LONDON – Wielding submachine guns and pistols, British police are making rare armed patrols in crime-blighted London neighborhoods — a change in law enforcement tactics that may prompt calls for the wideruse of weapons by the country's traditionally unarmed Bobbies.
London's police department said Friday that a new armed unit is carrying out regular sweeps of districts riven by gun battles between rival drug gangs.
Unlike typical police procedure, the team of about 20 officers actively seeks out criminals carrying or storing guns — rather than waiting to respond to emergency calls about incidents involving weapons.
Chief Inspector Neil Sharman said the unit began work in June to tackle pockets of rising gun crime, and will double in size from November amid concerns over the increasing use of weapons in Britain's capital.
In contrast to the United States and many European nations, British police have never routinely carried firearms on patrol, with only a limited number of specialist officers trained to use guns. Britain's Home Officesaid being unarmed is part of the "character of the police" in the U.K.
"In the past the police were authority figures dealing primarily with people who respected the police. However, as terrorism and crime increases in the U.K. the traditional icon of the Bobby on the beat is becoming incapable of dealing with terrorists and violent crime," said Bob Ayers, a London-based former U.S. intelligence officer.
