Police rifles to have silencers

BRITISH police are to use guns with silencers for the first time.

The National Police Chiefs Council has authorised counterterror specialist firearms officers to use night vision and silencers in sieges and hostage rescue crises.

The elite units will get Sig MCX assault rifles, with a silencer, within months.

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, NPCC spokesman on armed policing, said: ‘Clearly we need to bridge the gap between what the police do and what the military do.’

He added: ‘What you will see over the next few months is adaptations to their weaponry.

‘The barrels on their carbines will change because they will be silenced. You will see their helmets fitted with night vision, so they can operate in complete darkness.’