Should Police officers be armed?

[Nixt]

I read this article regarding the recent shooting in Cumbria. The officers pursuing Mr. Bird were not armed and therefore were at considerable risk themselves and were unable to stop him. Had they been armed, they may have been able to end it once and for all there and then. I have posted this debate before but I thought, given recent events, it might be interesting to see what people think again.

Gun and knife crime is on the increase, if our police were armed, do you not think crimes such as these would be less likely?

[marriott0.01]

I personally believe yes, although tbh it could have the opposite effect as criminals would see a need to get some guns to arm themselves against the police.. So the effect would be you'd just have two armed people, the police and the criminal. I'll answer more in-depth when I'm feeling better.

[Moh]

I don't think so, no. I think they should have the training on how to use one and keep weapons in the station if they are needed.

You see on the news how police have shot people (in USA) for no real reason.

[HotelUser]

In Canada police are armed, and it's not often that I hear of gun abuse with police. I am very happy officers here are armed, as it gives me that extra sense of safety.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I believe police officers should be armed, its pretty much common sense. A police officer with a gun is less likely to be assaulted/crime is less likely to be committed with police who have guns on their person. The criminals have the guns, why shouldnt the police?

[alexxxxx]

You arm the police and you arm the criminals.

I know people'll say "there are already loads of guns" but i think we'd see far more if the police were armed as criminals see them as fair game and they'll feel more threatened.

[jackass]

Yes, without a doubt. Although occasionally they can make mistakes (like previously in the past), there could be certain issues and rules on the only times police can actually use them, for example if they have been given a definitive order from a higher ranking individual. This would save lives, and at least give police at least SOME power.

[Stryderman]

Not a chance. If they was armed it would be absolutely bloody ridiculous, Police abuse their "power" as it is already so giving them a weapon is going to make them even more power mad. What good is gonna come from them being armed apart from "defence" but if they see someone with a gun they call for backup anyway so whats the problem?

[GommeInc]

Yes and no, you've got to fear for bent cops or officers who may "accidentally" leave the guns in a car and have them stolen or any other location. Foot officers could probably go unarmed depending where they're patroling and maybe officers with cars or any sort of transport could go armed? It might require a complete overhaul of the system, which would no doubt cost a helluva alot.

[BeanEgg]

Arming officer's is going to be a good thing. However, there's an extremely high risk, maybe securely attaching them to their duty belts is not good enough. Just give them tazer guns, perhaps? Most countries have armed police, but then again there are a lot of issues; they could get onto the black market and the such and the officers could claim they are lost. (I have heard that in some countries, officers are often put in jail for quite a long time if they lose their weapons, providing a thorough investigation has happened)

Currently in London, there's the Armed Response Unit which operate in the ARVs 24/7.
Still, if there's a call relating to offensive weapons, a dispatch is made pretty quickly and they are on seen within 8 minutes, so the question is, should they bother?

Although this is in London, it could be quite different in other places such as Cumbria