English and Welsh police to be asked whether they want to carry a gun

Officers in England and Wales will be surveyed about whether they want to routinely carry a firearm on patrol. The Police Federation has announced that it will survey its 120,000 plus members for the first time since 2006 about whether they want to carry firearms. Firearms were discharged in 10 incidents over the past year, up from seven in the previous 12 months - but according to the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) firearms lead, these have to be taken in the context of the overall number of police firearms operations, which was up 7 per cent in the 12 months to March 2017 than the year before. The PFEW firearms lead held the increase in knife crime and gun crime, as well as the recent terror attacks, accountable for the rise in firearms being discharged. The Home Office figures also showed an increase of 639 armed officers from the previous year, an 11 per cent increase, bringing the current total to 6,278. Che Donald, PFEW firearms lead, said: “Firearms discharges remain low, down to the excellent decision making shown by our officers, demonstrating that we are still the best trained and most restrained policing service in the world. “Policing has changed significantly over recent years, not just around the types of crime we are dealing with and greater use of technology, but also the threat, harm and risk to the public and to officers themselves. “This survey seeks to determine our members’ views to inform our position on the issue of routine arming. Over the last few years a handful of forces have been surveyed individually on this issue, but we are keen to establish a fresh national view."