More armed police officers will be deployed in London to protect against the high threat of terrorism.
Advertisement
“In light of events in Germany and France, the government is keen to ensure that shopping centres and sports stadiums where there are large crowds are getting the support they require”, said Mr Wallace.
The former prime minister David Cameron announced in April that police in England and Wales would train extra firearms officers following a review of armed policing, which was commissioned after the terrorist attacks in Paris in November, when 130 people were killed.
“The reality of dealing with deadly attackers is that you need firearms officers who will run towards the danger and use force to stop them”.
The terror threat level in the United Kingdom is at “severe”, meaning an attack is highly likely.
“That means Londoners will see more armed response officers, they will see more armed vehicles”.
Hogan-Howe said there had been no attacks since the 2013 killing of an off-duty soldier and that many more had been foiled.
An armed police officer patrols ahead of the arrival of members of Britain’s royal family to a service of thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday at St Paul’s cathedral in London, Britain, June 10, 2016. The best case scenario is two years in terms of recruiting an extra 1,500 officers.
“It has often been said that “communities defeat terrorism” and now that’s more important than ever before”, he says.
He added that he could offer some reassurance by telling the public how police and security services were working to protect them.
“Firstly, the vast majority of our officers are unarmed”.
The Scotland Yard boss wrote a newspaper article on Sunday in which he hailed neighbourhood policing as “our major weapon” in the fight against terrorism.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan says there is no reason for the public to be alarmed by the sight of armed officers on the streets.
Britain’s top officer also praised the nation’s “tolerance and acceptance”, saying that the “shared values” of communities also make the United Kingdom less susceptible to extremism.
Advertisement
Sir Bernard said British gun control laws and the “world-beater” relationship between police, MI5 and MI6 makes the United Kingdom environment “immediately hostile” to terror attempts.
