I'm a paramedic here in the UK and if it wasn't for a firearms officer, I wouldn't have been putting my son to bed tonight and kissing my fiance and saying "Goodnight". We got sent to a stabbing and were told the attacker had fled the scene. On arrival we walked into a house that can only be described as a scene from a horror film - smashed furniture and blood everywhere with a young lady laying on the floor, intestines hanging out and was clinging on for consciousness. As we tried to help the patient she looked up the stairs and screamed, whilst simultaneously all the colour drained from my colleague's face with fear. At the top of the stairs was the attacker with a 16 inch carving knife, completely covered in blood and the look of someone who was possessed and was ready to kill. What felt like an absolute lifetime was seconds as they charged at us and our patient, I threw my defibrillator at them to get some distance and bolted out of the door. As I fled the property I was greeted by two firearms officers (who I assume must have heard the screaming) with their firearms drawn and without a moment of hesitation shot the attacker. That day, those two officers saved my life, my close friend's life and the life of a young woman. So this is one person who stands by my colleagues on the thin line and will say that firearms are ESSENTIAL in the current climate that we live in. Anyone who wants to prosecute a police officer for performing the duties that are expected of them, but do not have the moral courage to put the boots on and do it themselves, is nothing short of a coward in my eyes.
My Ambo friend in Australia, went to a heart attack call, greeted the wife he walked around the kitchen table the husband was seated lying forward, he had knife wound to the chest, next the wife came at my Ambo friend with a carving knife, he threw his oxygen bottle at her and this knocked her backward, he jumped over the sofa and out the front door, hit the radio distress button, was running 100 metres down the street with the crazy wife about 50 metres behind with wife knife in hand, then a police car (thankfully close by) spend around the the corner and the officers had the crazy knife lady at gun point. In Florida USA and Cape Town South Africa Ambulance Officers carry small pistols ie 38 revolvers.
@@grahamwatts8836 Another example where an armed officer preserved life with the use of a firearm. I agree that not every police officer needs to have full tactical kit and carry round an assault rifle, but like you said a pistol is enough to stop most in their tracks. Fact of the matter is knife crime is on the rise, people are able to 3D print something that can be used like a firearm at home and people with mental health struggles are on the rise. The chap who ran at us was a paranoid schizophrenic who was in the middle of a psychotic episode and was is able to walk to the shops and pick up that knife straight off the shelf… Which shows how easily attackers can arm themselves.
I totally agree the UK is one of few countries where police are typically unarmed, in Australia police went in the 1970's from being mostly unarmed to nowadays always armed. They should carry more long arms in the vehicles ie a shotgun.
My step brother is a paramedic. Thanks for what you do. I'm medically trained (plus other things), and recently had someone knock on my door at 1am with a "help! I can't feel my legs" - because of resourcing problems and the fact I'm fairly remote, it took the ambulance crew about 3h30 to get to him. Luckily for him, he knocked on the right door, and was conscious while being loaded into the ambulance. I and the attending firearms officers took in turn to do CPR while we waited for his "yellow taxi"
If an armed criminal is shot by armed police in the UK, it's probably the first time in their life that they've encountered any meaningful sanction on their behaviour.
if the people in charge had the common sense ben had, the police would be capable of doing their jobs properly. and there would be very few criminals roaming the streets. sadly the powers in charge like to treat criminals as innocents, favouring the idiocy of rehabilitation over punishment.
It’s hard to argue with what you have said there. The pressure and responsibility must be enormous. Unfortunately, society relies upon someone to take that split second decision and most of us wouldn’t want to be in that position.
I've had firearms officers aim their weapons at me (until they realised I wasn't the person they were looking for). I can honestly say that I've never felt more safe and calm than I did right then.......because I fully understood just how highly trained they are and how they wouldn't even consider pulling the trigger unless I gave them a very good reason to do so........which, being that I've never been in trouble with the police, I also knew I had no intention of doing. I genuinely feel more nervous crossing the road which I think says it all. Excellent video Ben 🙂
100% agree that we need armed police in the UK and fully support them. But can well understand why they are worried about being charged for what WE won't them to do 😢
A good video with strong information. As ex forces and trained in armed guard duty I can say from my prospective that pulling that trigger would be a near last resort for me and understand that the police have a much harder thought process with dealing with the public.
Had a few interactions with Firearms police from being in the ambulance service every time friendly professional. Never aggressive or jus wanting to get there guns out. Oh and always brought there balls of steal... brave people.
Brilliant video Ben and excellent points. I don’t think it’s the vast majority of the public who you have to convince we need armed Police, it’s the IOPC who seem hell bent on prosecuting Officers for simply doing their job.
Absolutely spot on. You’ve been hard stopped by armed police They’ve drawn assault rifles to your head and asked you not to move. The only reason one would make a sudden movement would be: A) Out of stupidity, well done 👏 B) To resist arrest with a weapon on par with an assault rifle/gun
It’s easy to take the piss out of the crayon munchers but they run towards stuff that 99% of the general Public/police officers won’t. Big respect to them. Nobody will know what happened in London unless you see the body worn and or you are involved in the incident so we are not to judge
A number of other countries have required military service. I almost wish there was a way for required attachments or service in the police, fire and ambulance just so the public can have one single atom of an idea of the pressures faced.
Interesting video Ben. I think it’s definitely those cases where an officer has to make an in-the-moment judgement about risk that we need to be talking about. Officers do need to be held to a high standard for pulling the trigger. After all, that’s why they’re highly trained. And I doubt (but correct me if I’m wrong) that many firearms officers would suggest they shouldn’t have any accountability or be wholly immune from any consequence. But at the same time, there’s a real problem if it goes so far that it makes officers hesitate in the crucial moment, or leads them to abandon the job. I don’t envy their position - it’s such a tough role, so it’s great you’re helping raise that public conversation about how we draw that line.
if someone gets hurt or dies whilst committing a crime, its entirely their own fault. the only investigation should be, was the individual committing a crime? yes he was involved in a pursuit with a long criminal record. take the shot job done. for the cost of a few rounds that officer saved the taxpayers 35k a year and 10s of thousands in court fees, saved countless future victims of crime and sent a clear message to the pondlife sewer rats out there that crime isn't tolerated.
@@2khotshot except that’s not true at all. The mere fact you have committed a crime doesn’t make you a non-citizen who is outside the law (I think there’s discussion of this in R v Jogee - although that deals with joint enterprise). It would be absurd to think we could gun down a 14 year old who’s nicking a chocolate bar. Even if it’s a more serious criminal, the entire point of a justice system is proportional punishment. The law, made by elected officials, will provide for a certain form of punishment. The police are not enforcing the law if they can ignore that and have a pass to shoot any criminal. The police do a fantastic job - and also a really difficult one - and we trust our police to be fair and reasonable. I don’t envy firearms cops - it’s a huge responsibility. That’s why we need a grown up conversation about it.
recently in the USA one such incident, where a councilwoman went berserk about the luny nazi gun totting police dept local to her should be defunded, then 2 weeks later she was carjacked in her drive with her 2 young babies present and they kicked the crap out of her, she was on the news while they where patching her up about having the cops get them and sort them out and how heros the cops where, seems if your in the shit you want cops to stop it.
Thank you Ben, these videos you do honestly are the best videos on RUclips and really shed true light onto situations, real world scenarios on the UK police and how they operate. We have lost the ability in this country to use common sense in most cases now, as you mentioned, guilty until innocent, I hate the way the UK and western society is going, we use to listen to people who had experience, background within an area, now, we just listen to anyone who doesnt have the first idea of the world or topic they are talking about. We have the best police force in the world by far, just take a look at all the other countries and then think, why do people flock to the UK over everywhere else? Maybe, its because we are a safe haven. Lets protect the ones willing to risk their lives for our safety rather than villianising them.
I totally agree, much respect to any AFO. I just think it's a shame (and this will be controversial) that properly vetted & trained ordinary citizens cannot carry in this country, taking some of the load & responsibility for protecting themselves & others. Not the "free for all" that is the USA of course but there are a good number of people that would be capable and willing to invest their own time & money to do so.
