Ross Kemp has filmed in some of the most violent and dangerous places areas on earth, including Afghanistan during the war against the Taliban.
He has made a name for himself as being a documentary maker who gets right into the heart of the action – often at considerable risk of harm to himself and his crew.
Many within the emergency services and armed forces fraternity admire his no-nonsense approach to showing the world what is going on in various hotspots, without any spin or hidden agendas.
Yet despite his experiences, which most journalists will only ever write about rather than experience for themselves, Ross Kemp was left bemused and bewildered after finishing filming for his latest documentary that followed Armed Response Vehicle (ARV) crews around Birmingham.
The Actor turned filmmaker has said that his experiences whilst making the documentary left him feeling shocked owing to the amount of gang-enabled crime that he witnessed.
During filming, he told reporters from the Metro:
“I am making a documentary about our armed response units and counter terrorist units – armed police across the UK – [and asking] do we have enough to meet the threat that is now posed to us?.
“Not only by terrorists but also by the increase in the use of handguns by drugs gangs.”
Kemp also admitted that he wore “the same body armour that I wore in Syria on the streets of Birmingham”.
He went on to share how he felt that his two-part documentary was more shocking than the effects of war in Afghan.
Amongst the calls which Kemp witnessed, was a raid during which a handgun and sawn-off shotgun were recovered by West Midlands Police.
In a recent tweet to publicise the start of the short series, to be aired on ITV on Thursday 6th September at 2100hrs, Kemp tweeted to his 178K followers:
“Coming to @ITV Thursday 6th September at 9pm, my new documentary, Ross Kemp and The Armed Police. A year in the making, hope you can watch.”
Many people have tweeted in response sharing their excitement for the series with @LeafyCountyCop saying: “Ross Kemp in Afghan was one of the best Docs I have seen. He tells the story as it is, no sugar coating”.
Whilst @mhairi6683 tweeted:
“Looking forward to this.
“An incredibly hard job that carries an unbelievable amount of responsibility that would leave most of us struggling to sleep at night.
“Most of us take for granted the protection we expect from the police.
“The police have families too, big respect!”.
West Midlands Police is the second largest police force in the country after the Metropolitan Police, covering an area of 348 square miles and serving a population of almost 2.6 million
Like many large cities, Birmingham is ravaged by an epidemic of gang crime.
West Midlands Police operate a number of Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs) that patrol the region around the clock and are available to respond to incidents typically involving guns, knives or dangerous dogs.
Officers undertake a ten-week selection process to join the firearms unit with courses being delivered on weapons, tactics and advanced driving.
Most of the ARVs used by the firearms unit are unmarked Audis, converted with the rear seats removed and gun safes installed.
Officers with the firearms unit carry Taser X26 stun guns, SIG P229 9mm pistols, H&K MP5 SF A2/A3 9mm semi-automatic carbines and H&K G36K SF, G36C SF and SIG Sauer SIG516 5.56mm semi-automatic rifles.
Alongside attending firearms incidents, officers attached to the firearms unit also provide tactical advice when planning operations and give lectures on firearms awareness to officers and members of the public.
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Featured Image Credit: @ChestermanSimon / @RossKemp / @ITV
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But where can these handguns be coming from? After all Tony Bliar claimed he took all the handguns, that had never been on the streets, off the streets, didn’t he? If you ignore the CIRA, RIRA etc…
I think comparing Afghanistan where hundreds of British soldiers lost their lives, through arms fire, IED’s, mortar and rocket attack constantly – less terrifying…than a British city where there is gang crime is a bit unfair.
Soliders lost limbs, battle scarred and are consumed by a life of post traumatic stress from the effects of being in Afghan or Iraq. I wouldn’t say British police are under the same risk.
Yes granted – the police do risk their lives daily and hats off to their bravery, but to compare it to a war zone and living in the conditions our soldiers/airman and seamen were in.
Suprised Ross Kemp came out with this nonsense and that the emergency services jumped on it.