Fears over lack of armed police to protect New Year revellers

Source: THE TELEGRAPH

New Year revellers cannot be fully protected from a terror attack because of a lack of firearms officers around the UK, a rank and file police leader has warned.

Sparse resources outside of London means there is a dearth of trained officers to deal with a marauding gun attack like last month’s Paris attacks.

Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation, said the lack of officers was a cause for concern and meant forces did not have the resilience to deal with major attacks.

London and other European capitals are already on alert after a warning from a “friendly” intelligence service said Islamist fanatics may be planning a terror attack on New Year’s Eve.

There are just under 6,000 firearms officers in England and Wales, a third of which are based in London.
The number overall has fallen by 15 per cent since 2009 and it means there are just over 3,500 to cover the rest of England and Wales.
Crowds line Westminster Bridge on December 31, 2011 in London  Photo: Getty
Mr White said: “Before Paris or Tunisia (terror attacks) we were already saying there was a complete lack of resilience in specialist capabilities.
“In particular in relation to firearms we have seen rising demands versus decreasing resources.
“New Year’s Eve is always a time of high demand for the police service. In terms of how we get any more, the argument is in relation to resilience and the service no longer has the resilience.

“There is not the spare capacity. Forces will be putting the firearms teams where the risk is the greatest.
“The service has been at a stretch for the last few years. In terms of firearms, there is only so many that can go around.
“It is a cause for concern. There is a lack of resilience in the service and that is now coming to fruition.”