Minor points but please differentiate N Ireland from Ireland Ben. Ireland is a separate country and has been for a century. Also all police in N Ireland are armed, unlike in England, Scotland and Wales.
regarding the armed police incident and that officer being put on trial. The ''victim'' was a known criminal, who apparently led police on a pursuit - which would be of his own choice, so he may have made the conscious decision not to comply and instead commit crime. if this is true... the only person to blame is the criminal. anything that happens to a criminal whilst committing crime is solely on their shoulders and the powers in charge should ensure this is the case. if a scumbag gets a broken nose, fractured ribs, dislocated shoulder, bruises etc whilst resisting arrest then he shouldn't have resisted. if someone fails to obey a command by armed police and is shot, whether innocent or not its solely on them for being an idiot. even a dog knows how to obey a command so there is no excuse for a human to not do so. i have 0 sympathy for scumbags who get hurt whilst committing crime, if anything they deserve it and police are forced to be too light handed with them. rehabilitation doesn't work anymore because the punishment isn't fitting of the crime, there needs to be extreme punishments for all violent crime, drug dealing, sexual assaults etc. extreme enough that the fear alone is a deterrent to the vermin on the streets something places like saudi arabia, russia have down perfectly. self defence law should also be changed, enabling you to do legally anything to a criminal who attacks you, breaks into your home etc. criminals aren't afraid of targeting law abiding people because they know there's not much someone will do out of both fear of the criminal and fear of being prosecuted themselves reasonable force is a joke. if a criminal knows if they break into someone's house they can be legally put down like the sewer rat they are, they will think twice and the taxpayers wouldn't have to fund prisons for them. again if they get hurt whilst committing crime its entirely their own fault.
Police do not go into their job lightly or for a laugh, they run towards danger whilst the rest of us run away. Much respect to all our men & women in the thin blue line.
Ben that was definitely one of your best. I still can't believe that officer has been charged with murder, we will have to see what the prosecution has to bring such a charge. IMHO they have made things worse and an officer will die due to overthinking due to this case. Total respect to those that have kept their card and those that have handed it in.....
I've only had one experience with fire arms officers. I was sitting in a café near my then home. When armed officers burst in through the two doors the café had. The officer who came in through the main door had his gun drawn. I heard later the post office a few doors down got robbed. The only other armed officers I've seen. Were in London and on foot patrol.
Fantastic and heart felt video mate. In todays woke society it’s so refreshing to hear someone tell it how it is, if you’re a scrote, and hang around with other scrotes that carry weapons and firearms then do not take lightly the consequences of when you and your gangs carry or use them.
Absolute brilliant video Ben, good to see a fresh perspective after all that the media’s been shouting. Just to mention when you said there was around 6,000 firearms officers across the whole GB and Northern Ireland, beat cops in N.I are routinely armed with a force size of around 7,200 at this point (we’re losing an officer a day). Around 3,500 of our officers are trained as well to routine carry a H&K G36C (Response cops as well!!) as well as a taser (Our response bobbies don’t get tasers).
I'm just sitting here, having made good life choices. Really not worried about armed police. I like how professional our police are in this country. I suspect that I'm part of the "silent majority".
7:48 I remember walkin down a local road and had a g36 pointed at me with laser on my chest as I was waking down street minding my own business by psni but I later found out there was a bombscare and I wasn’t made aware until I seen ato with blast suit walkin dewn the street with the robot and I was wearing all black
Ben i have customers that are firearms officers, they have always been open with what they deal with. I could not go out and do there job, not knowing if today is the day i don’t go home or I get investigated for a split second decision.
As a contrarian I'd look at the alternative perspective: there have been (held to be lawful) police shootings where the suspect was shot and yet had *no chance* of surrendering or complying first. The shooting might have been justified but the operation was staged in such a way that at the point of engagement an officer shooting someone was pretty much inevitable. Having seen bodycam footage of police in the 'states it's pretty clear that it often doesn't have to be this way and there is sometimes something very wrong during the planning and lead-up here in the U.K. There's also the matter of when a shooting occurs and the officers' accounts disagree with those of (independent) members of the public. I know of at least one case where somewhat unusually 3 independent members of the public saw and agreed on one series of events, one which would have made the shooting potentially unlawful whereas the involved officers, after having time to discuss what had happened settled on another materially different narrative. "fit that mold" - I know of two stories which have been in the papers, one where presumably specially selected firearms officers were photographed playing around with their guns(!) and another where an instructor was effectively told to 'shut up' over his objections to safety rules and regulations being ignored during training. We only know about this because later on an officer was accidentally shot and killed. IOPC: They don't seem to be very good at their job. Just as one example, a former officer performed an illegal overtake in her car and in doing so crushed the cyclist against some railings and inflicted serious injuries as a result. The cyclist recorded this thanks to front & back cameras and posted this along with footage of the former officer claiming they would not be charged thanks to their previous job in the police. The cyclist posted the letters he had received showing the force who investigated refusing to pursue the matter and the IOPC agreeing.
Full support to the Police. The boys are second to none in terms of training, and deserve far more respect than they get for the peril they put their own lives in to keep the public safe.
We absolutely need armed response officers to confront the most dangerous persons in the most extreme circumstances. Firearms officers are volunteers. They don't get paid extra to put themselves in those situations. They are there to protect themselves, their unarmed colleagues & the public. When an Officer Involved Shooting happens, then there must be a formal investigation but we need to stop demonising officers for making that split-second decision to use deadly force. Yes, if there is wrongdoing then they should be held to account professionally and by law but there has to be a better way.
absolutely agreed ben. people think its like the american cops who shoot first and ask questions later but our force is totally different. even somewhere like france normal police officers regularly carry firearms
Well said, Ben, anyone Who decides to go into the firearms side of the police force to me? They are heroes,not a decision I would like to make ...do I pull the trigger? ......Great video...
All officers in Northern Ireland carry a handgun of some type (Glock or equivalent), and then you have the Tactical Support Group that has rifles (G36C). What are your thoughts on all officers carrying a weapon, or do you think only Traffic, Dog, and TSG should carry a firearm?
Glad I don't live in NI then is all I can say. If they wanted all cops to carry firearms, how would they afford the training..? Or would it just be a 6-week course, here's your gun..? That day comes, I'm out of here.
I don't understand what this officer did wrong.... How has the cps justified the murder charge. The idiot tried to drive away from armed police, straight through the officer who fired. Why is this officer getting hosed like this?
If you don't have the rifle in a bag then someone would probably call the police and then yeah you would be stopped by armed police, but you wouldn't be arrested
Hi are fire arms cops trained in tpac and pursuit like road traffic police training or not as I see a lot of armed police cars in car pursuits aswell? :)
I think most UK forces give their Armed Response Vehicle drivers TPAC training in case they have to stop a vehicle carrying a weapon, but this also means that they can respond to regular pursuits if needed
@@rossdavidson2722 I also see on the interceptor programs and stuff the armed response vehicles when on patrol they do traffic stops and stuff for insurance etc so are they basically the same powers as road police but extra training with fire arms ?
Ive been in a hard stop and it is far from fun because of who i had in my car. I was young and believe me after that i made better life choices. They dont just shoot people do as youre told and youll be fine or make better choices. My son lived in london and in his last flat he was forever getting stuck in the house because of firearm incidents. Play stupid games win stupid prizes. You carry a gun youll end up dead or in jail for life.
Ben am not perfect but everything you say is true if a police officer tells you not to move regardless if the policeman has a fire arm or not then you dont move as i said am not perfect but kudos to those officers that do a good job
We need to have specialist firearms officers in the UK to counter any drugs, firearms and terrorism offences in the uk, we have a small group of officers that are specialist trained compared to taser trained officers. We have CTSFO who are another level of firearms officers that we have in the United Kingdom. The crime rate in the uk right now we need these officers on the streets, people think these guys do abit of training…. These guys train every day to keep there training up to the top standards, to be CTSFO you apply for that your not selected from firearms… these guys decide that position. Give them the respect
Fully support armed Police and do believe we should have more of them, but officers were not handing their tickets because of prosecution risk following clear cut incidents such as the terrorist attacks you described or because of having to live with guilt of shooting someone. They were handing them in due to those marginal thin line cases where they have perceived a threat (such as someone reaching) and having that split second decisions to take action trawled over by some idiots in an office with all the time in the world to pick apart that officers decision without any personal consequences.
