Officer Down

Today we lost two of our colleagues from Greater Manchester Police.

PC Nicola Hughes, 23 and PC Fiona Bone, 32.

These unarmed officers died doing their job with what should have been a routine call.

It is believed that the suspect, Dale Cregan, 29, allegedly lured them to a false report of a burglary in Abbey Gardens, Mottram where they were attacked with a gun and a grenade.

It is reported that after the two officers went into the property which had stood empty for some time, witnesses heard approx 12 shots fired then an explosion.

One officer died at the scene, the other died in hospital after the emergency teams battled to save her.

It is shocking the number of officers that are killed or seriously injured whilst attending "routine" calls.

If an officer is sent to attend reports of gunfire then that officer will be equipped and trained to deal. They will also know what to expect when they get there.

My mate lost his team colleague PC Phillip Walters, from a handgun blast to the chest when he was attending reports of a domestic. He wasn't wearing a vest but even if he was, chances are, at that range it would not have been any good as the vests are designed more against knives.

PC David Rathband, shot, whilst sitting in his patrol car.

PC Sharan Beshenivsky shot attending an attack alarm at a jewellers.

PC Ian Dibell, off duty, shot outside his home whilst confronting a neighbour who was threatening to shoot people.

PC Ian Broadhurst shot whilst dealing with a traffic stop

PC Alison Armitage run down by a car thief in a stolen vehicle.

All of these officers died or in the case of PC Rathband, seriously maimed as a result of attending routine calls.

The debate has been raised again about routine arming of police officers. At this time of austerity it is a difficult choice to make.

Some officers don't want to carry guns. Some, are incapable of carrying guns. And sadly in some cases, there are some I don't trust with a ball point pen let alone a gun.

Psychometric testing is expensive. Kit is expensive and law suits are expensive. If an officer pulls the trigger immediately in the eyes of the all seeing media the officer over reacted and the person shot was an "angel"

Would anyone want to be routinely armed and then find themselves in this scenario?

The question that will be asked is "Would guns have helped PC Bone and Hughes in the attack?"

It looks like they were ambushed and sadly, probably shot before they would have had a chance to draw their weapons.

This is not the USA, remember, where officers regularly unclip their weapon or ready it when attending calls and I hope that day here never comes.

Confusion, fear, anger, disbelief, tactics, training, muscle memory, adrenaline, all take place to an officer during a serious incident.

These can either hamper your response or help it.

A colleague of mine who served in the Cayman Islands Police told me that his colleague attended a routine incident. As he pushed open the door of a house he was confronted with a male pointing a gun at him.

There was a split second shock from both sides but the officers instinct told him to turn and run.

He lived, the bullets cracked against the wood frame and pierced the air around where he had just stood.

However, If he had gone for training and drawn his weapon. He would have been killed.

Those extra couple of seconds to draw the gun would have been too late.

It's a difficult debate. If I'm handed a weapon, it'll go on the kit belt with the other "offensive weapons" I carry. They are tools of the job, it'll just be another one. Many members of the public I speak to, already believe we carry guns and are surprised when I tell them, there isn't one

Remember, the public didn't want us to carry batons, spray and Taser either.


Rest in Peace PC Bone and PC Hughes. You did your duty well.

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