SIX HUNDRED extra armed officers are to be trained and put on the streets of London in case of ‘terrorist attack’, bolstering the number of armed police in the capital to 2,600.
The extra recruitment comes after Scotland Yard ‘reassessed its ability to stop terrorism’.
The 600 extra officers will receive firearms training. UK counter-terrorism chiefs also revealed for the first time that police marksmen were being told to walk over casualties and go forward to confront gunmen should there be an attack.
They will be trained to ignore civilians wounded by the terrorists who need attention, and to go straight in for the kill with shots to the head. Outgoing City of London Police Commissioner Adrian Leppard also suggested the Army could be called in to man ‘armed cordons’ if there were multiple gun and bomb attacks, as happened in Paris.
Tory Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered a review of the use of guns by police in England and Wales, following the Paris attacks, which left 130 people dead. The review will examine giving the police impunity from prosecution if they wrongly shoot someone dead, to enable them ‘not to hesitate’ in pulling the trigger.
The police themselves are meanwhile campaigning for immunity from prosecution in the event of civilians being killed by police ‘friendly fire’. The Home Office has made £34m available to improve police firearms capacity and help forces deal more quickly and effectively with a possible gun attack.
Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary, said Labour gave the news a ‘cautious welcome’ after ‘successfully forcing George Osborne to back down on his planned cuts to the police at the Spending Review’. ”We do have to ask where the money is coming from,’ he said.
‘If it’s taken out of neighbourhood policing so we see police officers come off the beat, or if it’s money that isn’t then available to other big cities around the country, then that wouldn’t be right.’