Many people would have heard about the savage attack on Greater Manchester Police Officers by a male armed with a sword. One of the brave officers who confronted the suspect was admitted to hospital with serious injuries after he was slashed in the mindless act of extreme violence by the suspect.
Judging by the video, a Tazer was deployed by the Officers, but it was not that effective which is why the Officers on the scene had to strike the male repeatedly, using no more force than was necessary, in order to bring his unprovoked attack to a halt.
And whilst I do not necessarily think that routinely arming the Police is necessarily the answer, I still believe that Police Officers should be given the choice as to whether or not they carry a sidearm.
When you ask someone to put their life on the line, to protect the decent and hardworking members of our society, then you owe it to them to ensure that they have the means necessary to not only protect the general public and their fellow colleagues, but that they also have the means to protect themselves.
During my time as a Police Officer on a 999 response team in one of the busiest boroughs in inner London, I can think of many occasions when I would have drawn a side arm should I of been allowed to carry one.
Of those many occasions, I probably would have discharged my weapon once – and that was when a male, who was off of his face on drugs, took over a pizza parlour armed with a kitchen knife.
My colleagues and I only had our ASPs to protect ourselves from someone who quite easily would have stabbed each one of us, had he of been able to.
Each of my colleagues sustained injuries on that night. I had a minor cut to my leg from the knife that I somehow managed to get during the tussle to subdue the male.
But then, I also remember being less than 100 metres away from a call that came out whereby a male had fired several shots in a street. My colleague and I heard the shots, but how would we have protected ourselves if we would have been able to catch the male, who sped off in his car? We wouldn’t. Its as simple as that.
And let us not forget, the brave & heroic Officer, PC Keith Palmer, who, when confronted with a male who was consumed by hate and riddled with evil, had only his ASP and CS to protect himself against an individual who wanted to murder in cold blood as many people as possible.
Giving the Police the option to carry a sidearm, means that they have the ability to undertake their own decision as to whether or not they want to carry it. Some will, many won’t. But it should be their decision, and not the decision of someone who sits in a nice and comfy office.
But what matters, are the lives of the men and women who serve in the Police Force. Some elements of the Government, take ‘pride’ in the fact that our Police Force is one of only several around the world which are not routinely armed.
But there is no ‘pride’ to be had, in putting Police Officers in the face of extreme danger, and only giving them a 3ft metal stick, an unreliable TAZER and a can of CS spray to protect themselves.
And no doubt, there will be people who say that if you arm the Police, then the criminals will arm themselves as well. Well, guess what; they are ALREADY armed! As the Met Police TSG Police Officers who were the victim of a drive-by shooting several years ago will tell you.
I could go on-and-on talking about scenarios whereby Police Officers have been shot at or have faced life-or-death incidents. But you get a sense of the issue which seems to always be ignored by the civilian press and many MPs.
But we will not ignore a scenario whereby our colleagues are being sent to calls where their lives are put on the line.
I was still serving on the #ThinBlueLine when PC’s Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, also from Greater Manchester Police, were murdered in cold blood after being lured into a trap by the vile entity whose name we refuse to even acknowledge.
COMMENT
If I was still serving in the Met, then I would quite happily carry a sidearm. Not because I just ‘like’ the idea of it, but because I know that I could better protect the public & my colleagues should the need arise to use it.
And I would have no hesitation in using it either. If you CHOOSE to make a decision in your life, that leads to my having to draw my sidearm, then you also choose to accept the consequences of your actions.
The same principle applies if you decide to unlawfully carry a firearm on the streets, and you end up being on the other side of a bullet travelling at 2,500 ft per second.
And let us not forget, that we are an Island, and, as far as I am aware, we do not manufacture any firearms in this country.
My point here being, that when people try to swerve this subject of arming the police, by stating that the criminals will arm themselves too, then, tighter border controls and tougher sentences for being in possession of a firearm will help to ensure that our streets are not plagued by criminals arming themselves.
Having to wait maybe up to ten minutes for armed police to arrive at a rendezvous point, before tackling an armed suspect puts too many lives at risk. Lives which we have a duty to ensure are protected & safeguarded.
Written by one of the many Admins of Emergency Services Humour on Facebook, who is also a regular contributor to our subscriber-only fortnightly satirical eMagazine that contains all of our BEST material which we do not share online.
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