Thread: UK: Manchester Arena - Explosion, Fatalities

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I would imagine most armed policemen in the UK are ex military,

You imagine wrong. It takes 2 years to qualify as a police officer in the UK. It then takes another 2 years to qualify as a firearms officer and you would normally be expected to have another few years experience between qualifying as a police officer and applying to join SCO19 (Armed Police). It is possible for an ex-soldier to go through an abbreviated course to become a police officer but as police forces in the UK are aware that the work and training of soldiers is entirely different from the work and training of armed police squaddies don't usually make it into SCO19

I think not leveraging the training of ex military is a bit of a waste, unless the UK does not feel this type of training would be needed with facing armed terrorists. Training in finding active terrorists seems to be a bit lacking in all countries, probably due to the sheer number of suspects on any given watch list. The process of stopping any terrorist actions against the general public seems to be improving, but it is still a long way from where everyone needs to be. It would definitely help if those close to the radical militants would keep their ears and eyes open and report any known plans to cause harm. It is amazing to me that hardly anyone has stepped forward, even though they might have known something.

The UK has more experience in dealing with terrorists than any other country in the world. Terrorism didn't begin with 9/11, you know.