Number of gun police has soared

From the archive, first published Friday 9th Mar 2007.

THE number of police in Essex trained to use guns has soared in the past six years according to new figures.

Across the county there are 205 officers trained to use firearms, a 14 per cent rise on the 180 in 2001.

The force has also seen a surge in the number of operations involving pol-

ice authorised to carry guns.

Last year there were 432 operations across Essex, such as sieges and armed robberies, up by just over a third on the 323 in 2001.

The Home Office figures revealed the number of armed police nationally across England and Wales has soared by 15 per cent.

London's Metropolitan Police employed the most with 2,332 officers trained to use the weapons. Despite having a high number of officers trained to use guns, Essex Police said of the 205, around only 40, working across the force's five shifts, are on duty at any one time.

Essex Police's armed response unit, which has 10 full-time officers permanently on duty, are the first port of call for responding to incidents involving guns and are strategically placed across the county.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: "We have Stansted airport on our patch which is the reason why we have such a high number of armed officers.

"The police at the airport are always armed and in the last year we have had a high level of terrorism alerts and the airport has increased security levels."

"The county is also on the borders of London and crime and criminals will proliferate outwards towards us."

To mobilise the armed response unit or police trained to use guns the force has to have the permission of an officer of at least the rank of chief superintendent or above.