British police soon to carry deadly weapons
Following the recent death of PC Andrew Harper who was married for just four weeks before he was tragically killed on duty, top police chief Martin Hewit called in an urgent meeting with all chief constables from England, Scotland and Wales to discuss the importance of officer safety. Although it's important that the police don't show panic to the public after these tragic events he shows his concern by saying "Levels of violence are an increasing concern across the country and attacks on our officers have gone up." he added, "It is the responsibility of each chief constable to do all they can to keep their officers as safe as possible."
Police have announced their plans for arming their frontline officers, this includes tasers and stun guns. Earlier this year Kent police officers were carrying around 1,500 tasers. John Apter, national chair of the Police Federation told sources "Officers are telling me daily they are feeling vulnerable and often isolated due to the lack of this vital protective equipment. Ultimately, having a Taser gives them the capability to defend not only themselves but also the public they want to protect. This call for a wider rollout is not new; the federation has been fighting for many years for Tasers to be available to all colleagues who want to carry it and who pass the assessment." This makes me feel much better knowing that police have to pass an assessment to prove that they're capable of where and when to use such a dangerous weapon.
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In my personal opinion, I don't believe police officers handling such a deadly weapon is going to help. It's no secret that some police officers are corrupt and will do anything for a power trip. There is so much controversy around tasers as several deaths have been linked to them, An ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson who died in 2016 due to being shot by a taser handled by a police officer and also Jordan Begley who was only 23 years old when he was tasered whilst being restrained in 2013. According to Amnesty International, 18 people have died after a Taser was used against them by police officers after they were introduced just 16 years ago, how terrifying!
I understand that we need to keep our forces safe and with so much violence these days it's hard to feel safe anyway. Something about police carrying weapons that could potentially kill someone makes me so frightened. One bad judgement and that could cost someone innocent their whole life.
How do you feel about British police officers handling such powerful weapons?
