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I know that most officers in the UK are not armed, and I'm fairly sure that the one who are must leave their firearms at their posts, but what about your other defensive tools? Can a UK officer carry his baton, gas or handcuffs concealed off duty? I would assume that UK officers have off-duty authority, so it might be useful to have your tools with you if the **** hits the fan, so to speak...
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Ten dash eight! -
No, due to Sec 1 Offensive Weapons act. -
No we're not allowed to carry anything off duty unless you have been given authorisation by your chief officer.
I carry and you were right, our firearms are kept at whatever station / base we work from.
The ridiculous thing is that we have a duty to intervene if we see something whilst off duty, if we don't intervene we can face discipline charges yet they still won't let us carry anything !!
Utter madness.Comment
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Same B.S. in Australia. The SOP's were/are developed by REMF's who haven't been on the streets in 10-30 years. The old "back in my day" doesn't cut it anymore. The world HAS CHANGED!Originally posted by SO19Trojan
We even have to go through the same procedures as every other civilian to apply for a firearm licence! Talk about idiotic...Homer: When I first heard that Marge was joining the police academy, I thought it would be fun and zany, like that movie Spaceballs. But instead it was dark and disturbing... Like that movie -- Police Academy.Comment
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That is so idiotic and stupid..So, they're waiting for something bad or fatal to happen to their officers before they arm them? Politics at its worst. Of course, these politicians that passed these laws never served in the military or law enfrocement, and just sit their fat asses in a nice cushy chair everyday.Originally posted by SO19Trojan"Don't be an Idiot - Use your common sense!" - FreakapinoComment
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Our CS spray is classified as a section 5 firearm. Whilst every officer is authorised to carry it whilst on duty, we need written authority from a Chief Inspector (correct me if i'm wrong Trojan) to even transport the stuff from one station to the other whilst off duty.
This country is incredibly backwards when it comes to Officer Safety in my opinion. Whilst i'm not to keen on carrying anything whilst off duty, if they expect me to get involved i want the tools available so i can deal. This is even more relevant when i work on one of the boroughs in London where the wearing of body armour is compulsory. When on duty i'm not allowed to leave the station without wearing it.Comment
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LD .............. I believe that that is the current case mate.
Always nice if you're on foot and have to rely on public transport to take you away from LD Town centre and see something and put yourself in a position if you have to step in !!
I'm a firm believer that we should be allowed to carry our stick / cs on or off duty but hey ................... our bosses are more concerned with us spraying someone rather than us getting hurt if we have to get involved.Comment
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Good for overtime though, you know your going to be offered drugs at least 20 times between the station and the tube stationComment
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That's another of the 'cultural differences' where I am gald to be on this side of the pond. Some of the folks I put in prison really, really resented it. They could still try to get even. I still carry a gun every day.Last edited by Sleuth; 08-12-2005, 03:34 PM."A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the existing of better men than himself."
John Stuart MillComment
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hi trojan , we are near Croydon , where are you?
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Hiya Jan,
I'm in south London and also work all over south London - depends on where the shots are getting fired !Comment
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hi trojan,
have you always been with the met?
today i have been sitting at the pc listening to outside sounds of our lovely summer weather. did you hear the storm in the early hours? or perhaps you had to work through it?
i am enjoying a day at home today- i don't work on friday and only need to go out to collect my daugter from work later this afternoon. i hope by then the sun is shining. have a good weekend.
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So not even handcuffs? So, you have to intervene off duty, but no tools with which to do so safely.......wow. I've got to hand it to you guys who work unarmed, you've got big brass ones. Your administrators, however, suck. Of course, THEY don't need to carry off duty because they've got armed bodyguardfs 24/7, so no one else needs to either....1*
Ten dash eight!Comment
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Unarmed Police officers im not trying to be rude but that is crazy I know you guys have some specialized armed units but regular cops unarmed . Oh Hell no could not be a cop in the U.K. I dont understand the reasoning behind that type of Policing have you guys ever heard of officer safety ? Well good luck to you hope your good with that baton .STAND FOR SOMETHING OR FALL FOR ANYTHING .Comment
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Look at some of the older threads in this area, it explans why officers in the UK are (generally) unarmed. The UK is not the US, and they have a different attidtude - both officers and offenders.
I would not police in the US unarmed. But it has worked for them, so who are we to tell them not to?Last edited by Sleuth; 09-16-2005, 12:32 PM."A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the existing of better men than himself."
John Stuart MillComment
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