Armed police could return to the streets admits chief

SCOTLAND’s new chief constable yesterday said armed police could be deployed on the streets on routine duties as the terror threat grows.

Phil Gormley is taking over from Sir Stephen House, forced to quit after a string of scandals – including a secret order allowing armed officers to respond to routine call-outs.

That edict was scrapped after a public outcry and a campaign led by the Mail, but yesterday Mr Gormley made clear that ‘nothing is forever’ and the policy could be changed if needed.

He said he was not in favour of all police routinely carrying guns but he raised the possibility that police with weapons

‘Lessons to be

learned’

could become a more common sight on Scotland’s streets in future.

The comments risk rekindling the row over armed policing which dogged the single force after it emerged Sir Stephen had given the go-ahead for armed officers to respond to minor incidents.

Mr Gormley, former deputy director of the National Crime Agency, said he would be ‘foolish’ to rule out more armed police following the Paris terror attacks and he suggested armed officers on routine duties might be appropriate in certain circumstances.

In a Press briefing at Police Scotland’s Tulliallan HQ in Fife on his second day in the job, the chief constable said Police Scotland ‘needs to have a very careful look’ at armed policing.

He added: ‘There are lessons to be learned post-Paris around tactics, techniques, the numbers of officers that we have got and their deployment.

‘So that is a question that constantly needs to be revisited as the threat level around serious and organised crime and around CT [counter-terrorism] alters.’

Asked if he would rule out more armed police in Scotland, he said: ‘I would be foolish to do so, wouldn’t I? If the threat from CT and serious organised crime demands that we increase our armed capacity to protect the people of Scotland, then I will need to do that.’

He said a decision on deploying armed police on routine patrols ‘depends what those routine duties are and it depends on the context that they are operating in’.

Mr Gormley added: ‘If the threat level is sufficiently high that we need armed officers to protect the public, then that is what we will need to provide.’

His aides insisted there were no immediate plans for a policy change and any change would depend on future circumstances, and would follow consultation. The Scottish Police Federation, representing rank and file officers, has suggested all officers may have to be routinely armed but Mr Gormley said he was strongly opposed to such a radical move.

The new chief also spoke out against ‘target culture’ which has seen a surge in stop-andsearch and a ‘war on drivers’, saying officers needed to be ‘trusted’ to do their job.

Mr Gormley said the string of controversies dogging the force was of concern because ‘they have all had tragic implications for the individuals affected’.

Crises which have hit the force include the death of a father in custody amid claims of police brutality and a mother left to die beside the M9 for three days following a crash.

But Mr Gormley backed the existing programme of control room closures, which has been slowed down following the M9 tragedy. He said the unified force was justified because smaller forces would struggle to cope with major emerging threats including cybercrime and child sexual exploitation.