To think our police should be armed?

[sickofscumbags]

This is a genuine question and not intended to be inflamatory(although i appreciate that people may not agree).
How do others feel about this?Do you think that this would have affected what has happened in any way at all?I'm not saying i think they should be armed and appreciate that this could cause more problems but i can't help thinking that if police were able to use more force then it may have put off some people.
Let's face it all the news reports are saying that these people will be brought to justice when we all know that this isnt the case,so where is the deterent?
what are your thoughts?

If the police are armed, the civilains (criminal ones anyway) will feel they need to be armed. An arms war is not what you want. The police are much safer this way

I feel I must lighten the mood.

What would you all do with this looter?

I think the public posting of images of the rioters on the web and in print is the modern day equivalent of the village stocks. Brilliant!

this is interesting

I am anti-arming the police because I think in the UK it would escalate violence. Not sure how it works in Europe where most police seem armed - is there more gun-related crime?

I actually would vote for it, but for the fact that the crime/criminal is dependent on the publics perception of them both.

If it was a romanticised highwayman they might get away with rotten fruit, a really violent crime and they'd feel the sharp edge of a rock on their heads.

I know some people think they'd be OK with that, but seeing a bloodied and tortured person sitting in their town square would soon change their minds.

Try again -

Shoot that bird! :)

So you don't think a lot of this rioting rises or continues because the criminals know that there is nothing to be afraid of? What will they get - a fine? Community service? A slap on the wrist?
Why not deter them from the start? This is a genuine question BTW.
I genuinely despair for the lack of respect for police and the law in this country. I cannot see that there are many genuine deterrents at present.

No. I like that the police here are not armed. Every time I go to the US Embassy I feel frightened by all of the guns. Not safer. Just uneasy. And I have nothing to hide.

I'm still agreeing with Pedicuri on this one.

Guns don't make me nervous, people do. Especially Americans! ;)

I think that the rioting rises because, for so many years, British people have turned a blind eye to anti-social behaviour.....as long as it didn't directly affect them / it wasn't in their back yard. In the words of one man on the news this morning "we're all to blame" to some small degree. This ignoring this behaviour has also led to a lack of disrespect of the police, not just from the scroats but also from society in general.
There are no easy answers but whatever happens it needs a change in the attitude of all of us. Maybe these riots will be the wake up call that society needs....

And guns do make me nervous. Very nervous...

I don't think police mostly want to be armed.

I would also like to see the stats on other countries with armed police. The US is quoted a lot (and by me!) but is not the only one.
I am not saying the US is perfect by any means, but to me it seems superior in upholding the rights for law abiding citizens and police to use guns for defense where necessary. I think we are being naive is we think our criminals aren't armed in some way. I think our police do a very difficult and dangerous job in cities, and I would like them to be protected more.
It is interesting that so many people feel uneasy around guns. I guess I would have too, had I not held one, learned to shoot one and had a licence to carry one. You never know when they may be needed. Being in an embassy with armed police makes me feel very safe, not uneasy.

I'm not keen on the idea of all police being armed, as I think that it is too easy to fire a gun, and only people of a certain temperament could be relied upon to be cool-headed enough in their use of guns.

I know it is a silly comparison, but I did that laser-quest thing once, and got myself so wound up and adrenalin-ised that I panicked and shot anyone who came near me (including my own boyfriend and most of the others on my team, much to their irritation!!) I would never want to be in charge of a gun. People are human and error is common. Any misjudgement with a firearm could have very serious/ fatal consequences for potentially innocent bystanders. I appreciate that they would be trained etc, but I still think it is a specialist role and should be kept as such.

I do like the idea of the looters being paraded through the streets of their community while people throw rotten fruit, though!

But Pedi sentencing and policing are two completely separate things. It is NOT for the police to assume guilt and then carry out a sentence by shooting. The police arrest people and collect evidence but they do not decide if people are guilty.

Start a thread about soft sentencing in the UK and I will get as Daily Mail as a Tory at a Boden clearance. I think people do, actually, get away with murder. but that is nothing to do with policing and I do not want the police sentencing by gun. Nor do they, I believe.

No. Fuck no.

There's always the USA or Israel for you to go and bask in.

Police carrying guns will make criminals more likely to carry guns. It wont prevent other crime AT ALL.