LeEnfield
Active member
I came across this article today,
[/url]
The military could be hired by chief constables to work as temporary armed police, Britain's top police officer has suggested.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair called on officers to be "bold" and consider a range of radical changes to police pay and working practices.
Sir Ian's proposals on using soldiers as firearms officers on Britain's streets are hugely controversial in the wake of his force's shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in July.
"Could we bring staff directly in from the armed forces, give them a small amount of basic training and then clear instructions as to their firearms duties ... to undertake only those duties," he said.
Other civilians could be brought in on short-term contracts to carry out surveillance and financial investigations or to work as mounted officers or underwater search teams, Sir Ian suggested in a speech to the Police Superintendents' Association conference in Warwickshire.
He also set himself on a collision course with rank and file officers by demanding the abolition of the body which negotiates police pay on a national basis.
The Commissioner said there should be an "escalator of powers" which could vary the powers available to police officers and other workers such as civilian community support officers (CSOs).
He told delegates: "We should press for the abolition of the Police Negotiating Board and move towards regional agreements around pay and conditions for police officers."
[/url]
The military could be hired by chief constables to work as temporary armed police, Britain's top police officer has suggested.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair called on officers to be "bold" and consider a range of radical changes to police pay and working practices.
Sir Ian's proposals on using soldiers as firearms officers on Britain's streets are hugely controversial in the wake of his force's shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in July.
"Could we bring staff directly in from the armed forces, give them a small amount of basic training and then clear instructions as to their firearms duties ... to undertake only those duties," he said.
Other civilians could be brought in on short-term contracts to carry out surveillance and financial investigations or to work as mounted officers or underwater search teams, Sir Ian suggested in a speech to the Police Superintendents' Association conference in Warwickshire.
He also set himself on a collision course with rank and file officers by demanding the abolition of the body which negotiates police pay on a national basis.
The Commissioner said there should be an "escalator of powers" which could vary the powers available to police officers and other workers such as civilian community support officers (CSOs).
He told delegates: "We should press for the abolition of the Police Negotiating Board and move towards regional agreements around pay and conditions for police officers."