Political Crossfire Forums

DSwain · Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 3552

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2396260,00.html

It's really not a good time for British and Irish coppers on diplomatic duty - a Muslim officer is excused duty in London from outside the Israeli Embassy and the inquiry comes back on these two silly fellows who got boozed up in Dublin last year. These guys have a lot of service between them so it would be a shame for them to lose their jobs over this - but they should certainly be removed to less sensitive duties.

wyldejackyl · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 7195 Location: Chicago, IL

made me laugh- how stereotypical!

maxtsu · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 1854 Location: European Union

If you are caught DUI you get an automatic disqualification.
Being on duty with a live firearm carrys even more weight. Therefore the consequences should be just as severe.

Angelicus · Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 4652

Its ridiculous to have cops without firearms to begin with.

thundertaker · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:56 am Post subject:

Angelicus wrote: Its ridiculous to have cops without firearms to begin with.

A lot of high-profile tragic accidents have occured in this country when cops have been armed, resulting in innocent people being killed or injured. In a country were armed crime is very rare, it is actually more sensible not to arm the police, most police officers I know do not want to be routinely armed....

maxtsu · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 1854 Location: European Union

thundertaker wrote: Angelicus wrote: Its ridiculous to have cops without firearms to begin with.

A lot of high-profile tragic accidents have occured in this country when cops have been armed, resulting in innocent people being killed or injured. In a country were armed crime is very rare, it is actually more sensible not to arm the police, most police officers I know do not want to be routinely armed....
The UK & the Republic of Ireland are the last two countries in the world where their police force do not carry firearms (possibly).

The idea is good. De-arm both the police and the public. Remove firearms from the equation.

But recently you can see reports all the time of inner-city gangs with guns. Drive-by shootings, etc.
Birmingham, London, Manchester, they are awash with guns now.
So I believe it would make better sense to start arming the police.

I understand the arguments against arming the police.
What I would say is the police force, as a whole, need to be trained in firearms, and the usage in public.

wyldejackyl · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 7195 Location: Chicago, IL

Arm the public too. It's a mistake to have to rely on someone else to come to your rescue instead of being able to defend your own life. I would never ever live in the UK for just that reason!

Limey Boosk · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 183 Location: Yorkshire, England

Britain has rapid response gun units. If a copper turns up and someone is waving a gun around they fall back and call up one of the units.

Sometimes takes an hour or two though. Donuts do not take kindly to being left half eaten. So says Doobey the doofnut God.

Limey Boosk · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 183 Location: Yorkshire, England

Quote: I would never ever live in the UK for just that reason!

:lol: Ya big girls blouse!

I have been all over Britain, in the day and at night. Never been hastled at cashpoints, never seen a knife, gun or anything.

Methinks the American media are peddling the British crime thing to make them look good.

maxtsu · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 1854 Location: European Union

wyldejackyl wrote: Arm the public too. It's a mistake to have to rely on someone else to come to your rescue instead of being able to defend your own life. I would never ever live in the UK for just that reason!
If you allow the public to be armed. You then allow any loony-tune to get his hands on some guns.
Well...we have seen the results in the news recently.

IMO keep guns out of the public domain. For use of security forces only.

Limey Boosk · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 183 Location: Yorkshire, England

yep, I agree. And put anyone caught with a gun in the pokey for 5 years with a black camp man.

Mikate8 · Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 385 Location: Crazy Florida

Too bad the public in ireland and england and the police aren't allowed to own guns because criminals don't have to listen to such silly laws, they get guns anyway illegally like most criminals do

Snake · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 21776 Location: e-Thuggin

Holy crap, there's so many jokes, from cop jokes to stereotypical Irish jokes and beyond. I can't believe nobody jumped on this opportunity. What a waste :(

DSwain · Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 3552

Kamel wrote: Holy crap, there's so many jokes, from cop jokes to stereotypical Irish jokes and beyond. I can't believe nobody jumped on this opportunity. What a waste :(

Clearly everyone's getting a bit too intellectual / PC for a good old fashioned joke modelled around prejudice! For shame.

Di · Joined: 30 Aug 2004 Posts: 1061 Location: Northern Calif

Hmm, according to NationMaster Statistics, The UK is actually #6 in total crime per capita with 85.5517 per 1,000 while the USA is #8 with 80.0645 per 1,000. This is total crime, not just armed or unarmed crime. Still it's an interesting statistic since most Brits seem to be under the impression that the USA is the most crime-ridden country on the planet!! What surprised me was New Zealand, Finland and Denmark being #2, #3 and #4, respectively!

Ok, carry on with the "arm/disarm police" discussion. :)

thundertaker · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:06 pm Post subject:

Di wrote: Hmm, according to NationMaster Statistics, The UK is actually #6 in total crime per capita with 85.5517 per 1,000 while the USA is #8 with 80.0645 per 1,000. This is total crime, not just armed or unarmed crime. Still it's an interesting statistic since most Brits seem to be under the impression that the USA is the most crime-ridden country on the planet!! What surprised me was New Zealand, Finland and Denmark being #2, #3 and #4, respectively!

Ok, carry on with the "arm/disarm police" discussion. :)

The only crime relevent when it comes to the issue of arming the police is that involving weapons and violence. Generally speaking, police don't need to be tooled up to enforce laws against shoplifters........

DSwain · Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 3552

Di wrote: Hmm, according to NationMaster Statistics, The UK is actually #6 in total crime per capita with 85.5517 per 1,000 while the USA is #8 with 80.0645 per 1,000. This is total crime, not just armed or unarmed crime. Still it's an interesting statistic since most Brits seem to be under the impression that the USA is the most crime-ridden country on the planet!! What surprised me was New Zealand, Finland and Denmark being #2, #3 and #4, respectively!

Ok, carry on with the "arm/disarm police" discussion. :)

This Brit isn't under that impression; I always felt considerably safer in NYC than in London.

Snake · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 21776 Location: e-Thuggin

DSwain wrote:
Clearly everyone's getting a bit too intellectual / PC for a good old fashioned joke modelled around prejudice! For shame. The Irish are white, so it's ok to make stereotype jokes about them. :wink:

Di · Joined: 30 Aug 2004 Posts: 1061 Location: Northern Calif

thundertaker wrote: Di wrote: Hmm, according to NationMaster Statistics, The UK is actually #6 in total crime per capita with 85.5517 per 1,000 while the USA is #8 with 80.0645 per 1,000. This is total crime, not just armed or unarmed crime. Still it's an interesting statistic since most Brits seem to be under the impression that the USA is the most crime-ridden country on the planet!! What surprised me was New Zealand, Finland and Denmark being #2, #3 and #4, respectively!

Ok, carry on with the "arm/disarm police" discussion. :)

The only crime relevent when it comes to the issue of arming the police is that involving weapons and violence. Generally speaking, police don't need to be tooled up to enforce laws against shoplifters........

Oh, my! It hadn't occurred to me that the gentle Brits might be the shoplifting, non-violent crime capital of the world. So I checked again...

Assaults per capita... UK is #8; USA is #6
Robberies per capita... UK is #8; USA is #11
Murder per capita... UK is #46; USA is #24
Rape per capital... UK is #23; USA is #9
Murder with firearms per capita... UK is #32, USA is sadly #8
Burglaries per capital... UK is #7, USA is #17 (Austrailia, oddly, is #1!)

There's more of course, but my point here is that no matter which country we live in, perhaps we should spend less time pointing fingers and more time gazing in the mirror. Guns or no guns, I don't think either the UK or the USA has a right to be particularly smug or self-righteous when it's clear that violent crime is a problem in both countries.

Snake · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 21776 Location: e-Thuggin

double post