining law and order?
Now two policewomen have been murdered the call is for more guns. As ever, we hear from the grieving:
Pc Fiona Bone’s father:
“I never expected this. It’s so hard to take. He deserves to be hanged but I know we’ll never get that.”
Darren Rathband, brother of the late Pc David Rathband, the cop blinded by Raoul Moat:
“How many officers need to die before the powers realise that it is the 21st century and you cannot fight crime with an outdated piece of plastic and a bit of spray?” he said. “No job is a routine job and there is always the potential for conflict. We don’t go on jobs where people are happy to see us.”
Paul Beshenivsky , wife of murdered Pc wife Sharon Beshenivsky:
“I think police, in honesty, should be armed, walking into situations that they’re not totally aware of.”
Since 2000, six police officers have been shots dead on duty. Will more guns reduce that number?
If the police need guns to protect themselves in potentially dangerous situations, what about other working in jobs where violence is a possibility? Paramedics? Firemen? Social workers? Probation officers? Nurses on A&E wards? Should they get guns?
Over in the US, guns are standard issue. And when guns aren’t there, the officials shoot with whatever comes to hand. Ever hear of Howard Morgan?
Robert Peterson got a ticket for riding his bike at night without a light …
He’s in prison now:
Posted: 20th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, News Comments (8) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
September 25th, 2012 at 11:01 pm
glad to see he got what he deserved.
September 25th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
Glad to see he got was coming to him. Idiot.
September 25th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Who is the complete jerk with the camera. What a plonker.
September 25th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
The overwhelming majority of police do not want guns.
If asked the ‘right’ question, neither do the the public (want more armed police)
Poor tabloid sensationalism picked up here. Not too clever
September 25th, 2012 at 11:15 am
@mahatmacoatmabag “Never forget that Menezes was an illegal migrant & acted suspiciously by running from the police.”
Actually, do forget. Neither of those statements is true.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:23 am
The police don’t want to be armed.
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The public don’t want the police to be armed.
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If only specific police carry weapons, then the ability threshold for armed police can be a lot higher.
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Britain has things very sensibly, as a civilian I find it a lot more comforting knowing that if it comes down to it that the armed police (who aim to have a 2 minute response time in London) will be good shots.
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Besides if anything really heavy go’s down, Hereford is only 20minutes away by helicopter.
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Our police is in many respects the envy of the world. Police with guns would probably result in more police and civilians (crims or otherwise) getting shot. Thats never a good thing.
September 20th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Firstly let me comment on
” When unarmed Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police as he ran for the Tube, did arming all police look like a sensible answer to maintaining law and order? ”
The officers involved where from a special anti terrorist unit & it was at the height of the search for 7/7 terror suspects. Never forget that Menezes was an illegal migrant & acted suspiciously by running from the police, he thus contributed to the tragic outcome.
Regarding the routine arming of the Police, IMO its log overdue, the thugs & gangsters out there have weapons, not just knives & hand guns, but sub-machine guns & even grenades.
The police need a side arm to deal with them on the spot when they are encountered & not be slaughtered like lambs as these two unfortunate policewomen were. I would have all police issued with a 9mm automatic like a beretta , glock or sig-sauer & a shotgun carried in every police car.
I believe that the vast majority of police officers are responsible enough to be trusted with fire arms as a matter of routine, otherwise like the thug in uniform that murdered newspaper seller ian tomlinson they should be dismissed from the force.
September 20th, 2012 at 10:33 am
The call to arm police officers is as stupid as the call demanding capital punishment for cop killers. Policy written in haste and panic is the worst kind.
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The UK has a relatively low rate of gun crime (no matter what we are told by the hysterics) and yes – some of this has to do with strict anti-gun laws. However, being the cynic I am, I suggest a good part is because criminals have less use of guns here than in the US. Given they face a largely unarmed police force, the risk of guns is greater than the benefits. Arm police and we’ll soon get into a situation where the bad guys routinely tool up themselves – with bigger and better firepower.
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And by the way, there were more police officers killed by guns in the 50s and 60s than today. Even when we had the automatic noose for murderers of police officers. During that time there were 16 police officers shot dead (and that is only the ones who were shot – others were killed in other ways). In the last 20 years, the number is half that figure.