SOUTH Yorkshire Police could be \u201crobbing Peter to pay Paul\u201d due to a lack of authorised firearms officers, the force\u2019s Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Budget cuts, along with the reputation of firearms being a stressful role, has led to units being understaffed and overstretched, according to Chair Zuleika Payne.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cHere in South Yorkshire we have a situation that mirrors the national picture in that we certainly need an uplift in our firearms capability.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are currently reviewing our structures because ultimately we are still short of the number of firearms officers that we need and we have got to find an effective way of uplifting our capability in responding to firearms situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ve also lost a significant number of officers to neighbouring forces, so again the mechanism put in place to uplift our firearms capability has meant that actually we\u2019re just achieving a status quo at the moment. We are finding ourselves sometimes robbing Peter to pay Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n
The force collaborates with Humberside Police in firearms, as well as traffic, but there are not the officer numbers to keep the units full, Ms Payne said.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe also we need to address how we attract people into specialist posts and how we encourage those officers who feel that they have a leaning towards becoming a firearms officer, how we support and train those particular individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly there\u2019s still a sentiment among the troops that there perhaps isn\u2019t the support for police officers, and when you look at some of the recent cases and recent shootings up and down the country, and you listen to the accounts from those officers, it\u2019s an incredibly stressful role to be in. Certainly post incident following a discharge of a weapon\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, chiefs are undertaking a review of the number of armed and Taser-carrying numbers nationally. And the Police Federation of England and Wales is surveying members on whether there is an appetite for routine arming of officers.<\/p>\n
Chief Constables are to consider \u201cwhether some currently unarmed police officers in key locations should be armed\u201d as part of a \u201creview of the national armed police response in light of the changing threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the quarterly meeting of Chief Constables Council, held in July, police leaders launched a review of both gun and Taser capability in England and Wales \u201clooking at the risk to the public and our officers who are first on the scene\u201d.<\/p>\n
The review will be led by two NPCC committees: the operations committee led by Chief Constable Alec Wood and counter-terrorism led by Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley.<\/p>\n