Why British Police Should Wear Uniform Essay

Civilians in Uniform: Why British Police Should Remain Unarmed

When Robert Peel, widely regarded as the “father” of all official police forces, stated his principles of policing, he said that the police were civilians in uniform, “who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence”. This is perhaps one of the reasons why British policing took rather a different route than policing in the USA and Europe in deciding not to issue firearms to officers on a routine basis. Our country has elected not to have the public distrust and be wary of those who are supposed to protect them, by keeping the police unarmed. There are many factors as to why we have kept this system: public safety and relations being at the forefront, but certainly not being the only ones. These reasons, supported by evidence, are why our police officers should remain unarmed.

If more police were armed in the UK, it would only
In every police force across the UK there is a Firearms Unit made up of those officers who have undergone a rigorous selection process and have been deemed fit to carry a firearm while on duty. When criminals armed with guns are involved in an altercation with the police the Firearms Unit is called in to deal with the situation. Armed response vehicles are available in most forces and in public buildings, such as the Palace of Westminster, there are regularly armed patrols, as a sadly necessary response to the ever-present threat of terrorism and the sub-culture of criminals who are always prepared to shoot. It is, however, very rare that an Authorised Firearms Officer (AFO) must fire their weapon, with armed police in England and Wales only firing their weapons twice across 2013/14, despite having 14,864 operations. This shows that it would be completely unnecessary to have regular officers routinely