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UK: Routine armed police patrols

01 January 2001

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In October 2000 The Sunday Times revealed that officers patrolling the St Ann's and Meadows estates in Nottingham were routinely armed with Walther P990 automatic pistols as part of "Operation Real Estate". The operation, which began last February, was said to be drawn-up in conjunction with Nottingham City Council and community groups and was the first regular use of armed officers on the beat in mainland Britain. The patrols are backed up by armed response vans equipped with Heckler and Koch MP5 rifles.
Senior officers in the Merseyside, South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester forces are now reportedly considering following the lead of their Nottinghamshire counterparts. John Stalker, former deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester said the move was "another step along the road toward routinely arming police" - a move the public and many politicians and members of the police and have resisted for decades.
The police cite an increase in gun-related crime and the need to protect officers as the justification for the increase, also arguing that armed officers on the streets both reassure the public and deter criminals. A Home Office source said: "Arming officers is a matter for chief constables but I think there comes a stage, when something fundamental is changing, when it would become a political issue".
In January the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) was due to update its confidential guidelines on the deployment and use of firearms by police forces in England and Wales, while police figures showed that the deployment of armed police rose sharply during 2000 in a number of forces.
According to Inquest, 25 people have been shot dead by police since 1990. The resulting inquests recorded 17 "lawful killings" and one "open verdict". Another four verdicts are awaited (the details of two were unknown and in the other case no inquest took place).

Sources: www.gn.apc.org/inquest; The Sunday Times: 22.10.00, 7.1.01; Guardian 3.12.00.

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