News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on The Human Toll of Flashbangs. Parent comment

Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by k-mcgrady on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @05:48AM (#8885485)
That's how it works in the UK I think. Police don't regularly carry firearms and specially trained firearms officers are called in when necessary. I think the problem with this approach in the US is that guns are way more available and way more likely to used in a crime (I don't actually have figures on this but it seems a reasonable assumption).

Edit: Replaced incorrect use of 'weapons' with 'firearms'.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by AlecSchueler on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @08:09AM (#8885963)
What you're saying is correct, but just to be pedantic: police in Northern Ireland are armed at all times, and are allowed to be armed even while off duty.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by easytiger on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @08:26AM (#8886046)
And yet practically no police use of firearms is recorded. They have to declare each time they unholster the weapon
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by k-mcgrady on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @08:27AM (#8886047)
Sure, I'm from NI so aware of that. It's a unique situation though and I thought it best to leave out rather than confuse my point that there are police forces that work without firearms.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by AlecSchueler on Friday January 16, 2015 @11:25AM (#8899823)
I had the same thought, but felt it was best to be clear that the practice isn't unheard of in the United Kingdom.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by robin_reala on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @06:25AM (#8885591)
Police carry weapons (truncheons, pepper spray, sometimes tasers), just not firearms by default.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by k-mcgrady on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @07:01AM (#8885690)
Sorry, I was using weapon/firearm interchangeably by mistake. I meant firearm.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by maxlybbert on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @10:05AM (#8886624)
They still make mistakes ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Meneze... ), but since it takes a little more work, I'll assume they make fewer mistakes.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Human Toll of Flashbangs by Brakenshire on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @10:55AM (#8886999)
> since it takes a little more work, I'll assume they make fewer mistakes.

To put this in context, over the four years from 2008-2012, police officers in England and Wales opened fire on 18 separate occasions, killing nine people.

In a country of 55 million people, that's about 5 shooting incidents, and 2 people killed each year.

http://www.channel4.com/news/police-fatal-shooting-trigger-h...

[ Parent | on HN ]