Reasonable force?

[focusxr5]

Bigends said:

So youd be happy alone in the middle of a football crowd with that lot on or performing public order - actually getting involved and not stood on the sidelines. Its different whilst fireams carrying is a specialist duty and you can stay out of many hands on situations. I don't recall seeing firearms officers fighting and rolling round on the floor alone with drunks - theyd occasionally give us a hand once the yobs were back on their feet Could you afford to have people crowding round you - the yanks clearly don't allow it

Edited by Bigends on Tuesday 24th November 10:34

Total opposite end of the spectrum. The initial point was that all interactions with the public would be different, I tried to make the point that me carrying a weapon makes no difference to how I go about my day to day duties. Public order is something else entirely when you put it into the context of football matches or large scale violent disorder/riot. And of course I'm happy dealing th drunks. Do you think I see a fight and then sit in my Volvo until division come to deal with it? If it results in rolling around then I'm happy that the highly specific method of extracting my weapon from it's holster is sufficient for it not to simply fall out, and I can use weapon retention UDT' s if needed. My point is that I don't become an unapproachable robot incapable of independent action and thought because of a firearm on my thigh. I'm still a nice, decent, honest British Bobby. I just have a few extra bits hanging off me.
Some people don't like approaching us on airport patrols when the long weapons come out. I make a point of being smiley, polite and starting conversations. I'm keen to break down the barriers of us just being militia. I'm still a normal cop, I just have a bit of extra training.

ETA:- don't want to devalue the job by saying a bit of extra training before someone jumps on that term and takes it as something it's not. It's a fearsome amount of initial and continuation training.

Edited by focusxr5 on Tuesday 24th November 11:35

Edited by focusxr5 on Tuesday 24th November 19:22

[Elroy Blue]

As an AFO I went to every kind of incident and some of that involved getting hands on. I don't want to see universal arming, but if it ever comes, life will just go on as normal.

[Mill Wheel]

focusxr5 said:

I'm fully trained in weapon retention but I would say that I need to consider it maybe once in 100 interactions. Mrs Miggins out with her grandchildren asking me for the time, I'm hardly going to shield my weapon and shout 'GET BACK'.

If you were in the States, they'd let you carry a lot more ammunition to deal with all these little interactions with Mrs Miggins and her ilk..!


Even I think 16 rounds into a youth walking up the middle of the street with a knife is a bit excessive!