Britain deploys permanently armed police in London
Pastor Dale Morgan
Britain deploys permanently armed police in London*
By DAVID STRINGER
The Associated Press
Friday, October 23, 2009; 9:30 AM
LONDON -- Wielding submachine guns and pistols, British police are
making rare armed patrols in crime-blighted London neighborhoods - a
change in law enforcement tactics that may prompt calls for the wider
use of weapons by the country's traditionally unarmed Bobbies.
London's police department said Friday that a new armed unit is carrying
out regular sweeps of districts riven by gun battles between rival drug
gangs.
Unlike typical police procedure, the team of about 20 officers actively
seeks out criminals carrying or storing guns - rather than waiting to
respond to emergency calls about incidents involving weapons.
Chief Inspector Neil Sharman said the unit began work in June to tackle
pockets of rising gun crime, and will double in size from November amid
concerns over the increasing use of weapons in Britain's capital.
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In contrast to the United States and many European nations, British
police have never routinely carried firearms on patrol, with only a
limited number of specialist officers trained to use guns. Britain's
Home Office said being unarmed is part of the "character of the police"
in the U.K.
"In the past the police were authority figures dealing primarily with
people who respected the police. However, as terrorism and crime
increases in the U.K. the traditional icon of the Bobby on the beat is
becoming incapable of dealing with terrorists and violent crime," said
Bob Ayers, a London-based former U.S. intelligence officer.
The British public has traditionally been resistant to the routine
arming of police - a skepticism heightened by the 2005 shooting death of
an innocent Brazilian electrician, mistaken by police marksmen for a
suicide bomber.
Yet, some argue Britain is now naive to believe that police can tackle
rising levels of gun crime without weapons of their own.
"Every single police officer should have a gun," said Daniel Dixon, a
25-year-old engineer from central London. "Criminals might be carrying
weapons, and the police officer is endangering himself by not having one."
In the 12 months to September, London saw a 17 percent rise in gun
offenses, up from 1,484 to 1,737. According to government figures for
England and Wales, there are about 50 to 60 shooting deaths in the
country each year.
Scotland Yard said the new armed patrols are taking place in Brixton, a
south London district with a reputation as a drug dealing hotspot, and
an area of north London dogged by a turf battle between rival Turkish
drug gangs.
The sweeps are being carried out about once a week by officers already
attached to the specialist firearms unit. Some see the tactic as
evidence the Britain may slowly be rethinking its policy on armed
police. "Since 9/11 they've become much more aware of the fact that it
is a violent world out there," said Ayers.
Jenny Jones, a legislator at London's City Hall and member of the
oversight committee for London police, said the change in tactics is
unacceptable. "I can't believe that the sight of a policeman with a
machine gun will make people feel safer," she said.
London Mayor Boris Johnson's office said "armed police have a role in
certain circumstances, but that should be the exception not the norm."
Dolapo Akinmade, a 35-year old accountant from Welwyn Garden City, a
town just north of London, said the fact the British public rarely carry
firearms means police don't need weapons. "I think society is better off
without guns. If every policeman had a gun it would create a tense
atmosphere," he said.
"It's a question of is it necessary, and the general feeling is that
it's not," said Roy Ingleton, author of "Arming the British Police: The
Great Debate."
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Associated Press Writer Rachel Leamon, in London, contributed to this report