PFEW warns `more will mean less` as Prime Minster pledges extra firearms` officers

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has hit out over today`s “smoke and mirrors” announcement by the Prime Minister to bolster armed officer numbers by 1,500.

And forces face a delicate balancing act — having to make up the shortfall from moving existing officers over to firearms` roles which inevitably leaves less available for other duties.

Last year David Cameron set aside £143 million funding to increase the UK`s armed response capability to combat the rising threat from terrorism.

The money, which is separate from Police grant funding, has been sourced across departments from the strategic security and defence review and will be paid as part of the Government`s counter terrorism grant.

The initiative was already in motion before the November attack in Paris that killed 130 people and last month`s bombings at an airport and Metro station in Brussels that left 32 people dead.

The money is on top of that already pledged by individual chief constables to increase numbers of armed officers under their command and will see the numbers of rapid response officers increase by thirty per cent.

Che Donald, PFEW firearms lead, said the increase could be a good thing, but not if it depletes frontline numbers.

He argued: “Bearing in mind that police levels are at the lowest we’ve seen in decades; the question must be asked – where will these extra firearms officers come from?

“We know they will have to come from existing strength, and with police numbers so low to draw from, we can`t increase armed firearms officer levels without depleting the already thin front line and neighbourhood policing.

“Sadly, there’s no armed police tree that we can pluck new officers from.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) says in total around 1,000 officers will be trained and equipped as a result of the grant, which will be spread over five years.

The majority of these will be deployed in highly mobile, rapid reaction teams, while other officers will receive even more specialised training to deal with a wider range of terrorism threats.

They will be based in major cities outside London, adding to the capabilities of existing counter terrorism teams.

Speaking to Police Professional, National Policing Lead for armed policing Simon Chesterman said a proportion of the money will go on fully-funded specialist counter terrorist firearms officer posts, while the remainder will contribute to an increase in the number of armed response vehicles (ARVs).

Out of the 1,000 posts, only some will be fully funded, with the majority being partially paid for.

“The Federation is absolutely correct that it will see existing officers move into firearms` roles from other areas of policing,” he said.

“Inevitably there will be less officers available for other duties.”

“We are having to make some delicate and difficult choices around balancing resources but we do need to train more officers in firearms.”

Individual forces are also making more money available to increase overall numbers of authorised firearms users. This will result in a further 500 locally-funded firearms-trained officers, with the majority of these posts coming from the Metropolitan Police Service and other large forces.

In addition to the extra officers, funds will also be used to increase the number of high speed armed response vehicles.

The grant will up the numbers by 30 per cent to around 150 vehicles in key regions across the UK, but increased local funding means there will between 170 and 190 crewed ARVs operating at any one time across the country.

Mr Chesterman says that ARVs are still frontline resources and can still be used for incidents beyond the firearms role.

“An ARV is not necessarily going to be dealing with firearms the whole time and they are available to be deployed to other incidents. They are still police officers,” he said.

He also confirmed that all the recruitment will be internal and at the moment there is no possibility of recruiting the military to fill firearms po