Scotland - Police routinely armed

[Craig B]

Then I'm mildly surprised that a party which desires socialist credentials in other areas is so right wing in this case. Perhaps this is the first step towards a fully armed paramilitary police for a newly independent Scotland prior to the coup which results in Comrade Salmond being declared president for life .

Yes. We of the Separatist Illuminati have secretly been plotting this for centuries, and now we've been rumbled. How disappointing.

 

[dudalb]

For the record,very few nations have unarmed police. Cops in most countries are armed.

 

[Craig B]

For the record,very few nations have unarmed police. Cops in most countries are armed.

Indeed. I looked it up and from memory New Zealand and the Irish Republic are among these noble few. If, as is the case in Scotland, order can be maintained in normal circumstances without the police having instant access to firearms, that is how it should be.

 

[Information Analyst]

The argument of the polis seems to be that while all police services in the UK have armed specialists, the weapons themselves were generally kept under lock and key in police stations.

Not so. Armed Response Vehicles are operated by most if not all forces, and some are always on the road at any given time.

 

[Information Analyst]

Indeed. I looked it up and from memory New Zealand and the Irish Republic are among these noble few. If, as is the case in Scotland, order can be maintained in normal circumstances without the police having instant access to firearms, that is how it should be.

Also Malta. Norway is sort of half-way between armed and unarmed.

 

[Sam.I.Am]

Not so. Armed Response Vehicles are operated by most if not all forces, and some are always on the road at any given time.

Even in the US where every office is armed with a sidearm (and usually a shotgun locked up in their vehicle) there are a few patrol cars (usually ones driven by a Sargent) with more heavy armament in their trunks out on the road. This was a direct response to the North Hollywood shootout after a botched bank robbery where the gunmen not only outgunned the police but also because the police standard weaponry was ineffective because the robbers had body armor. It took the police raiding local gun shops and the arrival of the SWAT team to finally take the robbers down.

 

[angrysoba]

If we are talking about police cars which have firearms in a locked box, then this is not a new thing in the UK. From what I remember, a number of police cars have these.

 

[The Don]

If we are talking about police cars which have firearms in a locked box, then this is not a new thing in the UK. From what I remember, a number of police cars have these.

Yes, in the rest of the UK armed response officers keep their firearms in the locked box in the car until needed. In Scotland it is reported that they are routinely being worn rather than kept in the locked box/

 

[Soapy Sam]

Not sure what "routinely" means here.
I've seen armed police at airports, but I don't recall seeing them anywhere else in Scotland.

 

[Craig B]

Yes, in the rest of the UK armed response officers keep their firearms in the locked box in the car until needed. In Scotland it is reported that they are routinely being worn rather than kept in the locked box/

I have never seen a police officer on normal patrol duty in Scotland carrying a firearm. Not once.

 

[Nogbad]

I have never seen a police officer on normal patrol duty in Scotland carrying a firearm. Not once.

With only 275 accredited officers they will be thin on the ground. Generally it takes 5+ officers to fill one post 24/7 365 days a year so there will only be ever be 60 or so on patrol at any one time (more if there is a special event and they mover rosters and leave about). Outside of an airport I haven't seen one either.

 

[Soapy Sam]

I have never seen a police officer on normal patrol duty in Scotland carrying a firearm. Not once.

Mind you, it might be enlightening to paw through the boot of a police car.
I'm guessing:
Several empty chip wrappers, crisp pokes and Irn Bru bottles, Rainwear, spare batteries, one sock* and a pile of half filled-out paperwork.




*There's always one in mine. I think they are teleported by washing machines.

 

[malicus]

Mind you, it might be enlightening to paw through the boot of a police car.
I'm guessing:
Several empty chip wrappers, crisp pokes and Irn Bru bottles, Rainwear, spare batteries, one sock* and a pile of half filled-out paperwork.

*There's always one in mine. I think they are teleported by washing machines.

That actually describes my one visit in the front seat of a police car.

 

[Soapy Sam]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-28788828

Two separate reviews of gun policy have been announced- one by the police, one by the Inspectorate of constabulary in Scotland.
(Who knew such a thing existed?)

 

[Sam.I.Am]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-28788828

Two separate reviews of gun policy have been announced- one by the police, one by the Inspectorate of constabulary in Scotland.
(Who knew such a thing existed?)

I can't really speak for Scotland (I never dealt with them whenever I was in Scotland) but over here law enforcement is layered. Police are generally in the incorporated cities, Sheriffs are generally in the unincorporated parts of the county (with some overlap in the cities, usually as officers of the courts and running the local jails), state troopers (also sometimes called the Highway Patrol) who are both the police and sheriffs in places with neither. Then there is the federal layer of the FBI and so on that deal with interstate crimes.

So I presume that in Scotland the police are overseen by one office and that the constabularies (the sheriffs in a way) are overseen by another. This sort of makes sense because in many cases the two jobs are a lot different in what they do.

 

[Craig B]

So I presume that in Scotland the police are overseen by one office and that the constabularies (the sheriffs in a way) are overseen by another. This sort of makes sense because in many cases the two jobs are a lot different in what they do.

The Scottish police service has recently been centralised into a single body.

The Police Service of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheis Phoilis na h-Alba) is the national police service of Scotland. The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 named the new police force as the Police Service of Scotland, shortened to Police Scotland for operational purposes. Police Scotland was formed on 1 April 2013 and is the successor to eight former territorial law enforcement agencies, the Scottish Police Services Authority, and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Scotland

The word sheriff in Scotland refers to a category of judge.

Sheriffs deal with the majority of civil and criminal court cases in Scotland, Currently, there are 142 permanent or resident sheriffs sitting in 49 courtrooms in towns and cities across the country ...
The main role of sheriffs is to sit as a trial judge, though they do have some appellate functions. The criminal jurisdiction of sheriffs is both summary (less serious matters where the sheriff sits alone) and solemn (more serious offences where the sheriff sits with a jury of 15 men and women).

http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/36/0/Sheriffs

 

[Sam.I.Am]

The Scottish police service has recently been centralised into a single body. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Scotland

The word sheriff in Scotland refers to a category of judge. http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/36/0/Sheriffs

That they were centralized doesn't change what I said. They would still have different duties than constables do and thus would have a different chain of command and accountability.

Thanks also for the clarifications on the terminology, but I did compare what we call sheriffs to what Scotland calls constables. In other words law enforcement officers that cover what the police don't due to jurisdiction issues (among other things).

 

[Craig B]

That they were centralized doesn't change what I said. They would still have different duties than constables do and thus would have a different chain of command and accountability.

Thanks also for the clarifications on the terminology, but I did compare what we call sheriffs to what Scotland calls constables. In other words law enforcement officers that cover what the police don't due to jurisdiction issues (among other things).

Yes. My contribution wasn't intended to correct you, but to inform third parties who might not have been aware of the organisational changes, or the differences in meaning of the word sheriff.

 

[Wudang]

So I presume that in Scotland the police are overseen by one office and that the constabularies (the sheriffs in a way) are overseen by another. This sort of makes sense because in many cases the two jobs are a lot different in what they do.

I may be misreading you but constable is the base rank in UK police. Then sergeant, inspector, chief inspector, etc.

 

[Bob001]

......Incidents requiring an armed response are rare in rural areas, (although guns are actually commoner there), because population is low.
The cities are the places gun crime is more common, just because that's where crime is more common.
.....

Just curious. In rural areas would police be more likely to have to deal with dangerous animals? In the U.S., police might need to respond to calls about bears and mountain lions in some areas, and vicious dogs almost anywhere.