Why are the Home Secretary's policemen sometimes armed and sometimes not?

[snoozequeen1]

That's my ? I still find it very odd that there are armed policemen round the corner from my house.

If the prime minister and the chancellor need the umpteen levels of security provided for Downing St, what is the Home Secretary, who I would have idly imagined, may be more at risk than the Chancellor (from terrorists, not the British public in general), doing living in a bog standard house with an 6ft deep "front garden" on a grotty road in our neck of the woods? Doesn't this put the police officers unnecessarily at risk?

And what about the risk to the public, who have to walk by 18 inches away taking their kids to and from the very nearby school, going to church etc.

Even more puzzling is that sometimes the police are right at the pavement, firearms to the fore, but very often, eg this evening, they are not holding guns.

Just all rather odd. Advertising her presence in this way in such a vulnerable place looks a little as though someone is trying to make a point rather than actually put safety first?

I seem to recall, that either Norman Lamont or Geoffrey Howe, used to live on Trafalgar Avenue, which I also used to travel by twice daily, but I never saw armed police outside that house, even at the height of the IRA bombings.

What do people think of the armed police being there?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I lived in Bermondsey opposite Simon Hughes when he had to go through a period of having armed policemen outside his house. I never found it an issue and it was curiously reassuring. My daughter who was then three, was thoroughly charmed by the coppers, one of whom gave her a button that had come off his tunic. She's wanted to join the police ever since.

[Asset]

I have friends who live next door to Jack Straw and he had armed police outside when he was home sec.

I think the level of hardware reduces when said person is at home or not.

[ratty]

Going off on a tangent a bit here, but bear with me, I worked in a church in the city when the "Ring of Steel" was in place. This basically involved huge coppers with Heckler & Koch MP5 sub machine guns walking around outside. I worked in a day centre for homeless in the church and it was fooking great. If anything kicked off with the clients the old bill would send their nearest team - Hechler & Koch at the ready! Soon stopped some radgy drunk kicking off I can tell ya!

So........ if there are coppers with guns maybe they could start taking pot shots at some of nunhead and peckham's wannabee gangsters - soon sort the fookers out I reckon!

[snoozequeen1]

Good grief ratty you are very keen on and knowledgeable about firearms for a small furry creature. Please don't start encouraging your furry friends to go armed, they are worrying enough already.

It seems all kinds of creatures are more tolerant of seeing guns being wielded than I am.

Weren't there anarchists and angry Armenians hatching explosive plots in Nunhead a whole century ago, and sorted out by the British stiff upper lip and good sense, without a firearm in sight? (Or I may be completely wrong about that).

[Loz]

There's obviously not a lot of security at Deputy PM Harperson's House over in Herne Hill either!

Is that fellow still up there?

[KoolBananas]

Some would say having the kids at home would be more than enough "protection" ;-)