600 more armed officers expected to join Met Police

Britain’s law enforcement agency has unveiled plans to increase the number of armed officers amid fear that London could witness Paris-like attacks.

Under the plan, 600 more officers will be added to the existing 2,200 Metropolitan Police force. According to Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the initiative is in direct response to the November mayhem in the French capital that claimed 130 lives.

“The tragic attacks in Paris reinforced the vital role that firearms officers would be called upon to play on behalf of all of us, to run forward and confront the deadly threat that such attackers would pose,” Hogan-Howe said in a statement. "It will be an expensive option, but is vital to keeping us safe."

Hogan-Howe said, however, that only less than 10% officers will remain armed as he has “no intention of changing the fundamental principle” that British police do not routinely carry guns.

“My firearms officers are our heroes – we expect them to run towards a terrorist attack and take action to confront and stop that threat,” he said.

On Wednesday, Hogan-Howe also spoke about an increased legal protection for armed officers. That’s in line with a policy by Prime Minister David Cameron who recently said that the government is considering legal changes to protect officers involved in shooting terrorists.

Some analysts caution the government on relaxing control over the use of fire arms by officers. 

"We have to be incredibly careful about relaxing the necessity of officers, take very clear guidelines and controls over the use of fire arms. The whole idea that we should make it easier to kill is frightening. We should remember that nobody has died because police failing to shoot terrorists but we have had somebody who died. An innocent man called Jean Charles da Silva e de Menezes, an electrician of Stockwell because the firearm was discharged wrongly. So an over-militaristic culture would be a very dangerous response. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader was correct to say that any relaxation of the control on firearms would be very worrying indeed",  Alan Gibbons, an award-winning author and political commentator told Press TV. 

Under the new scheme, armed patrols will be more than double with further 400-600 officers will receive firearms training. The announcement is also part of a wider plan across England and Wales where the number of armed officers have fell over the past couple of years.

"The whole community in the UK needs to be protected. I think the Labour party’s Andy Burnham is right that we need transparency about the funding and protecting all our cities not just the capital. Attacks could be occurred Manchester, Liverpool, anywhere to be honest,” Gibbons said.

Chris Phillips, former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, has also said that forces around the country needed the same level of support."We have seen individuals who are terrorists living in other parts of the country and they could just as easily decide to attack Bristol or Portsmouth as London," he said.

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.

Opposition Labour party that  forced Chancellor George Osborne to back down on his planned cuts to the police, has given cautious welcome to the news of extra police force. The party hasraised the question as where the money is now coming from.

"If it's taken out of neighborhood 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."Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said.

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