Nine officers recently graduated from an intensive nine-week training scheme, taking the total number of staff trained to carry lethal and non-lethal firearms in the Island to 32.
Last year Superintendent Rob Bastable told the JEP that the plan was to increase the number of firearm-trained police to allow the force to provide a 24-hour armed response from on-duty staff.
Today the senior policeman said for security reasons he could not comment on whether there was now all-day cover from trained officers on shift but did say that the force was now ‘comfortable’ that they could respond to any incident that required armed police.
The Superintendent added that the force, which has a duty to uphold national standards of border security, have the capability and power to have armed patrols at the Airport when intelligence requires it.
‘Armed officers at the Airport is a tactical option for us.
‘We base deployment on information received and it takes place in consultation with Airport authorities.
‘It is not a routine deployment,’ he said.
Since 2013 there has been a steady increase in the number of deployments of armed officers, from 19 to 21 last year and now 23 so far this year.
And since 2011 there have been 350 incidents reported to the police that have involved weapons, including 65 so far this year.
Supt Bastable said it was vital for the police to assess each situation on a number of levels to minimise the risk to the public and officers.
‘We are now comfortable that we are able to respond to any firearms incident.
‘However, for security reasons we wouldn’t want to give details of shift patterns.
‘The safety of Islanders is, of course, of the upmost importance.
Our role is to minimise risk and maximise the safety of the public and our officers,’ he said.
Ten officers began the training scheme in September which, if successful, qualifies staff to carry Tasers and lethal weaponry when authorised.
One officer was unsuccessful on the scheme but Supt Bastable said the course is intense and not suited to everyone.
‘It’s a very difficult course due to high levels of pressure on officers and we expect the highest standards as at the end of it we could be asking an officer to put themselves in a position where they may have to make a split second decision,’ he said.
All of the 32 officers now trained to carry firearms have other roles within the force from frontline PCs to community officers and detectives.
During an interview with the JEP last week States police chief Mike Bowron, who has had a 36-year career in forces in Britain, said officers in Jersey were the most qualified he had ever worked with.
He said his staff have to be trained in a variety of skills to police an Island that has an international airport and responsibility to uphold the standards of UK border security.
‘Officers in Jersey have to be double- and triple-hatted,’ he said.
Supt Bastable added that there are no plans increase the number of armed officers any further.
Total number of staff trained to carry lethal and non-lethal firearms in the Island has increased.
Earlier this year police officers in Jersey finished completed their training.
Seven of the Island’s firearms officers completed a three-day training course last July, and three others had already received the training, which was led by the City of London Police.
The introduction of Tasers was approved by the States in 2013 following an in-depth review by a Scrutiny panel.
Sergeant Dean Machin, head of the States Police firearms department, said that the devices would provide a link for officers as they ‘bridge the gap between the baton and the bullet’.
‘It gives us the opportunity to fully establish our firearms strategy, which is to minimise risk to the public, the subject and even the target, and to maximise safety for the subject. The Taser is the last piece of the jigsaw,’ he said.
PC Simon Ashton, a firearms officer from the City of London who led the course at the TA Centre at Mount Bingham, said: ‘The options currently available limit the officers’ response, which means that they are more likely to use a gun against an assailant with a knife. No officer goes to work and wants to pull the trigger on a gun – it’s a life-changing decision.’
