Having armed police on the streets of Scotland is “absolute madness” according to a group of pro-independence campaigners who are lobbying against Police Scotland’s recent policy of having officers with guns on normal policing duties.
The campaigners, who are also against what they call the “authoritarianism” within Police Scotland, “ambushed” Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill during his visit to Discovery Point in Dundee on Thursday evening.
The group of more than a dozen independence campaigners used his visit to present him with an open letter calling on him to remove armed police from our streets.
The letter also urged him to “reverse the tendency towards authoritarianism within Police Scotland”, stating that “this sort of policing has no place in the better, fairer country we are campaigning for.”
The group’s move came on the same day that HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA)announced they were holding an inquiryinto Police Scotland’s decision to allow some officers to carry firearms on patrol.That announcement was welcomed by both Mr MacAskill and Police Scotland.Dr Tony Cox, one of the group of 16 active independence campaigners, said the idea behind their “ambush” was to let Mr MacAskill and the Scottish Government know the strength of feeling among ordinary people against having police with guns on normal policing duties.
Speaking exclusively to The Courier, he said: “We’re all supporters of independence but despite that we still feel it’s important to raise the issue, especially during theindependence debate.
“It’s absolute madness has it worked in America? Just look at other countries where they have armed police, where you have police with guns in the streets, you have deaths in the streets.”
Dr Cox presented the letter with fellow activists Dr Sarah Glynn and others from Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow.
He added: “We had a frank, open and honest discussion.He gave us an assurance that police will not be armed as a norm on patrol.
“He did mention that a review of policing procedures is under way so we will look with some optimism towards that.
“If there is a repeat of officers beingroutinely on patrol and armed in Dundee,we will step up our direct actions.”