British cops are a disgrace to the profession, and it’s because they don’t carry guns.
Hear me out. When you, as a cop, carry a gun, it hammers home the seriousness of the work and the size of your responsibility. You are entrusted with the full power and authority of the law, and the weight of your weapon is a constant reminder of the importance of getting it right — and the devastating consequences of getting it wrong.
A cop without a gun is little better than a civilian, both in his ability to respond to violence and in the way he approaches his job. A police officer must maintain professionalism at all times, and a gun is an ever-present reminder of that. You behave more carefully when you’re carrying a gun, more deliberately, less casually. You are constantly on your guard, keeping your head on a swivel, constantly observing.
If the cops who let Henry Nowak die had been trained and carrying firearms, I do not believe that they would have failed to investigate his claims of having been stabbed, or failed to see that he had been grievously injured. The additional training might well have made the difference and saved Henry’s life.
When you are armed, you do not brush aside the possibility that you’re talking to someone who is also armed; there is an extra level of awareness when it comes to weapons and to the behavior of those around you.
The other thing that would change if British cops regularly carried guns is that applicants would have to be screened more carefully. None of the cops who let Henry die would have made it through their probationary period here in the US, if they even graduated from police academy. The lack of professionalism among British cops is shocking, and it’s because they don’t have to be professional. They’re just a bunch of civilians with badges.
The stakes are so much higher when you’re carrying a firearm, which means you have to be careful about who you hire and how you train, and if you hire and train properly, that makes for better cops, who take their jobs and their responsibilities more seriously.