The Police Use of Firearms: Some Problems
| Author | Colin Greenwood |
| Date | 01 October 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6804101002 |
| Published date | 01 October 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
COLIN
GREENWOOD
The following article is entirely unofficial and represents only the views
of
the author. .
THE
POLIfJE USE
OF
FIREARMS:
SOME
PROBLEMS
The rise in the criminal use of firearms in England and Wales
over the past few years has been the cause of considerable concern.
In 1964 the number of indictable offences involving firearms known
to the police was 731. By 1967 the figure was 2,337, a rise of over
300 per cent. in three years, and the indications are that this fantastic
rate of growth will continue. Another measure of this increase can
be found in the national newspapers almost every day. Just a few
years ago a robbery in which firearms were used was headline news
on the front page, yet, today such an event will rate only an inch
or so on the back page unless someone is killed. Experienced
policemen will know that the figure of 2,337, represents only those
reported cases where it has been clearly established that firearms
were involved and the true figure, although impossible to state
with accuracy, is very much higher. Experienced policemen will
also know that firearms are being carried, not only by the hardened
professional criminals, but by the young amateurs and the un-
intelligent petty criminals anxious to show how tough they are; and
these latter classes may well be the most dangerous.
Recent legislation has sought to control the criminal use of shot-
guns by imposing restrictions upon their possession, but there is
little hope of this having any great effect. Pistols have been the
subject of stringent controls for more than 30 years,
but
there is no
sign of the illegal sources drying up. Firearms owned by responsible
citizens who hold a firearm certificate do
not
find their way onto the
illegal market, but the war souvenirs are still there despite amnesties;
weapons are stolen, most frequently from military sources; and
(possibly one of the largest sources of supply) weapons are con-
tinually being brought into the country by seamen or visitors.
It
is an
inescapable fact that, if the criminal has enough money and goes
to the right place, he can buy whatever weapon takes his fancy.
The increase in the number of criminals carrying firearms has been
accompanied by an increase in their willingnessto use them against
the police or anyone who interferes with them. Research into the
causes of crime,
and
of armed crime in particular, may be of great
importance in the long term, but of more immediate concern to
policemen is the effect of armed crime. One of the effects is that,
more
and
more, policemen are being called upon to face armed
criminals
and
to risk their livesin making an arrest. Policemen have
October
1968 453
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