Why police officers in the UK don't carry guns

One of the main features distinguishing British police officers from their counterparts from other countries is the lack of weapons. This seems strange for a densely populated country, where the crime rate is not the lowest and there are a lot of migrants from disadvantaged regions of the planet. Why did this happen and does it complicate the already dangerous everyday life of British bobbies?

In fact, police officers in Britain have guns, although not everyone has them. Those who are entitled to it do not carry it with them in a holster, but keep it in a company car. The same rules apply in several other countries: Ireland, New Zealand and Norway. Residents of Foggy Albion are not surprised at all. You can meet a policeman with a pistol or a submachine gun only in Northern Ireland. But this is normal, because there has always been a high level of terrorist threat.

But when policemen die in the line of duty, and this, alas, happens, the lack of weapons no longer seems normal. In September 2012, two female police officers were killed in the village of Mortram near Manchester. The women came to the call, as a signal was received about a house robbery. But it turned out to be a trap — the man who called the police threw a live grenade at his partners, from which they died on the spot.

The killer turned out to be 26-year-old Dale Cregan, who later turned himself in to the police and surrendered. Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, who died in the execution, as expected, did not have weapons with them. Perhaps if they had been armed, the tragedy would not have happened. The resonant case stirred up British society and put the issue of service weapons on the agenda.

The demands to change the rules of the police service were voiced by two activists. They were the founder of the Police Memorial Fund, Michael Winner, and the former chairman of the Essex Police Federation, Toy Rainer. They turned out to have a lot of supporters among the citizens of the country. Nevertheless, Winner and Rainer failed to change anything and everything remained as it is.

As for the double murder of female police officers in the line of duty, their chief, the chief of Police of the Manchester region, Sir Peter Fahey, said so:

Needless to say, this argument looks weak. But, oddly enough, more than 82 percent of police officers agree with him. In 2006, a survey was conducted, during which 47 thousand law enforcement officers from among the respondents reported that they were satisfied with everything. But ordinary citizens think otherwise. The survey showed that 47 percent of Britons believe that police officers need guns.

Although the issue of crime is far from being resolved in the UK, crime in this country has some peculiarities. The level of crimes committed with the use of firearms in the country is very low. As for the grenade case, it was the only one in practice at all.

The British hold their traditions sacred. The police in this country have been without weapons for almost two centuries. Some officials from the law believe that if Bobby starts wearing pistols on his belt, then the main principles of the police will be violated.

In the UK, it is considered that the duty of the police is to protect citizens first of all. At the same time, the interests of the state are considered secondary. This distinguishes the defenders of the law in this country from their foreign colleagues. The situation was explained by Peter Waddington, professor of social policy at the University of Wolverhampton:

But this is an ideological aspect, and there are also practical ones. The requirements for the training of British police officers are very high. This means that Bobby needs to handle weapons at an expert level. One of the police constables from the south of England admitted in an interview that the police are poorly funded.

In the UK police there are special departments whose employees carry weapons and use them expertly. But there are only 6,653 people in the whole country, which is only 5 percent of the total. All these policemen have a rank not lower than sergeant. They themselves write an application for the issuance of service weapons to them. At the same time, everyone should competently justify why it is necessary for him.

Since 1991, weapons have been issued to members of response teams. These are the same policemen who carry pistols and machine guns in cars. It is also necessary to arm police officers at airports and at posts near foreign embassies.

As for everyone else, they get batons. Since 2004, Tasers have also been added to the arsenal. By the way, the issuance of shockers deeply angered conservative Britons. They saw this as an encroachment on their rights and freedoms. And the British police are sometimes given... water pistols. And this is absolutely serious.