Where will we get money for extra firearms officers?

AS the number of authorised firearms officers continues to fall, the Service will have to take people from other policing roles if it is to fulfil the Government’s pledge to increase the number of officers carrying guns.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Neil Bowles has questioned the practicality of the Government’s pledge to add an extra 1,500 firearms officers in England and Wales.

He said: “We have been instructed by the Government to increase the number of firearms officers in the wake of terrorist atrocities in Europe. The first problem is that there is no new money, so how does this get financed?

“To just put one more armed response vehicle on the road 24/7 requires at least 12 officers. Where do they come from? Other Policing roles of course.”

New figures show that the number of police firearms officers in England and Wales has fallen for the fourth year in a row.

According to Home Office figures, there were 5,639 authorised firearms officers in forces across England and Wales as of 31 March – down by around 1,000 over the past five years.

And Mr Bowles has questioned whether officers will now want to put themselves forward to carry a weapon – as it is a voluntary role.

He said: “Who wants to be an AFO? If you actually use a weapon you have been trained to use and authorised by the state to use, you will be treated like a criminal. Proceedings can last decades. Who would want to put themselves and their families through that?

“We also have a problem unique to South Yorkshire in that the management of our authorised firearms officers has been so poor recently due to the collaboration with Humberside, that a large number of current AFOs have applied to transfer to West Yorkshire.”

He also said the firearms officers that remain in South Yorkshire are also often called out to routine incidents if they are able to get there quicker than another crew.

“This always has been the norm in South Yorkshire,” he said. “If an ARV is the closest resource it is deployed to incidents, with the understanding it may be re-deployed to a firearms-specific incident.”