List of police firearms in the United Kingdom

Law enforcement
in the United Kingdom
Topics
Equipment
Types of agency
Types of agent

Most British police officers are not routinely armed.[1] Instead, they rely on specially trained Authorised Firearms Officers (AFO) to attend incidents where firearms might be needed. Specialist Firearms Officers are usually trained to a higher standard than an AFO, because they are likely to be the officers required to enter besieged premises. The vast majority of firearms used by British police are semi-automatic. Police use of force regarding firearms is governed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Weapons used by Home Office police forces

Firearms used by police officers vary between police forces in the UK. The Chief Constable and Police authority of each force decides the number of firearms officers and type of police firearms available.

In 2010, 5.56mm calibre carbines were widely introduced in case of a Mumbai style terrorist attack.[2][3]

Firearms issued to Authorised Firearms Officers include:

Pistols

  • Glock 17 pistol.
  • Glock 26 pistol (issued to plain clothes officers of London's Metropolitan Police).
  • Glock 19 pistol (issued to South Yorkshire Police as a variant to the Glock 17 pistol).
  • SIG Sauer P229- (issued to West Midlands Police)
  • SIG Sauer P250 (issued to Cleveland police in 9mm, however not to Durham constabulary despite them sharing an armed response team)

Carbines and rifles

An officer of the Metropolitan Police Service guarding Downing Street with a MP5SFA3 semi-automatic carbine. It has an EOTech 512 holographic sight attached.

Shotguns

Grenade Launcher

Northern Ireland

Unlike territorial police forces in England, Scotland and Wales, the Police Service of Northern Ireland routinely arms all of its officers.[22] Officers are issued the Glock 17 pistol, phasing out the now obsolete Ruger Speed-Six revolvers previously issued. Historically, long arms were routinely issued: either the Sterling submachine gun and later Heckler & Koch MP5, or rifles such as Heckler & Koch G3s, G36 K and C variants, or HK33s. The latter replaced Ruger AC-556 select fire rifles. Long arms are still routinely carried in areas of higher threat such as North and West Belfast or various border areas.

Weapons used by non-Home Office police forces

A Ministry of Defence Police Officer on duty with an SA80 L85A2

British Transport Police

Most British Transport Police officers are unarmed. British Transport police AFOs carry:

Belfast Harbour Police

Like the PSNI, Belfast Harbour Police officers are issued the Glock 17 pistol.

Belfast International Airport Constabulary

Like the PSNI, officers of the Belfast International Airport Constabulary are issued the Glock 17 pistol whilst on duty. Officers are also authorised to carry Heckler & Koch MP5 support weapons, similar to those used by the PSNI prior to the adoption of the Heckler & Koch G36.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) officers are routinely armed while carrying out their duties. CNC officers carry:

CNC officers also operate the armament on board the ships of the company Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited,[24] which specialise in transporting spent nuclear fuel and reprocessed uranium on behalf of the British Nuclear Fuels organisation.[25] Such ships have an on-board escort of armed police.[26][27] The Civil Nuclear Constabulary use a range of heavier weapons up to automatic cannon of 30mm calibre deployed on the ships.

Ministry of Defence Police

Historic firearms

In the past, police have been issued:

References

  1. ↑ Archived 20 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Gardham, Duncan (15 April 2010). "Military-style guns for police to fight terrorists on the streets". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "Report on the Ninth International Law Enforcement Forum - International Law Enforcement Recommendations on Preventing and Countering Armed Attacks". Interpol. 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Vikram Dodd (28 October 2009). "Scotland Yard's commissioner scraps plan for armed police patrols in London | UK news". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  5. ↑ Williams, David (27 April 2012). "Tottenham Court Road bomb scare reveals police team preparing for London 2012 Olympics". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  6. ↑ "Firearms". Cheshire Constabulary. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010.
  7. ↑ Wrenn, Eddie; Blake, Matt (27 April 2012). "Topless Tottenham Court Road siege suspect 'demanded a refund from the licence office after he FAILED his HGV driving test'". Daily Mail. London.
  8. ↑ "Photograph" (JPG). Oi55.tinypic.com. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  9. ↑ "British Armed Response Unit". Elite UK Forces. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  10. ↑ Archived 1 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ "Photograph" (JPG). Staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  12. ↑ Greenwood, Colin (18 November 2015). "Chilling new face of police in Britain: Female 'robocops' dressed in military fatigues and armed with semi-automatic rifles are new face of counter-terrorism". Associated Press. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Vikram Dodd. "Scotland Yard creates SAS-style unit to counter threat of terrorist gun attack | UK news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  14. ↑ Middleton, Ashley (2012-10-27). "Firearms unit | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". Flickr.com. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  15. ↑ "All sizes | Throckmorton | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". Flickr.com. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  16. ↑ "Armed police swoop on Hampshire community (From Daily Echo)". M.dailyecho.co.uk. 2014-08-13. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  17. ↑ Sculthorpe, Tim (3 August 2016). "ISIS, meet the C-Men: Scotland Yard shows off the first of 600 awesomely armed (and masked) Counter-Terrorism firearms officers who hit the streets today in vans, boats and MOTORBIKES". Daily Mail. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  18. ↑ Musson, Chris; Gray, Rebecca (28 March 2017). "ARMED ALARMED Scots cops don't have tools to deal with two neds never mind terrorists as they call for armed officers". The Scottish Sun. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  19. ↑ "Chester Chronicle: Chester News, Chester FC, Sport & What's On". Iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  20. ↑ Omega Foundation (March 2003). Baton Rounds - A review of the human rights implications of the introduction and use of the L21A1 baton round in Northern Ireland and proposed alternatives to the baton round (PDF). Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. ISBN 1903681332.
  21. ↑ "Met unveils new baton gun". BBC News. 21 August 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  22. ↑ "Northern Ireland". Encarta. msn. Archived from the original on 27 August 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2007. Unlike police forces in the rest of the United Kingdom, the PSNI is an armed force.
  23. 1 2 "Firearms used by British Transport Police - Freedom of Information Request 794-14" (PDF). British Transport Police. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  24. ↑ "PNTL Fleet". Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  25. ↑ "Nuclear fuel ship docks in Japan". BBC News. 27 September 1999. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  26. ↑ Brown, Paul (20 January 1999). "Nuclear fuel ships to be armed with heavy guns". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  27. ↑ "UK British nuclear fuel ships armed". BBC News. 8 July 1999. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  28. ↑ "Surrey Constabulary: Part 4: A Policing Revolution: 1976-1992". Open.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-30.

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