Does routine arming of the police make the officers and the public safer?
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(Published version)
Date
2019
Authors
Sarre, R.
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Journal article
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Policing Insight, 2019; 1-6
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Abstract
Firearms carriage policy in Australian policing has changed considerably in the last four decades. The move from the deployment of the baton to the covered pistol, and then to the widespread carriage of the exposed revolver, occurred more by a process of incremental accretion than as a result of a careful series of decisions following public debate. In 1970 only the New South Wales Police Force was habitually armed. Over time, policies were introduced in each Australian jurisdiction that allowed police officers to gauge their own level of vulnerability and to request a firearm in circumstances which they perceived as dangerous. The consequence of those policies is that firearms are now carried by most patrol officers and detectives in all Australian states and territories all of the time.
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Copyright 2019 Policing Insight
Access Condition Notes: Accepted manuscript available on open access