British Policing (catch all)

[davidbfpo]

The national police representative body and not a union, known here as the Police Federation has called for

All police officers should be armed with Taser stun guns in light of the heightened security threat, according to the head of the body that represents front-line police officers.

Link:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-10015314.html

Only 3% of police officers in England & Wales are firearms trained, the remainder rely on a baton (various types), CS spray or PAVA peper spray when force is required.

In an online poll by the Police Federation just under 90% want Taser issued.

Taser has been in use here for around ten years, at times it has been controversial, not just when eight people died. A small number of Tasers are deployed today, probably less than 5% of officers carry them.

Taser clearly is not a response to jihadists with firearms, but to date aspiring jihadists have had remarkable little success in acquiring working firearms and ammo. The more likely threat is from bladed weapons, as it was in Nice, France last week.

Locally the West Midlands Police's Chief Constable has rejected the issue of Taser for all operational officers, saying it does not fit the British model of un-armed, minimum force policing. Time will tell.

[Firn]

I fear that any police officer on duty, especially those guarding or patrolling on food are potential 'sitting ducks' be they armed with handguns, tasers or potentially rifles

The assailant “lunged violently” at one soldier’s face, slashing his cheek, and stabbed another in the arm, a police source said. He was arrested while attempting to flee thanks to the intervention of two nearby tram workers, and a local shopkeeper. The soldiers’ injuries were described as not serious.
The military personnel were on patrol in front of the Jewish centre as part of heightened security measures following the Paris terror attacks last month.

Deadly attacks on police officers are thankfully extremely rare in Europe, especially those with rifles. IIRC the bloodiest incident of that sort happened peaceful Austria by a local hunter turned poacher and not by jihadist returned from Syria. Btw he used a a suppressed assault rifle, possibly stolen from the Austrian Army to murder the officers and the emergency worker. As said before thankfully such events are very rare, just like those Paris-style attacks as the victims stand little chance.

P.S:

Am 13. August 2014 wurde bekannt, dass das im Lassingbach gefundene StG 77 aus den Bestaenden des Bundesheeres stammt. Die ausrangierte Waffe hätte eigentlich vernichtet werden sollen. Wie das Sturmgewehr in die Haende von Alois H. gelangt war, blieb offen und soll auch nicht mehr erhoben werden. Der Privatbesitz ist verboten.

. So was an ex-army rifle, which should have been destroyed.

[davidbfpo]

British policing is having an exceptionally hard time, mainly due to a 20% budget cut since 2010 and another bout is expected to be announced tomorrow - even after the Paris attacks.

The link is to a blogsite that sums up the situation well:https://arrestingconversations.wordp...afety-at-risk/

[davidbfpo]

This is the title of a piece on Kings of War and is written by a recently retired senior UK police officer:http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2015/11/ccl...-the-militia/?

The introduction by an Editor starts with:

Today in CCLKOW we are reorienting you to the homeland and the problems of interoperability between police and the armed forces. Even without the Paris Attacks earlier this month, the subject of mastering the ‘JIIM’ environment is critical, both in military operations at home and abroad. To discuss this, I am very happy to bring to you a special guest writer, Ian Wiggett, recently retired as an Assistant Chief Constable from Greater Manchester Police. It should be understood, then, that this piece is written from the British perspective, which includes a significant difference with respect to the use of force by the police, particularly as concerns the generally disarmed stance. Nevertheless, the issue of integrating a military response to an attack to the homeland matters even to the US.

[davidbfpo]

In April 1989 @ Hillsborough soccer ground ninety-six Liverpool FC supporters died in a crowd crush and this week after a two-year long coroner's inquest it was determined by the jury:

The inquest’s verdict, when it finally arrived, represented the most thorough vindication imaginable for the families of the dead and an equally damning indictment of South Yorkshire Police. The jury supplanted the 1991 verdict with one of unlawful killing, laying blame squarely on the police in the process.

The disaster, let alone this week's verdict, has always aroused passion and controversy.

This article is the best description I've read this week:http://www.theguardian.com/football/...lasted-decades

The local police force, South Yorkshire, now faces an uncertain future and civil legal action is likely - against them and the West Midlands who conducted a post-match investigation.

The part played by 'police culture' is presented by an academic and a former Met Police Commissioner in this short article (a good part of which I disagree with):http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpo...-cop-culture/?

[davidbfpo]

In March I attended a small conference @ Warwick University, for a conference Policing and Public Confidence:

It brought together a diverse group of researchers, policing professionals, and people from the world of policy. Each has an interest in understanding relationships between the police and the publics they serve.

Videos are now available for each session:http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wb...vents-features

This summer is the 35th anniversary of the Brixton riots @ London and the 5th anniversary of another, wider bout of rioting.

Rather unusually IMHO both establishment and critical voices were heard, without rancour and it included some surprises - notably Det. Insp. Hart on Confidence and Threats to Life, whose research found there was no evidence for the methods being used:

There is no structured teaching in key-decision making roles in the police on 'threats to life' incidents. My experience is that threats to life incidents are looked at very subjectively, and massively different to the people we interviewed.

[Bill Moore]

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews...ers/ar-BBt5qvb

The Government has announced plans to recruit 1,500 extra firearms officers in the wake of the Paris and Brussels terror attacks. But there are already at least 300 vacancies across England and Wales as numbers of authorised officers have fallen to the lowest level for seven years.

Mr White said: "Before we even start talking about recruiting the extra 1,500, we are struggling to fill the vacancies we have currently got because of the lack of understanding and protection that officers would have if they have to discharge their firearm.