Routine arming could increase risk to officers

THE ROUTINE arming of police officers could enhance the risk faced by police officers, Essex Police Federation has warned.

Following recent terrorist attacks, some voices have called for all police officers to carry weapons, but this would not necessarily solve the problem, Steve Taylor, Essex Police Federation Chairman, has said. Mr Taylor, a former authorised firearms officer, said the debate was confused by a lack of understanding about what arming the police actually means.

He said: “Yes, I would like to see more suitably-trained firearms officers but I would not want to see routine arming and those are two very different things.

“This debate is clouded by lack of understanding about whether officers are armed for their own protection or whether they are trained ready to be tactically deployed. That distinction is a crucial one and it isn’t being made.”

Authorised firearms officers undergo a very advanced level of training and are tactically deployable to deal with suspects who are armed or otherwise dangerous. But it would be “very naive” to assume that every officer would be trained to the same degree, Mr Taylor said.

He added: “If you arm every police officer, you run the risk of causing more offenders to arm themselves for their own protection. So you have more armed suspects – and that is too big a risk to take. You only have to look at the police officer outside the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris who was assassinated. He had a firearm on his hip, but it didn’t protect him.”

A third of Essex Police officers believe there should be more specialist firearms officers in Essex but that not all officers should be routinely armed, the federation’s firearms survey showed in May.

It showed that 69% of officers who responded said they would be prepared to carry a gun if the Chief Constable and the Home Secretary made a decision that all Essex officers should routinely carry a firearm whilst on duty, while 25% said that they believe all police officers should be routinely armed on duty.

Just 6% of officers surveyed said under no circumstances would they carry a firearm on duty.