Most Londoners probably take the capital’s armed police for granted when they see them protecting buildings, railway stations and other key locations, unless it’s in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack.
That’s important enough, but with their tasks extending well beyond that to tackling dangerous organised criminals, armed gang members and other potentially lethal threats, the revelation that the Met saw a drop of more than 250 in the number of its officers prepared to carry guns to protect the public in the nine months to the end of December is troubling.
