AP via Yahoo News
Britain deploys permanently armed police in London
LONDON – Wielding submachine guns and pistols, British police are making rare armed patrols in crime-blighted London neighborhoods — a change in law enforcement tactics that may prompt calls for the wider use of weapons by the country's traditionally unarmed Bobbies.
London's police department said Friday that a new armed unit is carrying out regular sweeps of districts riven by gun battles between rival drug gangs.
Unlike typical police procedure, the team of about 20 officers actively seeks out criminals carrying or storing guns — rather than waiting to respond to emergency calls about incidents involving weapons.
Chief Inspector Neil Sharman said the unit began work in June to tackle pockets of rising gun crime, and will double in size from November amid concerns over the increasing use of weapons in Britain's capital.
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"In the past the police were authority figures dealing primarily with people who respected the police. However, as terrorism and crime increases in the U.K. the traditional icon of the Bobby on the beat is becoming incapable of dealing with terrorists and violent crime," said Bob Ayers, a London-based former U.S. intelligence officer.
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In the 12 months to September, London saw a 17 percent rise in gun offenses, up from 1,484 to 1,737. According to government figures for England and Wales, there are about 50 to 60 shooting deaths in the country each year.
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It must be a mistake, this is all wrong! The leftist British government banned guns in 1997 and promised the measure will drastically reduce violent crime. That was 12 years ago. All murders, shootings and violence was supposed to disappear since Her's Majesty subjects were forced to surrender their guns. The entire country should have been a crime-free paradise by now.
What do you mean by that "when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns"? You sure know that's just a slogan based on a lie made up by the NRA types?
your article says it all, and sadly we ( the law abiding public) are reaping what the ill advised government has sown. It's funny that the police pre gun ban wore jumpers/coats, couple years later post gun ban and every copper sports bullet proof vest....go figure that one
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