I’m not anti police. Far from it. But those of us outside London need to understand how despised The Met is in London by even ordinary people. In fact I’ve got police officers as customers who are in home countries forces and even they hate the met. So look at it from the publics point of view. There’s a very real opinion that Met officers consider themselves above the law. Look at all the scandals with them in recent years. Now you have the armed officers basically saying we will hand in our weapons if you make us subject to the law the same as every other uk citizen would be. Basically this officer hasn’t been convicted yet. But the Met Officers have already decided that he’s innocent. No matter if a jury finds him guilty or innocent. Another example of the thousands of times the met close ranks. The law is the law. If you think as an officer that you should be excluded from it then I say hand in your warrant card not just your firearm cos you ain’t the sort of person who should be a copper. The examples you gave are clearly ridiculous. If there is an ongoing terrorist attack and an officer witnesses people with knives strapped to them then quite clearly there’s a threat to life and there’s absolutely no way that’s gonna end up in court. Even the officers that killed Jean Charles were never in a million years gonna get convicted. The issue arises when officers dont see a weapon and they shoot someone because he moved and no weapon is found. As far as I’m aware no officer has even been prosecuted for killing a person with a weapon. Killing someone because you think he might have a weapon and he moves and then it turns out he wasn’t even armed should be properly investigated. That is all that has happened here. Every doctor, every nurse etc expects to have their actions investigated if somebody dies. Why do firearms officers think they shouldn’t be subject to the same level of professional scrutiny? Are we saying if a doctor makes a call on a person, gets it wrong and they die that no one has the right to investigate it?
the met armed police didn’t hand in their weapons because of the investigation. they handed in their weapons because the officer was charged. i would be certain that other armed officers felt that the shooting was justified and would have done the same themselves if they were put in that dangerous situation.
It makes me sad that good honest highly trained Police officers are being scrutinized by just doing the job they're trained and paid to do!!!! Why??? If it weren't for these truly brave officers this country would be in a worst state. Brave officers!
Great video Ben I have never understood it if a police officer is pointing a weapon at you telling you what to do and you ignore it don't moan if anything happens and you get hurt do as your told and don't break the law
I'm a Brit that has been lucky enough to spend a fair bit of time in different countries where police officers are armed routinely and I have to say, I am far happier around the UK firearms officers because of their superior training, a less 'gung ho' attitude, (especially where Italian Officers are present), and just a better class of police officer. I have three close friends, one American female detective sergeant in child protection, a Canadian K9 officer and a Brit firearms officer. The American has used her service firearm on multiple occasions, the Canadian K9 officer, also multiple uses of his service firearm. My British firearms cop friend has pointed his long barrelled firearm on numerous occasions but has never discharged his firearm anywhere except on the training range. Why? Better training in my opinion. And just a note here, why, if a police officer tells you to 'show me your hands' wouldn't you comply? What is wrong with these idiots that don't do as they are told but an AUTHORISED FIREARMS OFFICER who can shoot you if he feels he, his colleagues or members of the public are at risk? Why would you not comply? Stupidity? Poor language skills? Criminally low IQ of 6 is the more likely answer I suppose. You just cannot fix stupid. When a cop screams at you 'SHOW ME YOUR HANDS' just show him, all he wants to do is go home at the end of the day. To all UK police officers, from me, thank you for your service. Us sensible citizens really appreciate what you do and will endeavour to help wherever we can.
I used to work with a lad who was set on becoming a firearms officer with the Met. He only made it to PCSO with Norfolk police and gave up. He was an idiot and I'm surprised he made it that far. 😅
Its like saying we don't need an army because we've not been invaded 100s of years just because we dont need them right now doesnt mean we dont need them in the future
I carry a gun on duty, I carry a gun off duty. If I’m there, I’m armed. I still have zero desire to shoot a person. Unfortunately the choice to fire or not is often made for the officer when the criminal makes certain decisions. All that said, I knew the risks when I signed up, I knew I may have to put someone down and made my peace with it a long time ago. It’s my duty as an officer to protect the public and my duty as a father and husband to protect my loved ones to the best of my ability. It is what it is. Why not allow the individual officers decide whether or not they want to carry a firearm? Those who say yes can then be put through the testing and training required to do so.
First of all I support ALL police 100% and have nothing but respect for them, second good on them, third I feel (unless a police officer went rouge just like in the films & tv) that the charge of corporate manslaughter is more appropriate as the police officer is just the very pointy tip to the whole thing.
Growing up I really wanted to join the police with the aim of becoming an FO, or maybe go down the anti terrorism route with the MOD but over time seeing how punished people get by simply doing their jobs and trying to protect people it's completely put me off ANY form of enforcement job. Even now I'm a tree inspector for the council but I refuse to apply for tree officer or environmental enforcement roles because I know I'm going to have to enforce things like tree protection notices and I'd get harassed for the doing the correct thing. I get harassed plenty as it is. I wish there was a way I could get all the FOs and such in one place to say thank you: because I do not envy the crap they have to endure just to get access to a pretty gruelling job.
Fantastic video! As well as the public, the main people that need to see this are the IOPC and CPS who currently just love getting every police officer in trouble and either sacking them or putting them in prison. How can you police without hesitation when the you have the constant fear of getting in trouble because some piece of shit at a job you’ve attended puts you in such a sticky situation that you know even if you do what would protect members of the public and yourself you will get in trouble, or the other option is to get seriously injured and potentially suffer life changing injuries. People need to realise there is a reason the police service numbers are dwindling and officers are leaving at record numbers, because when you do an already thankless job and now you have the entire media against you and no one, and I mean no one, stands up for you or stands by you, what is the point? You could be the best officer and somehow all the people above would find a reason to get you in trouble and ruin your life. Sorry for the mini rant but it needs to be put out there
People are so quick to blame these officers, and yet they forget they only pull the trigger if there is an active perceived threat. DO AS YOUR TOLD AND YOU WON'T GET SHOT. Its that easy. Even the London Bridge attackers, if as soon as the AFOs showed up they lay on the ground and stayed still, they may have been arrested not shot, that's how highly trained these officers are, despite the chances of them wearing explosives
Unfortunately not as simple as this, too often throughout the world people are shot by police for doing nothing wrong. Too trigger happy police far too common, every officer should always consider the consequences, hesitate if need be.
@peterd4011 most global police officers don't get the training ours do. Often firearms are much more common than in the UK so officers not in the UK are more likely to present a firearm and make that split second decision which can go wrong. The only people I would feel safe pointing a firearm at me are the british AFOs, because I do I won't get hurt
I’ve always said the same: if your stopped by the police (firearms or otherwise) for whatever reason. Just stop. If you’re not breaking the law, you have nothing to fear.. A couple of years ago (in Bradford) 3 men died in an accident while they fled from the police.. the CCTV showed the police were at least half a mile behind them. The 3 lads hit a tree at a ridiculous speed and died.. there was uproar because they died and apparently were law abiding people but genuinely my only thought was “well they broke the law” they fled for whatever reason drove recklessly and died.. it’s harsh but true (well at least for the driver) if he had just stopped and held his hands up, it would never have happened.. the police were not to blame at all. The same can be said for firearms officers killing a person, if that person has broken the law, not followed the instructions of said officer and possed a genuine threat, then yes use the force required to stop them again don’t break the law and you won’t get killed. Firearms officers are fairly regularly scene around Bradford unfortunately and I have no sympathy for those people who break the law and every respect for the officers doing their job.
