London to get 600 extra armed police to counter terror attacks
An extra 600 armed officers will be deployed on the streets of London to help counter the threat of a Paris-style terrorist attack.
The move, announced by the Metropolitan Police today, will more than double the number of armed response vehicles in the UK capital, which welcomed 17.4 million overseas visitors in 2014.
It means the total number of armed officers in London will be 2,800.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "The tragic attacks in Paris reinforced the vital role that firearms officers would be called upon to play on behalf of all of us, to run forward and confront the deadly threat that such attackers would pose.
"Whilst I sincerely hope it is something that never happens on our streets, it is only right that the Met are as ready as can be."
He said the armed units would help deal with the threat of ‘a spontaneous attack that requires a fast response to deal with it’.
"By increasing the number of armed response vehicle officers we have we can make sure that our firearms response continues to come from a group of highly specialist and highly skilled officers," he said.
"It will not change the fundamental principle that police in this country are not routinely armed, which we are rightly proud of. Still, around 92% of the Met will be unarmed."
The decision comes after last November’s terror attacks in Paris which killed 130 people.
Following the attacks, Scotland Yard reassessed London’s ability to respond if the city was targeted.
The current terror threat level in the UK is at severe, which means an attack is ‘highly likely’.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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