Death sparks police firearms plea

The SPF said some of its members believed officers should be armed

Police officers in Scotland should be armed when responding to incidents involving firearms, according to the Scottish Police Federation.

The call followed the death of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot in Bradford on Friday while responding to an armed robbery at a travel agency.

But the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland said arming more officers was unnecessary.

Acpos president Peter Wilson said the nature of policing was "unpredictable".

The SPF said its policy since 1999 had been that police should not be routinely armed.

But it said some members felt its policy should be revised since firearms incidents had escalated by 20% last year.

There is a feeling that a large percentage of officers should be armed Joe Grant SPF

Joe Grant, general secretary of the SPF, said: "There is also a feeling that a large percentage of officers should be armed and that we should be less reluctant to deploy firearms."

Mr Wilson said the issue of officers carrying firearms was complex and it was sometimes up to them to make the assessment at the scene because of limited information available to their radio controllers.

He said: "Sometimes it means waiting until back-up arrives or waiting until firearms arrive.

'Unpredictable' policing

"But it's unpredictable in most instances what might evolve, that's the nature of policing."

Mrs Beshenivsky, 38, a mother-of-three, was fatally shot on the day of her daughter's fourth birthday.

Her colleague Teresa Milburn, 37, was injured in the shooting.

Both officers were probationers with less than two years' service.

Six people have been arrested in connection with the shootings.