I'm all for armed units, but just like regular police, mistakes need to be answered. If a Gold commander has given an order and that order was wrong, the whole chain of that command from the Gold commander who gave the order, the Silver command who relayed the order, and then the officer/s who carried out that order, should all answer for mistakes. More times than not, they get it right, but the mistakes always overshadow the successful operations. We're not talking terrorists with bombs and knives, we're talking fatal mistakes due to bad intelligence or mistaken identity. Police followed Chris Kaba with no sirens or lights, he was never a suspect, and no firearms recovered. So, how was he a threat to life exactly? How is his death lawful? I normally agree with you, Ben, but your career makes yoh blind at times. Police are humans too, humans make mistakes, sometimes BIG ones that can't be taken back and must be answered for
chris kaba WAS a threat at the time of the shooting though, and thats the point. he didn’t have a firearm, but he used his vehicle as a weapon. he was given lawful orders by the police and didn’t comply. the firearms officer was protecting themself, their colleagues and the public. and it’s not like the vehicle was stopped for no reason, it was a vehicle linked to a firearms incident. the police had every reason to believe that the individual in the vehicle may be armed and dangerous
As an American, I find it baffling that the single group most opposed to generally arming police in the UK is the police themselves. According to the polls I found, about 80% of UK officers don't want to be armed, while a majority of the public at large would prefer that all officers carry guns. I'm sure that the average police officer in the UK has judgement skills comparable to the average American officer, so I can't help but wonder why UK officers are so reluctant to take on this responsibility?
It’s “tradition“. British police, except Northern Ireland, has never carried firearm in entire history of policing. As an Australian, I find this baffling too. All police officers are armed and their firearm are a last resort. We’d hate to see our police disarmed. But Brits can do whatever they want. It’s their country. Given the current state of the country, I find it mad that they would refuse.
Everyone always slags the Police off, easy target. What a lot of people don't realise is that without the Police we're fucked! Obviously all officers have to be held accountable because we can't them just doing what they like. I don't claim to know many details about the officer charged (only what I've read in the news like everyone else) but they were clearly on an approved operation. I've never even been stopped or pulled over in my car or motorcycle by regular Police let alone armed Police and I'm coming up 49 and been driving for years! I've been stopped once on a bicycle when I was 14 coming home from a mates house around 10pm as there'd been a report of a stolen bicycle and mine fit the description. Very amicable encounter, I stopped as soon as I was asked to. They explained why they were stopping me and it was all pleasant. I simply told them where I was coming from and going home and that my bike has a serial number and not stolen etc... they let me go on my way and just told me to get some lights on! That's it, that's my life's encounter with the Police. Then again, I don't break the law, I don't steal, I don't ride in stolen cars and I don't associate with any criminals. I wonder why I've had no encounters with the Police, funny that... Good video, Ben. Let's hope that if this officer was just doing his job within the law then he is acquitted. 👍👍
I got pulled for speeding a few years ago. I was only a few mph over the limit, so I just got a bollocking. I didn't have the nerve to tell the guy one of his headlights wasn't working 🤣
Look if we have self defence then they should have the same when discharging there weapons... as you say NO body els would dare to put themselves forward, If you don’t want to be shot don’t do the crime and put people in danger
Both my other half and I dread the day that all police in the UK are armed. We'll go from having a relatively small but highly trained officers who are armed to having 160,000 cops with mediocre training at the best. I can think of a few I've known I wouldn't trust with a water pistol.
It's really simple. If you don't want to get shot, then be a good lawful citizen, don't associate with criminals or be involved with illegal firearms or ride in cars linked with firearms offenses. Do what the police say.
Wow Ben, what a great video, so clear and spoken from the heart. And it''s so true what you say, just stand there if a dangerous situation arises. I don't... i'm glad with our police, they also are condemned for their actions( the Netherlands) and it makes me mad when people swearing at them, pelting them with very heavy fireworks. I have a heart with a thick blue border, i support them, and also the police in England. We really need them, support them, bless them. You were an amazing cop Ben. And i still admire you. 💙❤💪
Given the scale of stabbings in the U.K. it should be the norm that every officer has a side arm. In the states that side arm is more for the officers own self protection than saving the public. Saving the public would be more of a SWAT team to deal with. I honestly dont know why anyone in the U.K. would take up such a dangerous job as policing without having the ability to protect ones own life from a threat of death from some perp. The rest of Europe's police forces carry side arms. Australia police are armed obviously the U.S and pretty much every police force around the world. British police officers lives are just as valuable as any other countries police are. England is no longer a polite society those days are long gone. Im a ex pat myself i do not feel like i live in a police state, probably because im a law abiding citizen, we obviously have the 2nd amendment here in the U.S. so owning guns and seeing armed police is the norm. Little police woman carries a Glock 17, or a Sig Sauer. No one bats an eyelid. Tourists from the U.K. come to Europe or the U.S they dont freak out at the sight of a side arm on a police officer. Its all about normalization the gun does not have a life of its own. It actually saves life's.
If it's just a looney bin waving a knife around the air, then communication skills are put to work first. Different story if it's terrorists actively stabbing/ shooting innocent civilians. Not a job I could do in a million years. I found 1 week of C & R training tough enough with only one of those days wearing full riot gear.
Not all gun owners are criminals, a huge number of people have lawful access to section 1 and even section 5 firearms. I think your criticism of those who have guns should be aimed at those who unlawfully posess them.
Hand on heart, would I have responded, unarmed, and gone toe to toe with someone that had knives taped to their hands? Absolutely. I've been tested many times, and my response is the same. I die before a random innocent bystander, let alone a loved one. This isn't bravado, I've been through the training. When asked for volunteers to help find a bomb, mine is the first hand up. The worst thing that would happen to me is that a firearms officer might mistake me for an aggressor and shoot me (spoiler alert, wouldn't be the first time a firearms officer has shot me). I bare no ill will to those that do, and in fact, my will talks about it - that should I die to a firearms officer, I would rather they are NOT prosecuted. When was the last time I was confronted by a firearms officer? Bradford riots, 2001. I was being a d**k and I got what I deserved. I've also been bitten by a dog (RAF dog that thought it was a training exercise - I demanded the dog did not come to any harm). To any firearms officers that might see this - I respect your choice. The law needs to be changed to protect you guys. You're human, humans make mistakes. You should be judged on the belief in the moment? Does the person appear dangerous? Squeeze. If your intent is good, you're innocent in my book.
We all understand why they hand in there permits but it is sad to know we need these fire arms officers due to the fact that regular police can't take lethal force on other armed subjects.
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I'm a paramedic here in the UK and if it wasn't for a firearms officer, I wouldn't have been putting my son to bed tonight and kissing my fiance and saying "Goodnight". We got sent to a stabbing and were told the attacker had fled the scene. On arrival we walked into a house that can only be described as a scene from a horror film - smashed furniture and blood everywhere with a young lady laying on the floor, intestines hanging out and was clinging on for consciousness. As we tried to help the patient she looked up the stairs and screamed, whilst simultaneously all the colour drained from my colleague's face with fear. At the top of the stairs was the attacker with a 16 inch carving knife, completely covered in blood and the look of someone who was possessed and was ready to kill. What felt like an absolute lifetime was seconds as they charged at us and our patient, I threw my defibrillator at them to get some distance and bolted out of the door. As I fled the property I was greeted by two firearms officers (who I assume must have heard the screaming) with their firearms drawn and without a moment of hesitation shot the attacker. That day, those two officers saved my life, my close friend's life and the life of a young woman.
So this is one person who stands by my colleagues on the thin line and will say that firearms are ESSENTIAL in the current climate that we live in. Anyone who wants to prosecute a police officer for performing the duties that are expected of them, but do not have the moral courage to put the boots on and do it themselves, is nothing short of a coward in my eyes.
My Ambo friend in Australia, went to a heart attack call, greeted the wife he walked around the kitchen table the husband was seated lying forward, he had knife wound to the chest, next the wife came at my Ambo friend with a carving knife, he threw his oxygen bottle at her and this knocked her backward, he jumped over the sofa and out the front door, hit the radio distress button, was running 100 metres down the street with the crazy wife about 50 metres behind with wife knife in hand, then a police car (thankfully close by) spend around the the corner and the officers had the crazy knife lady at gun point. In Florida USA and Cape Town South Africa Ambulance Officers carry small pistols ie 38 revolvers.
