Scotland’s top policeman yesterday defended the use of armed officers in the Highlands after criticism from local politicians about gun-toting officers.
Chief Constable Sir Stephen House was speaking during an unannounced visit to Inverness yesterday to honour long serving officers and staff.
On Monday Highland MP Danny Alexander said he was “horrified” at the number of armed police officers now used routinely on the north streets, especially Inverness. Mr Alexander also criticised the use of mounted police patrols in Inverness for the pre-Christmas “mad Friday” and a major football match.
Inverness MSP John Finnie, has also been critical of policing tactics in the Highlands since the single force came in.
Mr House said: “Despite recent misrepresentations, the deployment of armed policing officers, where necessary and proportionate, has been a longstanding feature of policing across Scotland, including in the Highlands and islands.
“Our officers can face daily challenges in protecting our communities. I would expect them to have at their disposal all the specialist resource and tactical support they need to help keep people safe.
“Previous shootings and other criminal incidents in the area demonstrate a real and continued operational need for a specially trained immediate response as and when required.
“Provision to enable a small number of specially trained armed response vehicle (ARV) officers to overtly deploy sidearms and other weapons as considered necessary allows them to deal with immediate threats without any delay.
“This means officers no longer have to stop on the way to an incident and arm themselves, a process that can take up to 20 minutes. They are now able to go directly to a scene and provide that immediate protection, which avoids unnecessary risk to the public and unarmed police officers.”
He added: “I met a number of officers who are on deployed on ARV duties, thanking them for their dedicated service and assuring them I will not do anything that will prevent them from continuing to protect members of the public and fellow police officers.”
“The continued inference, for example, that the use of police horses are akin to anti-riot tactics is simply incorrect and ignores the effectiveness that these assets have in reassuring the public and reducing crime.”
Highland and Islands Divisional Commander Julian Innes said: “Our officers and staff are our greatest asset. By bringing together our local specialist knowledge with the access to specialist resources available across the country, we can ensure we provide the best level of service to our local communities as and when they need it.”