The proposal, in response to violent crime, is supposed to increase public confidence but has been criticised

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has come under pressure to order Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, to stop plans for officers to patrol residential areas of the city with their guns on show.

The plans being considered by the Met are aimed at boosting community confidence and public safety, but triggered swingeing criticism on Thursday night.

An email sent to a number of community figures by the Met outlining the proposal said it was in response to knife crime and rising violent crime.

The Met email, seen by the Guardian, said: “We are sure you and your communities are all as troubled as we are by the unsettling number of young people being seriously and fatally stabbed in recent times.”

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It continues: “There has been recent internal discussion around using additional armed support to patrol on foot amongst local communities, with their weapons visible and accessible. The purpose of any such initiative must be to enhance public and unarmed officer safety, and to improve not hinder community confidence.”

The email asks people to send in their views and says it recognises the plan may be counter-productive.

It also says, of armed officers patrolling on foot: ”If we did initiate it, it would be based on an informed and reliable intelligence picture of where gang activity is likely, and would be done in full consultation with the local policing borough, to include full community impact assessments. It would also be a temporary measure for short periods of time.”

British policing is largely unarmed with about 10% of officers volunteering to carry a gun. Armed officers patrol in vehicles, and are only on foot in areas considered possible terrorist targets.

Len Duvall, a Labour member of the London assembly and former chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the body that used to oversee the Met, said: “Now the police with guns are in cars, in central London because of the terrorist threat, or for a specific operation.

“Police walking around a [council] estate with guns is a crazy thing. It creates a different atmosphere. It does not make sense and has not been thought through.”

Dick denied it was a radical change when questioned about the plan at the policing committee at the London assembly on Thursday.

The person to whom she is supposed to be answerable, the deputy mayor for policing, Sophie Linden, said he had not previously heard of the plan.

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Duvall said Khan should rein in the Met commissioner. “Sadiq Khan should step in and stop this pending a full consultation,” he said.

Areas such as Tottenham, north London, would be the kind of high crime area in which armed officers may be deployed on foot.

Stafford Scott of the Monitoring Group, which campaigns against what it sees as police injustices, said: “The more oppressive the policing and state response is, the more the violence will increase. These kids have been bullied by the police and its partners for most of their lives.

“They cannot fight the state so they fight each other. The police need to identify those who are a real threat and not simply use the violence as an excuse to oppress large sections of the community.”

The Met deputy commissioner, Sir Stephen House, said in a hastily issued statement late on Thursday: “We are not considering routine deployments of armed officers in our communities.

“As part of our response to the increase in violent crime in London, we are examining how our armed officers can provide extra support and augment other units, either in response to a serious assault, or to be deployed to areas where we have intelligence that serious violence is imminent.

“Any deployments would be for a limited time only and done in consultation with local policing commanders, and after a community impact assessment had been carried out.

“Our consultation into the extended, yet limited, use of armed police is at an early stage. We will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders as we discuss operational options in the fight against violence to help protect communities.”

Late on Thursday night, a spokesperson for Khan said: “Keeping Londoners safe is the mayor’s No 1 priority and the Met are constantly looking to update how they tackle violent crime.

“However, the mayor is crystal clear that armed officers on London’s streets must be the exception and cannot become the norm. He would expect full consultation on any decisions of this nature.”