@@grahamwatts8836 Another example where an armed officer preserved life with the use of a firearm. I agree that not every police officer needs to have full tactical kit and carry round an assault rifle, but like you said a pistol is enough to stop most in their tracks. Fact of the matter is knife crime is on the rise, people are able to 3D print something that can be used like a firearm at home and people with mental health struggles are on the rise. The chap who ran at us was a paranoid schizophrenic who was in the middle of a psychotic episode and was is able to walk to the shops and pick up that knife straight off the shelf… Which shows how easily attackers can arm themselves.
I totally agree the UK is one of few countries where police are typically unarmed, in Australia police went in the 1970's from being mostly unarmed to nowadays always armed. They should carry more long arms in the vehicles ie a shotgun.
Very very well put. Thank you for that account, hopefully it opens some people's eyes.
My step brother is a paramedic. Thanks for what you do.
I'm medically trained (plus other things), and recently had someone knock on my door at 1am with a "help! I can't feel my legs" - because of resourcing problems and the fact I'm fairly remote, it took the ambulance crew about 3h30 to get to him. Luckily for him, he knocked on the right door, and was conscious while being loaded into the ambulance. I and the attending firearms officers took in turn to do CPR while we waited for his "yellow taxi"
If an armed criminal is shot by armed police in the UK, it's probably the first time in their life that they've encountered any meaningful sanction on their behaviour.
Very well said - erudite phrasing imo
Absolutely spot on ben. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
Play with feathers and your going to get your ass tickled
I would like to say Firearms officers keep up the good work you have our support
As a UK firearms Officer, I would just like to say thanks for making this video. 💙
Hero!!! Big love pal xxxxx
Thank you for keeping our country safe.
Please stay safe and keep doing what you're doing
awesome video. maturing is realizing how much we take the police for granted
I could listen to Ben for hours on end. I love listening to him and all his stories.
if the people in charge had the common sense ben had, the police would be capable of doing their jobs properly. and there would be very few criminals roaming the streets.
sadly the powers in charge like to treat criminals as innocents, favouring the idiocy of rehabilitation over punishment.
@@2khotshot Ben is a narcissistic prick.
Brilliantly explained Ben,hope everyone has learned a lot from this!
It’s hard to argue with what you have said there. The pressure and responsibility must be enormous. Unfortunately, society relies upon someone to take that split second decision and most of us wouldn’t want to be in that position.
I've had firearms officers aim their weapons at me (until they realised I wasn't the person they were looking for). I can honestly say that I've never felt more safe and calm than I did right then.......because I fully understood just how highly trained they are and how they wouldn't even consider pulling the trigger unless I gave them a very good reason to do so........which, being that I've never been in trouble with the police, I also knew I had no intention of doing.
I genuinely feel more nervous crossing the road which I think says it all. Excellent video Ben 🙂
lol what happened
@@trixualz219 probably had his number plate cloned, and that plate was probably linked to a serious firearms incident
100% agree that we need armed police in the UK and fully support them. But can well understand why they are worried about being charged for what WE won't them to do 😢
Excellent Ben, summed the position up well.
A good video with strong information. As ex forces and trained in armed guard duty I can say from my prospective that pulling that trigger would be a near last resort for me and understand that the police have a much harder thought process with dealing with the public.
Had a few interactions with Firearms police from being in the ambulance service every time friendly professional. Never aggressive or jus wanting to get there guns out. Oh and always brought there balls of steal... brave people.
Brilliant Ben , I agree with you totally. Respect to all firearms officers .👮♀️ ❤
100 percent agree with everything you said ben
Brilliant video Ben and excellent points. I don’t think it’s the vast majority of the public who you have to convince we need armed Police, it’s the IOPC who seem hell bent on prosecuting Officers for simply doing their job.
I was working right near the London bridge attack was lucky to have those police around and have served many of them in the pub i worked.
Absolutely spot on.
You’ve been hard stopped by armed police
They’ve drawn assault rifles to your head and asked you not to move.
The only reason one would make a sudden movement would be:
A) Out of stupidity, well done 👏
B) To resist arrest with a weapon on par with an assault rifle/gun
Another brilliant video Ben. As usual you have broken down your examples and used a common sense approach. Armed police get my support.
It’s easy to take the piss out of the crayon munchers but they run towards stuff that 99% of the general
Public/police officers won’t. Big respect to them.
Nobody will know what happened in London unless you see the body worn and or you are involved in the incident so we are not to judge
Nice one Ben another great video, keep up the good work
Couldn't agree with you more Ben !! Well said and stated !!
Thank you Ben!
A number of other countries have required military service. I almost wish there was a way for required attachments or service in the police, fire and ambulance just so the public can have one single atom of an idea of the pressures faced.
Interesting video Ben. I think it’s definitely those cases where an officer has to make an in-the-moment judgement about risk that we need to be talking about. Officers do need to be held to a high standard for pulling the trigger. After all, that’s why they’re highly trained. And I doubt (but correct me if I’m wrong) that many firearms officers would suggest they shouldn’t have any accountability or be wholly immune from any consequence. But at the same time, there’s a real problem if it goes so far that it makes officers hesitate in the crucial moment, or leads them to abandon the job. I don’t envy their position - it’s such a tough role, so it’s great you’re helping raise that public conversation about how we draw that line.
if someone gets hurt or dies whilst committing a crime, its entirely their own fault.
the only investigation should be, was the individual committing a crime? yes he was involved in a pursuit with a long criminal record. take the shot job done.
for the cost of a few rounds that officer saved the taxpayers 35k a year and 10s of thousands in court fees, saved countless future victims of crime and sent a clear message to the pondlife sewer rats out there that crime isn't tolerated.
@@2khotshot except that’s not true at all. The mere fact you have committed a crime doesn’t make you a non-citizen who is outside the law (I think there’s discussion of this in R v Jogee - although that deals with joint enterprise). It would be absurd to think we could gun down a 14 year old who’s nicking a chocolate bar. Even if it’s a more serious criminal, the entire point of a justice system is proportional punishment. The law, made by elected officials, will provide for a certain form of punishment. The police are not enforcing the law if they can ignore that and have a pass to shoot any criminal. The police do a fantastic job - and also a really difficult one - and we trust our police to be fair and reasonable. I don’t envy firearms cops - it’s a huge responsibility. That’s why we need a grown up conversation about it.
All the morons that say ACAB/Defund the Police etc. Who is the first people they call when a little bit of trouble comes their way?
Exactly!
recently in the USA one such incident, where a councilwoman went berserk about the luny nazi gun totting police dept local to her should be defunded, then 2 weeks later she was carjacked in her drive with her 2 young babies present and they kicked the crap out of her, she was on the news while they where patching her up about having the cops get them and sort them out and how heros the cops where, seems if your in the shit you want cops to stop it.
Because we're not allowed to sort things ourselves, you muppet.
100 percent , well done Ben
Thank you Ben, these videos you do honestly are the best videos on RUclips and really shed true light onto situations, real world scenarios on the UK police and how they operate. We have lost the ability in this country to use common sense in most cases now, as you mentioned, guilty until innocent, I hate the way the UK and western society is going, we use to listen to people who had experience, background within an area, now, we just listen to anyone who doesnt have the first idea of the world or topic they are talking about. We have the best police force in the world by far, just take a look at all the other countries and then think, why do people flock to the UK over everywhere else? Maybe, its because we are a safe haven. Lets protect the ones willing to risk their lives for our safety rather than villianising them.
Well said. 👏
Ben 100% truth there put the message across brilliantly
I totally agree, much respect to any AFO. I just think it's a shame (and this will be controversial) that properly vetted & trained ordinary citizens cannot carry in this country, taking some of the load & responsibility for protecting themselves & others. Not the "free for all" that is the USA of course but there are a good number of people that would be capable and willing to invest their own time & money to do so.
