The training of the officers was announced earlier this year and their deployment came after Hogan-Howe warned recently an attack in Britain was a case of “when, not if”.
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The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said an undisclosed number of the force’s planned additional 600 marksmen were now fully trained.
He said the aim was to reassure the public and deter would-be attackers.
“I realise that some of what I am telling you today is not reassuring”.
Rowley said members of the public were passing information to authorities about people behaving unusually in public places, while others were raising concerns about neighbours and friends becoming “more extreme”. In April, France guaranteed a 20-minute response time from police and military forces to any attack.
Armed officers will race across London on motorbikes if the capital is attacked by terrorists, police have revealed.
Speaking about the boosting of officers, he said: “This gives a solid base as it means the United Kingdom environment is immediately hostile to the terrorist”.
“With counter-terrorism there is the top-sliced money and the extra money for firearms officers, but that is once we’re having an attack”. Our firearms officers are the ones who will run towards the danger.
Last November, terrorist attacks in Paris claimed the lives of 130 people.
However, Hogan Howe says the reality of the situation is different.
Europe has been hit with a wave of terrorism in recent years.
“So let’s be really clear – run as far away as possible and when you can’t run any further, hide, and then call the police because we’ve got the people, the resources, the firearms to deal with it. I am afraid I can not do that entirely”, he said in a blog posted online on Sunday and printed in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
Terror threat levels in the United Kingdom are used by agencies and the police to determine the level of security they should provide to public buildings and figures.
The threat level in London has not changed, but remains at “severe” after recent attacks in Europe.
‘I want them to be friendly; I want them to approach the public and to be approachable to the public’. What are we doing to prevent it? This is necessary because of the shortage of firearms police officers in Britain.
He also mentioned that the last act of terrorism in the country was the murder of British Army soldier Lee Rigby in 2013. He was thwarted thanks to joint work by the police and MI5.
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Britain is known for its unarmed bobbies on the beat.
