Yes, but with strict training on how and when to use the equipment

I don't think it is a good idea to give the police military-grade weapons as they could abuse them, and make them more corrupt.

No because people will still misuse their equipment and hurt people. They will be able to get away with it because the system sucks and is biased against certain people.

We live in a period where public protest and civil disobedience are being trampled upon. Even with the strictest training, militarisation of the police would only further enable this. Also, given access to this equipment would encourage police departments to use it in order to capture value for money. Among the unintended consequences of this is they possibility of creating an arms race between criminals and police leading to increased public endangerment as collateral. It is always more effective to tackle the root causes of public unrest at sources through progressive policies intended to improve social problems.

I think police should only be able to use any form of violence in self defence, just as citizens are. I believe that a lot of police are in the role to protect, but I don't trust them entirely, as some abuse their power. Every situation has a different need- a woman walking alone at night does not deserve to be murdered by a police officer, yet if someone attacks people with weapons, police need to be able to react and stop them. I think police should be able to defend, but they need screening better and should be monitored for a considerable amount of time before they can have any form of control

‘how and when’ to use military equipment is self explanatory, in military settings, not civilian settings

Once the police have access thes3 weapons the criminals will need to do the same. Our armed police are more than sufficient as they are.

America & the number of civilians killed in encounters with the police there. Training does little to mitigate this; the best solution is simply to remove guns, etc, from the equation.

We can't trust that there won't be some level of discrimination with the use of military grade equipment.

Look at America and at the amount of police shootings involving innocent people and typically black or LGBTQ communities. We would be condoning that as well as creating a way for criminals to acquire guns. Also the argument can be made that if the police need guns to protect themselves, so do we which happens to fortify my previous point of guns being in the wrong hands.

Criminal organisations aren't as dangerous as other militaries, so the police shouldn't have that kind of equipment.

There are a lot of police that take advantage of the power they already hold, adding military equipment into the mix is dangerous.

Strict training doesn’t stop purposeful misuse of such equipment. In the same way we see police misusing their power now, no extra military equipment and training will fix this issue, it will only make it worse.

Police shouldn’t be allowed to use military grade weapons they are not trained and we have enough trust issues with police. Only specialist units with strict mental health checks

In america the police get sent through training, but they still use excessive force. It been proven that people get power tripped when given that opportunity

Police should not be allowed access to military grade weapons unless the situation has been declared a threat to the country.

The police protects the crown and state, not the people. I do not think that they should be given more weaponry to use against the people. The current crackdown on the right to protest and civil disobedience is bad enough without increased tools to do so.

Most officer don’t know the laws that they are citing to charge you with, so how would more training on new topics matter if they don’t understand their original training?

I do not think having what amounts to an occupying military will make the streets safer. The police right now cannot be trusted not to abuse the equipment they have currently, I do not see how giving them more dangerous weapons will not increase the severity of police violence.

Police if have military grade equipment will always be able to use it in the wrong circumstance much like what has happened in London with the Pava spray on the mentally ill community in London.

I think the introduction of militarisation in the police creates the incentive for harsher forms of violence against those who might not be correctly subjected to it.

The British police has never been a militarised force and was designed to serve the public. It has been unarmed since its inception during a time where gangs would be heavily armed and it somehow worked well. There is no justification for militarising the service other than using them as enforcers of government edicts and tyranny. If the government wants to shoot people, they are free to put the military on the street and deal with the consequences of this decision. The police needs to have the trust and respect of the communities they serve, not the criminals they arrest nor the overzealous delinquents that think that the solution of every problem is force.

If the forces have regular and strict training on the use and restrictions of these weapons then they should be allowed to have them as in certain dire situations the police would need to take immediate action.

police do not need military grade equipment, they are the keepers of peace and should be more so involved in social help in the communities they reside in

No because I don’t believe the sort of opposition they face on the streets equates to retaliation with military grade weapons it’s not a war zone

police already often abuse their power so giving them military grade weapons would inevitably make them even more corrupt

So far many police officers have not stopped killing people and raping people despite their training so how effective is this training going to be? They've already managed to kill people with the weapons that they have why should we give them more.

No because people will still misuse their equipment and hurt people. They will be able to get away with it because the system sucks and is biased against certain people.

police are there to prevent trouble in the public how is machine guns a protective easure it is a measure to install fear

I don't think it is a good idea to give the police military-grade weapons as they could abuse them, and make them more corrupt.

You would need to increase the professional standards of the vast majority of the police force. I would expect the police force to be better trained (higher education masters level).

No, the police in the UK are not as militarised as other countries look at France Germany etc who have normal coppers with guns and the UK constable only carries a baton and spray with only specialised police carrying guns.

They don’t use their equipment properly anyway- this will encourage more violence surely and potentially get innocent people killed as the police may accuse/detain/get violent with someone who hasn’t done anything wrong. DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO HAVE WORSE WEAPONS THAN ARE ALREADY USED.

With specific exemptions for counter terror units, police need to be approachable and more trained minimum training of 4000-5000 hours!

No person and certainly not those whose job it is to maintain peace should be given the supreme power to decide when someone is fit to die

Possession of military grade equipment may result in encounter with police officers escalated to a level that would not have been reached if none was possessed by officers. Unnecessary actions may be taken purely on the basis of a set of training with the assumption that the use of military grade equipment is needed.

They may abuse it as they are seen as ‘more powerful’ and their views and political opinions will change their way of using it properly. Just because someone is told something, doesn’t mean they always listen.

It's still inhumane to imagine that the sort of equipment could be used against the civilians of Britain.

No person and certainly not those whose job it is to maintain peace should be given the supreme power to decide when someone is fit to die

Police should not be allowed to access military-grade weapons as it could lead to abuses of power. There are numerous instances of police brutality where officers have overstepped their authority, using excessive and sometimes fatal force. Additionally, given the existing discrimination against ethnic minorities, providing police with military-grade equipment would only exacerbate these issues and further harm these communities.

If the police on the streets carry guns criminals will start to do the same and it will harm more lives and bystanders.

It will incentivise the idea of gun use. Look at America. School shootings. Minorities feeling they have to carry weapons to protect themselves from the police. We have just had a scandal re racism and sexism in the Met. To be honest. Most police officers I know are ‘difficult’ characters. They have an attitude of authority and arrogance. It’s the career path for people with a certain type of personality I’ve found. Police and squaddies (army) are the same. I would not trust any of them with a gun regardless of training. We would become like the US.

The point of military equipment is not to uphold the law, but to enforce a policy, and as such, they are designed to carry out sentences, not bring someone to justice. Military equipment is threatening and authoritarian, a sword to the shield of the police. By using military equipment, we are stating that some citizens of our country are our enemies.

Strict training can't include every situation and/or it's different in actual situations rather then in training.

The proliferation of weapons themselves would still increase incidents regardless of how good training is because no amount of training can prevent all possible instances of error.

The proliferation of weapons themselves would still increase incidents regardless of how good training is because no amount of training can prevent all possible instances of error.

Unfortunately training does not negate the temperaments of those using the equipment. Our police already abuse many of the systems and really are a mafia at times. Why would you give them even more power for violence?