5 ms·

Oh, and my original title made clear, although the BBC title which HN has now imposed did not: this was done by Special Branch. Special Branch are the police a

by cogs 9y ago

Oh, and my original title made clear, although the BBC title which HN has now imposed did not: this was done by Special Branch. Special Branch are the police arm of the UK domestic security services, not the kind of neighbourhood police implied by the name "Metropolitan Police"

OJFord 9y ago
> not the kind of neighbourhood police implied by the name "Metropolitan Police" Where 'neighbourhood' is the largest and capital city, and 'police' is the largest force in the country.
- deleted 9y ago
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- Bartweiss 9y ago
  Largest, capital, and most surveilled! I know Europeans often talk about discomfort with US police - their prevalence and armament, mostly - but London in turn never ceases to shock me with the sheer density of cameras. The Metropolitan Police have never felt even a bit 'neighborhood' to me.
  - PaulKeeble 9y ago
    Considering some of them seem to patrol tube stations at rush hour with MP5 sub machine guns they aren't exactly warm and cuddly friendly police either. Fact is in a busy station on a morning even if you knew someone was a terrorist and could see him you couldn't actually shoot him without gunning down about 30 civilians between you and the bad guy. An MP5's on display is a show of force against the populace not a reassuring sign of protection.
    - stordoff 9y ago
      > Fact is in a busy station on a morning even if you knew someone was a terrorist and could see him you couldn't actually shoot him without gunning down about 30 civilians between you and the bad guy. The Met use the MP5SF (Single-fire) variant (routinely anyway - I'd imagine they have access to other weapons for specific situations), so it isn't necessarily accurate to refer to it as an SMG. It'd take serious misuse of such a weapon to end up gunning down 30 civilians. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/oct/28/met-armed-police-patrols-london https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/oct/28/met-armed-police-...

by cogs 9y ago

OJFord 9y ago

> not the kind of neighbourhood police implied by the name "Metropolitan Police" Where 'neighbourhood' is the largest and capital city, and 'police' is the largest force in the country.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Bartweiss 9y ago
Largest, capital, and most surveilled! I know Europeans often talk about discomfort with US police - their prevalence and armament, mostly - but London in turn never ceases to shock me with the sheer density of cameras. The Metropolitan Police have never felt even a bit 'neighborhood' to me.
- PaulKeeble 9y ago
  Considering some of them seem to patrol tube stations at rush hour with MP5 sub machine guns they aren't exactly warm and cuddly friendly police either. Fact is in a busy station on a morning even if you knew someone was a terrorist and could see him you couldn't actually shoot him without gunning down about 30 civilians between you and the bad guy. An MP5's on display is a show of force against the populace not a reassuring sign of protection.
  - stordoff 9y ago
    > Fact is in a busy station on a morning even if you knew someone was a terrorist and could see him you couldn't actually shoot him without gunning down about 30 civilians between you and the bad guy. The Met use the MP5SF (Single-fire) variant (routinely anyway - I'd imagine they have access to other weapons for specific situations), so it isn't necessarily accurate to refer to it as an SMG. It'd take serious misuse of such a weapon to end up gunning down 30 civilians. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/oct/28/met-armed-police-patrols-london https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/oct/28/met-armed-police-...