Absolutely brilliant video to watch keep up the good work
Minor points but please differentiate N Ireland from Ireland Ben.
Ireland is a separate country and has been for a century.
Also all police in N Ireland are armed, unlike in England, Scotland and Wales.
Nicely put Ben.
Ben… once again… a brilliant video. Top man. Live in BD. Hopefully bump into at some point pal x
Fantastic video mate
regarding the armed police incident and that officer being put on trial.
The ''victim'' was a known criminal, who apparently led police on a pursuit - which would be of his own choice, so he may have made the conscious decision not to comply and instead commit crime.
if this is true...
the only person to blame is the criminal.
anything that happens to a criminal whilst committing crime is solely on their shoulders and the powers in charge should ensure this is the case.
if a scumbag gets a broken nose, fractured ribs, dislocated shoulder, bruises etc whilst resisting arrest then he shouldn't have resisted.
if someone fails to obey a command by armed police and is shot, whether innocent or not its solely on them for being an idiot. even a dog knows how to obey a command so there is no excuse for a human to not do so.
i have 0 sympathy for scumbags who get hurt whilst committing crime, if anything they deserve it and police are forced to be too light handed with them.
rehabilitation doesn't work anymore because the punishment isn't fitting of the crime, there needs to be extreme punishments for all violent crime, drug dealing, sexual assaults etc. extreme enough that the fear alone is a deterrent to the vermin on the streets something places like saudi arabia, russia have down perfectly.
self defence law should also be changed, enabling you to do legally anything to a criminal who attacks you, breaks into your home etc. criminals aren't afraid of targeting law abiding people because they know there's not much someone will do out of both fear of the criminal and fear of being prosecuted themselves reasonable force is a joke. if a criminal knows if they break into someone's house they can be legally put down like the sewer rat they are, they will think twice and the taxpayers wouldn't have to fund prisons for them. again if they get hurt whilst committing crime its entirely their own fault.
Police do not go into their job lightly or for a laugh, they run towards danger whilst the rest of us run away. Much respect to all our men & women in the thin blue line.
Ben that was definitely one of your best. I still can't believe that officer has been charged with murder, we will have to see what the prosecution has to bring such a charge. IMHO they have made things worse and an officer will die due to overthinking due to this case. Total respect to those that have kept their card and those that have handed it in.....
I've only had one experience with fire arms officers. I was sitting in a café near my then home. When armed officers burst in through the two doors the café had. The officer who came in through the main door had his gun drawn. I heard later the post office a few doors down got robbed. The only other armed officers I've seen. Were in London and on foot patrol.
Fantastic and heart felt video mate. In todays woke society it’s so refreshing to hear someone tell it how it is, if you’re a scrote, and hang around with other scrotes that carry weapons and firearms then do not take lightly the consequences of when you and your gangs carry or use them.
Absolute brilliant video Ben, good to see a fresh perspective after all that the media’s been shouting.
Just to mention when you said there was around 6,000 firearms officers across the whole GB and Northern Ireland, beat cops in N.I are routinely armed with a force size of around 7,200 at this point (we’re losing an officer a day). Around 3,500 of our officers are trained as well to routine carry a H&K G36C (Response cops as well!!) as well as a taser (Our response bobbies don’t get tasers).
I'm just sitting here, having made good life choices.
Really not worried about armed police.
I like how professional our police are in this country.
I suspect that I'm part of the "silent majority".
7:48 I remember walkin down a local road and had a g36 pointed at me with laser on my chest as I was waking down street minding my own business by psni but I later found out there was a bombscare and I wasn’t made aware until I seen ato with blast suit walkin dewn the street with the robot and I was wearing all black
Ben i have customers that are firearms officers, they have always been open with what they deal with. I could not go out and do there job, not knowing if today is the day i don’t go home or I get investigated for a split second decision.
Great video
Great post
Thanks Ben
As a contrarian I'd look at the alternative perspective: there have been (held to be lawful) police shootings where the suspect was shot and yet had *no chance* of surrendering or complying first. The shooting might have been justified but the operation was staged in such a way that at the point of engagement an officer shooting someone was pretty much inevitable. Having seen bodycam footage of police in the 'states it's pretty clear that it often doesn't have to be this way and there is sometimes something very wrong during the planning and lead-up here in the U.K.
There's also the matter of when a shooting occurs and the officers' accounts disagree with those of (independent) members of the public. I know of at least one case where somewhat unusually 3 independent members of the public saw and agreed on one series of events, one which would have made the shooting potentially unlawful whereas the involved officers, after having time to discuss what had happened settled on another materially different narrative.
"fit that mold" - I know of two stories which have been in the papers, one where presumably specially selected firearms officers were photographed playing around with their guns(!) and another where an instructor was effectively told to 'shut up' over his objections to safety rules and regulations being ignored during training. We only know about this because later on an officer was accidentally shot and killed.
IOPC: They don't seem to be very good at their job. Just as one example, a former officer performed an illegal overtake in her car and in doing so crushed the cyclist against some railings and inflicted serious injuries as a result. The cyclist recorded this thanks to front & back cameras and posted this along with footage of the former officer claiming they would not be charged thanks to their previous job in the police. The cyclist posted the letters he had received showing the force who investigated refusing to pursue the matter and the IOPC agreeing.
Full support to the Police. The boys are second to none in terms of training, and deserve far more respect than they get for the peril they put their own lives in to keep the public safe.
And girls! Love from a 10 year service firearms officer x
Well said Ben
We absolutely need armed response officers to confront the most dangerous persons in the most extreme circumstances.
Firearms officers are volunteers. They don't get paid extra to put themselves in those situations. They are there to protect themselves, their unarmed colleagues & the public.
When an Officer Involved Shooting happens, then there must be a formal investigation but we need to stop demonising officers for making that split-second decision to use deadly force.
Yes, if there is wrongdoing then they should be held to account professionally and by law but there has to be a better way.
absolutely agreed ben. people think its like the american cops who shoot first and ask questions later but our force is totally different. even somewhere like france normal police officers regularly carry firearms
Well said, Ben, anyone Who decides to go into the firearms side of the police force to me? They are heroes,not a decision I would like to make ...do I pull the trigger? ......Great video...
All officers in Northern Ireland carry a handgun of some type (Glock or equivalent), and then you have the Tactical Support Group that has rifles (G36C). What are your thoughts on all officers carrying a weapon, or do you think only Traffic, Dog, and TSG should carry a firearm?
Glad I don't live in NI then is all I can say. If they wanted all cops to carry firearms, how would they afford the training..? Or would it just be a 6-week course, here's your gun..? That day comes, I'm out of here.
@@TestGearJunkie. Police don't use them unless necessary, unlike the US. The reason for this is the domestic terror threat is so high.
Well said 👍👏
I feel exactly the same coming from the military, you have to think before you pull the trigger, and that's ridiculous
I don't understand what this officer did wrong.... How has the cps justified the murder charge.
The idiot tried to drive away from armed police, straight through the officer who fired.
Why is this officer getting hosed like this?
Can I get stopped by an armed officer if I’ve just been and bought an air rifle and have left shop or coming back from the range
If you don't have the rifle in a bag then someone would probably call the police and then yeah you would be stopped by armed police, but you wouldn't be arrested
Well said
Spot on!
spot on Ben 👍🏻👍🏻
if people (not in the know) want an insight to AFOs there are a few good books out there written by Ex AFOs,
There are so many people that need to hear this as common sense was left at the birthing place. Thank you Ben for this POWERFUL message
so out the few armed officers we have how many on average would be ex forces?
Hi are fire arms cops trained in tpac and pursuit like road traffic police training or not as I see a lot of armed police cars in car pursuits aswell? :)
I think most UK forces give their Armed Response Vehicle drivers TPAC training in case they have to stop a vehicle carrying a weapon, but this also means that they can respond to regular pursuits if needed
@@rossdavidson2722 I also see on the interceptor programs and stuff the armed response vehicles when on patrol they do traffic stops and stuff for insurance etc so are they basically the same powers as road police but extra training with fire arms ?
