Should the police have the power to use live bullets on rioters?

[tonyreddevil]

No, that's not correct.

I have seen multiple reports which clearly make the distinction between live rounds and rubber bullets. This report is talking about the use of LEAD BULLETS, as well as other non-lethal measures. So we are talking about rioters being shot dead (in extreme circumstances) and not just hit by rubber.

Damian thats what i like a kind correction.True correction.
cheers Tony
BTW Damian when do you start fishing again?Guessing April

[suesjools]

Why do they make bullets out of lead? Don't they know it is poisonous?

I'm guessing they ran out of spiked Kool Aid.

Happy holidaze amdn many sales to all,

[damian_steele]

BTW Damian when do you start fishing again?Guessing April

Now Tony, you know I can't answer that as it would be off-topic - and I know you hate people going off-topic.

[JimmyCee]

YES YES YES...
If I was a rioter, or even a protestor and had an idea I could be, injured seriously, or even lose my life for actions I would take, you better believe I wouldn't be there.
Where's the respect for police these days ?.
There isn't any.
I grew up in the streets of NYC way back when.
Standing on a corner with a group of guys, police then had their baton's a twirling.
6ft 6" police man said to us swinging his seemingly 4 foot billy "don't be here next time I come by"
You better believe we weren't there or any where near there when he came by..
Was it wrong ? maybe
Was it convincing.... absolutely..
We called the cops then Officer and Sir..
What are they called nowadays.....?????
Took away their baton's, and they aren't allowed to shoot...etc etc..
I gotta stop...

[adruml]

In this day and age, I'm surprised tranquilizers aren't used in the Police Force. Is it the possibility of law suits which may arise from their use or is it too dangerous?

When Authorities need to capture large animals without posing any threats to the animal tranquilizers are used. If they don't hurt animals why not use them on disorderly people?

I would imagine actually shooting someone with real bulletts is a very difficult call to make and as always hindsight always appears more logical then what actually happened. In the heat of an incident with adrenalin flowing how many of us would be able to make the right call and know to shoot or not to shoot?

Policeman are trained to make the right call but I can't imagine they are covered for every scenario that might play out on a daily basis. Even in a life threatening moment to subdue the culprit might be the best way to go even though my feelings are a little different. With all the hassle police go through "after the fact" to subdue rather then, shoot to kill seems best.

I don't know how tranquilizers work: are they fast enough to stop an immediate threat or does it take a while to activate? I'm sure someone can come up with an immediate type of tranquilizer/stun which can be shot accurately from a distance. After all this is the 21st Century, the technology has to be out there somewhere.

[JimmyCee]

Tranquilizer's wont stop his buddies from robbing TVs, etc etc through the store windows they just trashed...let them see their buddies leg shot apart from a bullet, you better believe that will not only stop em , they'll be out a there.
Also the people ( police ) are trained to think, if and when to shoot.
Why then do they have loaded guns on their person...

[BLOXBOOKS]

Police still have battons and use them.......Ian.....ermmm....Ian, I forget his name now, he was attacked by a police man and died, thing was he just wanted to go home, he was not doing anything wrong, (being deaf and mentally disabled minght get you tazered to death in some place if you dont hear what a police person says).

But anyhow maybe the point is trust and fairness, when those things seem to have slipped within a society then we need to think what is going wrong, not how to get tougher, you would think David Bashar and Nick Al-Assad were running the country......oooops its not like our leaders have thought about turning the internet off and the moble phone network if a "Situation happens", I mean if they even thought such things that would be scary.......So she wears a blindfold, thats just the way it works, I can not say I believe that, to me justice seems to tip towards folk who have a few bob, pay thousands back because of a "mistake" and its ok.

Things are going up crap street in this nation, we dont need lines of armed police like some last stand at Rorke's Drift sending volley after volley into a demo of peace protester who just want to use their right to free speech only to hear (10 years down the line and 50 billion spent on public enquiries) "we're sorry we for't it wer a load er rye'et'hz run at uz"...................Its a trust thing, maybe I just live in the wrong post code area.

Quiz Question, 11 shots fired?

[burgyeb]

Rubber and Plastic bullets do bring people down, and they do kill...adults and children. So they are not a soft option. Thing is with real bullets the police over here have a knack of shooting the wrong or innocent people multiple times (and unarmed) plus our police have a good track record of getting rid of folk, they call it justifiable Homicide.

We also have bad seed in the ranks of our police force. But the larger majority are just human, with the same needs and wants as everyone else. What has been thrust on the good one's is a dangerous and thankless profession (in many cases I think it is a call to community service). I will not say too much, as this is specific to an area of the world that I am not experiencing directly. But I will say that I find it difficult to believe that all police officers are bad. When I approach them I sense the good most of the time.

[buttons-and-bows]

Doesn't anyone think that if they arm the police that the gangs and thugs will tool up as well?

[astral276]

Doesn't anyone think that if they arm the police that the gangs and thugs will tool up as well?

They already do.

None of this is about routinely live arming the police - which I don't ever foresee happening in the UK. It is about the level of force that may be brought to bear against those engaged in illegal activity. The current thinking of handing out teddy-bears to thugs just doesn't seem to be working.