POLL: Should all police officers be armed?
Hundreds more armed police officers are to be stationed across the country to deal with a Paris-style terror attack, the Prime Minister has announced.
Forces in England and Wales are starting to train around 1,500 extra armed officers as part of counter-terrorism efforts, with 400 ready to be deployed to cities outside London around the clock.
In January, new West Midlands Police Chief Constable Dave Thompson announced he was recruiting more firearms-trained officers in the wake of the Paris attack.
David Cameron revealed the nationwide plans as he attended a summit in Washington, where world leaders are discussing plans to protect nuclear facilities. He said: "After the terrorist attacks in France last year, we decided to look at whether there was more we could do to protect people from the type of terrorist threat we now face.
"That's why we are increasing the number of specially trained armed officers up and down the country to make sure the police have greater capability to respond swiftly and effectively should they need to do so." No 10 said the beefed-up network of armed police units is intended to complement military contingency plans already in place to deploy up to 10,000 troops in the event of a terror attack.
The recruitment drive aims to have 1,000 more armed police in place across England and Wales by spring 2018, with 400 ready to be deployed to cities including Manchester and Birmingham. Latest Home Office figures show there are almost 400 armed police officers across the region. The regional team includes 148 in the West Midlands force itself, 136 in West Mercia, 67 in Staffordshire, and 35 in Warwickshire.
An additional 40 armed response vehicles and teams are due to be 'up and running' in 12 months.
Funding for the increase will come from the £143 million set aside in the Strategic Security and Defence Review. However, the organisation that represents officers questioned where the extra personnel would come from.
Che Donald, lead on firearms for the Police Federation, said: "Any increase in armed police officers could be a good thing, but not if it depletes the frontline."