@@sh4un333 not entirely sure, but it seems that way, at least in Yorkshire.
I think the general rule is, if you’re advanced driver trained you can stop cars
Ive been in a hard stop and it is far from fun because of who i had in my car. I was young and believe me after that i made better life choices. They dont just shoot people do as youre told and youll be fine or make better choices. My son lived in london and in his last flat he was forever getting stuck in the house because of firearm incidents. Play stupid games win stupid prizes. You carry a gun youll end up dead or in jail for life.
Ben am not perfect but everything you say is true if a police officer tells you not to move regardless if the policeman has a fire arm or not then you dont move as i said am not perfect but kudos to those officers that do a good job
We need to have specialist firearms officers in the UK to counter any drugs, firearms and terrorism offences in the uk, we have a small group of officers that are specialist trained compared to taser trained officers. We have CTSFO who are another level of firearms officers that we have in the United Kingdom. The crime rate in the uk right now we need these officers on the streets, people think these guys do abit of training…. These guys train every day to keep there training up to the top standards, to be CTSFO you apply for that your not selected from firearms… these guys decide that position. Give them the respect
Fully support armed Police and do believe we should have more of them, but officers were not handing their tickets because of prosecution risk following clear cut incidents such as the terrorist attacks you described or because of having to live with guilt of shooting someone. They were handing them in due to those marginal thin line cases where they have perceived a threat (such as someone reaching) and having that split second decisions to take action trawled over by some idiots in an office with all the time in the world to pick apart that officers decision without any personal consequences.
I’m not anti police. Far from it. But those of us outside London need to understand how despised The Met is in London by even ordinary people. In fact I’ve got police officers as customers who are in home countries forces and even they hate the met. So look at it from the publics point of view. There’s a very real opinion that Met officers consider themselves above the law. Look at all the scandals with them in recent years. Now you have the armed officers basically saying we will hand in our weapons if you make us subject to the law the same as every other uk citizen would be. Basically this officer hasn’t been convicted yet. But the Met Officers have already decided that he’s innocent. No matter if a jury finds him guilty or innocent. Another example of the thousands of times the met close ranks. The law is the law. If you think as an officer that you should be excluded from it then I say hand in your warrant card not just your firearm cos you ain’t the sort of person who should be a copper.
The examples you gave are clearly ridiculous. If there is an ongoing terrorist attack and an officer witnesses people with knives strapped to them then quite clearly there’s a threat to life and there’s absolutely no way that’s gonna end up in court. Even the officers that killed Jean Charles were never in a million years gonna get convicted. The issue arises when officers dont see a weapon and they shoot someone because he moved and no weapon is found. As far as I’m aware no officer has even been prosecuted for killing a person with a weapon. Killing someone because you think he might have a weapon and he moves and then it turns out he wasn’t even armed should be properly investigated. That is all that has happened here. Every doctor, every nurse etc expects to have their actions investigated if somebody dies. Why do firearms officers think they shouldn’t be subject to the same level of professional scrutiny? Are we saying if a doctor makes a call on a person, gets it wrong and they die that no one has the right to investigate it?
the met armed police didn’t hand in their weapons because of the investigation. they handed in their weapons because the officer was charged. i would be certain that other armed officers felt that the shooting was justified and would have done the same themselves if they were put in that dangerous situation.
It makes me sad that good honest highly trained Police officers are being scrutinized by just doing the job they're trained and paid to do!!!! Why??? If it weren't for these truly brave officers this country would be in a worst state. Brave officers!
Had me at the pigeon
Great video Ben I have never understood it if a police officer is pointing a weapon at you telling you what to do and you ignore it don't moan if anything happens and you get hurt do as your told and don't break the law
I'm a Brit that has been lucky enough to spend a fair bit of time in different countries where police officers are armed routinely and I have to say, I am far happier around the UK firearms officers because of their superior training, a less 'gung ho' attitude, (especially where Italian Officers are present), and just a better class of police officer. I have three close friends, one American female detective sergeant in child protection, a Canadian K9 officer and a Brit firearms officer. The American has used her service firearm on multiple occasions, the Canadian K9 officer, also multiple uses of his service firearm. My British firearms cop friend has pointed his long barrelled firearm on numerous occasions but has never discharged his firearm anywhere except on the training range. Why? Better training in my opinion. And just a note here, why, if a police officer tells you to 'show me your hands' wouldn't you comply? What is wrong with these idiots that don't do as they are told but an AUTHORISED FIREARMS OFFICER who can shoot you if he feels he, his colleagues or members of the public are at risk? Why would you not comply? Stupidity? Poor language skills? Criminally low IQ of 6 is the more likely answer I suppose. You just cannot fix stupid. When a cop screams at you 'SHOW ME YOUR HANDS' just show him, all he wants to do is go home at the end of the day. To all UK police officers, from me, thank you for your service. Us sensible citizens really appreciate what you do and will endeavour to help wherever we can.
Great video! But not sure how many tourists I’ve seen running around with knives??????
I used to work with a lad who was set on becoming a firearms officer with the Met. He only made it to PCSO with Norfolk police and gave up. He was an idiot and I'm surprised he made it that far. 😅
Its like saying we don't need an army because we've not been invaded 100s of years just because we dont need them right now doesnt mean we dont need them in the future
I carry a gun on duty, I carry a gun off duty. If I’m there, I’m armed. I still have zero desire to shoot a person. Unfortunately the choice to fire or not is often made for the officer when the criminal makes certain decisions.
All that said, I knew the risks when I signed up, I knew I may have to put someone down and made my peace with it a long time ago. It’s my duty as an officer to protect the public and my duty as a father and husband to protect my loved ones to the best of my ability. It is what it is.
Why not allow the individual officers decide whether or not they want to carry a firearm? Those who say yes can then be put through the testing and training required to do so.
Less than 3 minutes in and I fully agree
First of all I support ALL police 100% and have nothing but respect for them, second good on them, third I feel (unless a police officer went rouge just like in the films & tv) that the charge of corporate manslaughter is more appropriate as the police officer is just the very pointy tip to the whole thing.
Growing up I really wanted to join the police with the aim of becoming an FO, or maybe go down the anti terrorism route with the MOD but over time seeing how punished people get by simply doing their jobs and trying to protect people it's completely put me off ANY form of enforcement job.
Even now I'm a tree inspector for the council but I refuse to apply for tree officer or environmental enforcement roles because I know I'm going to have to enforce things like tree protection notices and I'd get harassed for the doing the correct thing. I get harassed plenty as it is.
I wish there was a way I could get all the FOs and such in one place to say thank you: because I do not envy the crap they have to endure just to get access to a pretty gruelling job.
Fantastic video! As well as the public, the main people that need to see this are the IOPC and CPS who currently just love getting every police officer in trouble and either sacking them or putting them in prison. How can you police without hesitation when the you have the constant fear of getting in trouble because some piece of shit at a job you’ve attended puts you in such a sticky situation that you know even if you do what would protect members of the public and yourself you will get in trouble, or the other option is to get seriously injured and potentially suffer life changing injuries.
People need to realise there is a reason the police service numbers are dwindling and officers are leaving at record numbers, because when you do an already thankless job and now you have the entire media against you and no one, and I mean no one, stands up for you or stands by you, what is the point? You could be the best officer and somehow all the people above would find a reason to get you in trouble and ruin your life. Sorry for the mini rant but it needs to be put out there
People are so quick to blame these officers, and yet they forget they only pull the trigger if there is an active perceived threat. DO AS YOUR TOLD AND YOU WON'T GET SHOT. Its that easy. Even the London Bridge attackers, if as soon as the AFOs showed up they lay on the ground and stayed still, they may have been arrested not shot, that's how highly trained these officers are, despite the chances of them wearing explosives
Unfortunately not as simple as this, too often throughout the world people are shot by police for doing nothing wrong. Too trigger happy police far too common, every officer should always consider the consequences, hesitate if need be.
@peterd4011 most global police officers don't get the training ours do. Often firearms are much more common than in the UK so officers not in the UK are more likely to present a firearm and make that split second decision which can go wrong.
