This dissertation will be focusing on the controversial question: ‘Should the British police force be routinely armed?’ and will be looking at the views and opinions of young people regarding matter. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not police officers should be routinely armed. Most police forces in the world are in fact fully armed except for a few countries – including the UK, New Zealand, Norway and the Republic of Ireland (Punch, 2010, p.70).
Violent crime in the UK has increased by 27% which is shown by the new figures released by the Office of National statistics (Barrett, 2016).Violence recorded by police rose by 185,000 offences in the year 2015 and according to the Office of National statistics, knife crime rose by 9% and firearm offences rose by 4%. In the year ending March 2015, there were 7,866 offences in which firearms were involved, a 2% increase compared with the previous year …show more content…
An example of such an attack occurred very recently in London shortly before 3pm on March 22nd 2017. Around 50 people were injured including police officers and four innocent civilians were killed as a result of the Westminster terror attack. The perpetrator drove a car into members of the public who were walking along Westminster Bridge, before crashing into the railings in front of Parliament. The perpetrator was armed with knives and attempted to run through the gate to the Palace of Westminster where he stabbed PC Keith Palmer who was unarmed and was trying to stop the attacker from entering the premises. Sadly PC Palmer later died from his stab wounds. Armed officers at Parliament were able to stop the attacker and more armed officers arrived on the scene within minutes. The attacker was shot dead by officers, a major terrorist investigation is now underway and there have been calls for routine
Violent crime in the UK has increased by 27% which is shown by the new figures released by the Office of National statistics (Barrett, 2016).Violence recorded by police rose by 185,000 offences in the year 2015 and according to the Office of National statistics, knife crime rose by 9% and firearm offences rose by 4%. In the year ending March 2015, there were 7,866 offences in which firearms were involved, a 2% increase compared with the previous year …show more content…
An example of such an attack occurred very recently in London shortly before 3pm on March 22nd 2017. Around 50 people were injured including police officers and four innocent civilians were killed as a result of the Westminster terror attack. The perpetrator drove a car into members of the public who were walking along Westminster Bridge, before crashing into the railings in front of Parliament. The perpetrator was armed with knives and attempted to run through the gate to the Palace of Westminster where he stabbed PC Keith Palmer who was unarmed and was trying to stop the attacker from entering the premises. Sadly PC Palmer later died from his stab wounds. Armed officers at Parliament were able to stop the attacker and more armed officers arrived on the scene within minutes. The attacker was shot dead by officers, a major terrorist investigation is now underway and there have been calls for routine