The controversial issue of armed police in the Highlands was left mired in confusion after police insisted their officers were doing nothing wrong when they sat down to a supermarket breakfast wearing pistols.
The four officers were all carrying handguns when they stopped for a meal at the branch of Tesco in Dingwall on Sunday morning. Police Scotland’s standing firearms authority allows this as the officers were not responding to a call – but one eye-witness in the store’s cafe told the Press and Journal that it caused him “undue alarm”.
The issue hit the headlines in 2013 when a secret directive was approved by then-Chief Constable Sir Stephen House authorising specialist armed officers to carry handguns on routine callouts.
Mounting criticism from politicians led to Sir Stephen stating in October 2014 that specialist armed officers would only be deployed to firearms incidents or when there was a threat to life.
One example of a breach in policy was in April last year, when a police officer was photographed carrying a firearm inside Inverness train station after he responded to a request for transport from the station.
Police have made clear that sidearms may still be visible in public places when these officers have not been tasked and may be taking a break.
Reasons for not storing weapons in secure cabinets in cars include delaying the response to a serious incident, or creating the risk of a vehicle with guns inside it being stolen. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland supports the current police arrangements.
John Finnie, Scottish Greens MSP for Highlands and Islands, says he has had regular reports of officers shopping while carrying a sidearm.
Mr Finnie, an ex police officer, added: “I have raised the public’s understandable concerns informally with the police on more than one occasion, indeed with the Chief Constable very recently, I expressed the view that whilst some citizens may be reassured by the presence of armed officers, many are simply alarmed, a point he readily accepted.
“The fact incidents continue to occur means either Police Scotland are duping us, and I trust that’s not the case; officers are ignoring the clear instructions they’ve been given or officers have questionable ‘judgement’ worrying for anyone carrying a firearm.”
Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins has said previously: “We want the public to support this cadre of highly-trained officers, working alongside their local policing colleagues, to keep communities free from criminality of the most extreme and violent kind”.