Firearms and Equipment
Firearms and equipment in service vary between forces, due to individual police authorities' and chief officers' independency in deciding equipment for their force.
Despite being armed, AFOs carry the standard issue telescopic or rigid baton, CS/PAVA incapacitant spray, and Speedcuffs on the duty belt. Instead of wearing the standard issue stab vest, AFOs and SFOs wear a ballistic vest which affords greater protection from gun shots. Instead of carrying one TETRA radio like that of an unarmed officer, AFOs carry two, with one being for the force frequency and the other to communicate solely with other firearms officers on the same duties. The radios are specially adapted so that the officer is not forced to release the grip on the firearm. SFOs would be more likely to wear fire retardant coveralls with webbing including "belt order" kit.
During the early 1990s, most forces adopted white dress shirts for officers, rather than the previous light blue. In most forces, AFOs wear a dark blue dress shirt with standard black trousers. AFOs and SFOs often wear a PASGT style ballistic helmet, rather than the peaked cap or custodian helmet.
Firearms issued to the police are adapted so that they can only fire semi-automatic, meaning that they can only discharge one round with each pull of the trigger, opposed to fully automatics as used by the armed forces.
Read more about this topic: Firearms Unit
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