The only people I would feel safe pointing a firearm at me are the british AFOs, because I do I won't get hurt
I’ve always said the same: if your stopped by the police (firearms or otherwise) for whatever reason. Just stop.
If you’re not breaking the law, you have nothing to fear..
A couple of years ago (in Bradford) 3 men died in an accident while they fled from the police.. the CCTV showed the police were at least half a mile behind them.
The 3 lads hit a tree at a ridiculous speed and died.. there was uproar because they died and apparently were law abiding people but genuinely my only thought was “well they broke the law” they fled for whatever reason drove recklessly and died.. it’s harsh but true (well at least for the driver) if he had just stopped and held his hands up, it would never have happened.. the police were not to blame at all.
The same can be said for firearms officers killing a person, if that person has broken the law, not followed the instructions of said officer and possed a genuine threat, then yes use the force required to stop them again don’t break the law and you won’t get killed. Firearms officers are fairly regularly scene around Bradford unfortunately and I have no sympathy for those people who break the law and every respect for the officers doing their job.
Grate video Ben if people chose not to take a long hard look in the mirror and don’t take responsibility for themselves walk away is my advise.
I'm all for armed units, but just like regular police, mistakes need to be answered. If a Gold commander has given an order and that order was wrong, the whole chain of that command from the Gold commander who gave the order, the Silver command who relayed the order, and then the officer/s who carried out that order, should all answer for mistakes. More times than not, they get it right, but the mistakes always overshadow the successful operations. We're not talking terrorists with bombs and knives, we're talking fatal mistakes due to bad intelligence or mistaken identity. Police followed Chris Kaba with no sirens or lights, he was never a suspect, and no firearms recovered. So, how was he a threat to life exactly? How is his death lawful? I normally agree with you, Ben, but your career makes yoh blind at times. Police are humans too, humans make mistakes, sometimes BIG ones that can't be taken back and must be answered for
chris kaba WAS a threat at the time of the shooting though, and thats the point. he didn’t have a firearm, but he used his vehicle as a weapon. he was given lawful orders by the police and didn’t comply. the firearms officer was protecting themself, their colleagues and the public. and it’s not like the vehicle was stopped for no reason, it was a vehicle linked to a firearms incident. the police had every reason to believe that the individual in the vehicle may be armed and dangerous
As an American, I find it baffling that the single group most opposed to generally arming police in the UK is the police themselves. According to the polls I found, about 80% of UK officers don't want to be armed, while a majority of the public at large would prefer that all officers carry guns. I'm sure that the average police officer in the UK has judgement skills comparable to the average American officer, so I can't help but wonder why UK officers are so reluctant to take on this responsibility?
It’s “tradition“. British police, except Northern Ireland, has never carried firearm in entire history of policing.
As an Australian, I find this baffling too. All police officers are armed and their firearm are a last resort. We’d hate to see our police disarmed.
But Brits can do whatever they want. It’s their country. Given the current state of the country, I find it mad that they would refuse.
Everyone always slags the Police off, easy target. What a lot of people don't realise is that without the Police we're fucked! Obviously all officers have to be held accountable because we can't them just doing what they like. I don't claim to know many details about the officer charged (only what I've read in the news like everyone else) but they were clearly on an approved operation.
I've never even been stopped or pulled over in my car or motorcycle by regular Police let alone armed Police and I'm coming up 49 and been driving for years! I've been stopped once on a bicycle when I was 14 coming home from a mates house around 10pm as there'd been a report of a stolen bicycle and mine fit the description. Very amicable encounter, I stopped as soon as I was asked to. They explained why they were stopping me and it was all pleasant. I simply told them where I was coming from and going home and that my bike has a serial number and not stolen etc... they let me go on my way and just told me to get some lights on!
That's it, that's my life's encounter with the Police. Then again, I don't break the law, I don't steal, I don't ride in stolen cars and I don't associate with any criminals. I wonder why I've had no encounters with the Police, funny that...
Good video, Ben. Let's hope that if this officer was just doing his job within the law then he is acquitted. 👍👍
I got pulled for speeding a few years ago. I was only a few mph over the limit, so I just got a bollocking. I didn't have the nerve to tell the guy one of his headlights wasn't working 🤣
Look if we have self defence then they should have the same when discharging there weapons... as you say NO body els would dare to put themselves forward,
If you don’t want to be shot don’t do the crime and put people in danger
Both my other half and I dread the day that all police in the UK are armed. We'll go from having a relatively small but highly trained officers who are armed to having 160,000 cops with mediocre training at the best. I can think of a few I've known I wouldn't trust with a water pistol.
Well Ben, at least you’ve stopped calling them “tourists”, but what the heck is a “tirrist” when it’s at home? 😂
Repeat after me TERROR - IST 👍👍
It's really simple. If you don't want to get shot, then be a good lawful citizen, don't associate with criminals or be involved with illegal firearms or ride in cars linked with firearms offenses. Do what the police say.
Wow Ben, what a great video, so clear and spoken from the heart. And it''s so true what you say, just stand there if a dangerous situation arises. I don't... i'm glad with our police, they also are condemned for their actions( the Netherlands) and it makes me mad when people swearing at them, pelting them with very heavy fireworks. I have a heart with a thick blue border, i support them, and also the police in England. We really need them, support them, bless them. You were an amazing cop Ben. And i still admire you. 💙❤💪
Given the scale of stabbings in the U.K. it should be the norm that every officer has a side arm. In the states that side arm is more for the officers own self protection than saving the public. Saving the public would be more of a SWAT team to deal with. I honestly dont know why anyone in the U.K. would take up such a dangerous job as policing without having the ability to protect ones own life from a threat of death from some perp. The rest of Europe's police forces carry side arms. Australia police are armed obviously the U.S and pretty much every police force around the world. British police officers lives are just as valuable as any other countries police are. England is no longer a polite society those days are long gone.
Im a ex pat myself i do not feel like i live in a police state, probably because im a law abiding citizen, we obviously have the 2nd amendment here in the U.S. so owning guns and seeing armed police is the norm. Little police woman carries a Glock 17, or a Sig Sauer. No one bats an eyelid.
Tourists from the U.K. come to Europe or the U.S they dont freak out at the sight of a side arm on a police officer. Its all about normalization the gun does not have a life of its own. It actually saves life's.
If it's just a looney bin waving a knife around the air, then communication skills are put to work first. Different story if it's terrorists actively stabbing/ shooting innocent civilians.
Not a job I could do in a million years. I found 1 week of C & R training tough enough with only one of those days wearing full riot gear.
Not all gun owners are criminals, a huge number of people have lawful access to section 1 and even section 5 firearms. I think your criticism of those who have guns should be aimed at those who unlawfully posess them.
Dude…..I think you know it is……
Hand on heart, would I have responded, unarmed, and gone toe to toe with someone that had knives taped to their hands? Absolutely.
I've been tested many times, and my response is the same. I die before a random innocent bystander, let alone a loved one. This isn't bravado, I've been through the training. When asked for volunteers to help find a bomb, mine is the first hand up. The worst thing that would happen to me is that a firearms officer might mistake me for an aggressor and shoot me (spoiler alert, wouldn't be the first time a firearms officer has shot me). I bare no ill will to those that do, and in fact, my will talks about it - that should I die to a firearms officer, I would rather they are NOT prosecuted.
When was the last time I was confronted by a firearms officer? Bradford riots, 2001. I was being a d**k and I got what I deserved. I've also been bitten by a dog (RAF dog that thought it was a training exercise - I demanded the dog did not come to any harm).
To any firearms officers that might see this - I respect your choice. The law needs to be changed to protect you guys. You're human, humans make mistakes. You should be judged on the belief in the moment? Does the person appear dangerous? Squeeze. If your intent is good, you're innocent in my book.
We all understand why they hand in there permits but it is sad to know we need these fire arms officers due to the fact that regular police can't take lethal force on other armed subjects.
I also don’t know the victim, Ben but he won’t be missed.