Airwolf
Member
Let me get this straight... you ban your subjects from arms. Then you pretty much eliminate the right of self- defense as well. Crime increases (duh!). Now you want the all the cops to be armed.
Hmmm... Just the police have guns. I think there is a term for that. Let me think... Ah, I've got it! It's called a...
POLICE STATE!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...g212.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=183567
Rise in gun crime 'may mean all police should carry arms'
By David Bamber, Home Affairs Correspondent
(Filed: 12/01/2003)
Police officers should be routinely armed if gun crime
continues to increase at its current rate, officers' leaders believe.
Rank and file police officers have always taken pride in the fact that London is the only major capital in the world where most officers do not carry guns.
Jan Berry, the chairman of the Police Federation, which represents 120,000 officers, has now broken with 160 years of that tradition and called for arms to be issued if gun crime continues to increase.
On Thursday, the Home Office revealed that gun crime increased by 35 per cent last year compared to the previous year. There were 9,974 offences in the 12 months to April 2002, compared to 7,362 the year before. The figures came just a week after the brutal murders of two teenage girls in Birmingham. Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were shot in the early hours of January 2 as a gang war erupted.
Mrs Berry, a serving inspector in the Kent Constabulary, said that if officers felt guns were required for their own protection and protection of the public, the police service would have to review its firearms policy. She added: "If we do not control the gun culture and guns continue to be glamorised, we cannot expect police officers to go out there unless they are properly protected.
"If gun crime continues its rapid rise we will have to think seriously about the best options to protect us all. We do not want to meet force with force, but we do need to be protected."
Norman Brennan, a serving police constable and chairman of the Protect the Protectors pressure group, also believes the time is coming when police officers will have to be routinely armed.
He said: "For any crime to be out of control is terrible and we are going to have to seriously consider arming officers. We cannot have a situation where police are being shot at and are unable to defend themselves."
Pc Bob Crees, a former armed response unit officer and secretary of the West Midlands Police Federation, said: "If the police were being targeted by guns then I think the time would come to consider it.
"At the moment we should increase the number of specialist armed officers but I think arming everyone would just lead to more criminals carrying guns."
Senior officers have always resisted routinely arming the police because they believe that this in turn would encourage more criminals to carry arms. During the year to April 2002, seven police officers were shot in England and Wales.
Specialist armed officers patrol in Manchester, Nottingham and London almost every day but most police are still unarmed in those cities. The Government still believes officers should not be routinely armed.
Hmmm... Just the police have guns. I think there is a term for that. Let me think... Ah, I've got it! It's called a...
POLICE STATE!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...g212.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=183567
Rise in gun crime 'may mean all police should carry arms'
By David Bamber, Home Affairs Correspondent
(Filed: 12/01/2003)
Police officers should be routinely armed if gun crime
continues to increase at its current rate, officers' leaders believe.
Rank and file police officers have always taken pride in the fact that London is the only major capital in the world where most officers do not carry guns.
Jan Berry, the chairman of the Police Federation, which represents 120,000 officers, has now broken with 160 years of that tradition and called for arms to be issued if gun crime continues to increase.
On Thursday, the Home Office revealed that gun crime increased by 35 per cent last year compared to the previous year. There were 9,974 offences in the 12 months to April 2002, compared to 7,362 the year before. The figures came just a week after the brutal murders of two teenage girls in Birmingham. Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were shot in the early hours of January 2 as a gang war erupted.
Mrs Berry, a serving inspector in the Kent Constabulary, said that if officers felt guns were required for their own protection and protection of the public, the police service would have to review its firearms policy. She added: "If we do not control the gun culture and guns continue to be glamorised, we cannot expect police officers to go out there unless they are properly protected.
"If gun crime continues its rapid rise we will have to think seriously about the best options to protect us all. We do not want to meet force with force, but we do need to be protected."
Norman Brennan, a serving police constable and chairman of the Protect the Protectors pressure group, also believes the time is coming when police officers will have to be routinely armed.
He said: "For any crime to be out of control is terrible and we are going to have to seriously consider arming officers. We cannot have a situation where police are being shot at and are unable to defend themselves."
Pc Bob Crees, a former armed response unit officer and secretary of the West Midlands Police Federation, said: "If the police were being targeted by guns then I think the time would come to consider it.
"At the moment we should increase the number of specialist armed officers but I think arming everyone would just lead to more criminals carrying guns."
Senior officers have always resisted routinely arming the police because they believe that this in turn would encourage more criminals to carry arms. During the year to April 2002, seven police officers were shot in England and Wales.
Specialist armed officers patrol in Manchester, Nottingham and London almost every day but most police are still unarmed in those cities. The Government still believes officers should not be routinely armed.