A specialist firearms officer (SFO) is a

British police Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Most law enforcement is carried out by police officers serving in regional po ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

who has undergone training in the use of police firearms to a more advanced level than authorised firearms officers (AFOs). SFOs receive additional training in areas such as building assault and specialist weapon usage. The common role of an SFO is to assault premises involved in a siege situation, effect high-risk firearms related arrests and respond to terrorist threats. In 2012, a higher-qualification, known as

Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officer A Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officer (CTSFO) is a United Kingdom police firearms officer. The CTSFO standard is the highest Authorised Firearms Officer level in the National Police Firearms Training Curriculum (NPFTC) and was establis ...

(CTSFO) was established by the

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

prior to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

with other police forces, including

Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. It the largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales, covering a ...

West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers. History West Yor ...

West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, W ...

Strathclyde Police Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshir ...

and

Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...

trained in this qualification to assist the MPS with the Olympics. The MPS has replaced the SFO qualification with CT-SFO.

Legal status of the use of firearms

The usage of firearms by the police is covered by statute (such as the

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. 60) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise ...

and

Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...

), policy (such as the Home Office ''Code of Practice on Police use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons'' and the

ACPO The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established ...

''Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms'') and

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

. United Kingdom law allows the use of "reasonable force" in order to make an arrest or prevent a crime or to defend one's self or another. However, if the force used is fatal, then the

European Convention of Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...

only allows "the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary". Firearms officers may therefore only discharge their weapons "to stop an imminent threat to life". ACPO policy states that "use" of a firearm includes both pointing it at a person and discharging it (whether accidentally,

negligently Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...

or on purpose). As with all use of force in England and Wales, it is responsibility of the individual officer to justify their actions.ACPO (2003), ''Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms'' Chapter 3.3.1

Training

Potential SFOs receive extensive training in: * Safe use of specialist firearms * Method of entry techniques to gain access to premises quickly * Abseiling and 'fast rope' skills * Scenario training (such as being instructed to search a specially adapted training area of an aircraft) * Use of tear gas and stun grenades * Hostage rescue and handling techniques * Computer simulated 'war games' of potential threats, such as terrorist attacks * The use of protective clothing against

CBRN Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence (CBRN defence) are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warfare (including terrorism) hazards may be present. CBRN defence consis ...

attack

Weapons used

Non lethal: 37mm Baton gun, X26 Taser (stun gun). Standard UK police equipment

References

{{Reflist

External links

By the book: how force trains its firearms unit

Life of crime: firearms on the streets
Police positions in the United Kingdom

Legal status of the use of firearms

Training

Weapons used

See also

References

External links