MSPs Extend Probe On Armed Police

Senior Police Scotland officers have been recalled to Holyrood to answer further questions on the carrying of firearms at routine incidents.

MSPs heard yesterday that armed officers have attended incidents such as pub brawls and drink-driving cases since Chief Constable Sir Stephen House said they would no longer be deployed to non-life-threatening calls.

Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins told Holyrood's Justice Sub-Committee on Policing that armed police were deployed to calls where there was no threat to life on five occasions since the announcement that this would cease on October 1.

He added that 1,644 armed officers had pro-actively engaged'' with members of the public using their ownprofessional judgement'' since then, but said that was a huge reduction'' on the 30,000 armed routine engagements in the first year of Police Scotland.

The committee has now recalled Mr Higgins, Scottish Police Authority board member Iain Whyte, Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone and HM Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Derek Penman for further questioning.

A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: The committee has agreed to extend the evidence session that had to be curtailed yesterday and will reconvene for another hour-long session with the same witnesses on Thursday March 19 at 1.15pm.''

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Alison McInnes said: I am pleased that we will have another chance to get the public the answers that they need on this hugely controversial issue.

It is no surprise that we ran out of time yesterday given how long it look to tease answers out of the senior officers. I had pressed for an extra hearing to get to the bottom of this and am pleased that the convenor agrees with me.

There are serious questions to be asked over the manner in which the police have approached this issue and it would have been wrong to leave unfinished business.''