... why did it take EIGHT MINUTES for the cavalry to arrive? In the middle of London?
Have you ever been to London? Have you tried to maneuver around the area where the attack took place?
I have. I'd call 8 minutes pretty good and would challenge police in any major metro area to be on site within 8 minutes of notification.
why are the UK police, for the most part, unarmed? Europeans wonder why we here in America are so loath to give up our right to have the means for self defense.
There's an armed unit nearby most of the time. The unarmed bobbies you see aren't the only ones on duty and nearby. IMO, they act as the "friendly" face of the police force in the UK.
Having been over there several times and having known and talked to UK citizens about this a number of times over the years, I'm not quite so prepared to claim they are doing it wrong (policing, that is). Their citizen/police interactions are certainly more positive than ours and police aren't seen as pseudo military as it is here. Even unarmed, their "beat cops" are probably better trained, equipped, and prepared to deal with the common policing issues of the day than our beat cops.
Do you think our police would have been faster to respond or would have gone head-to-head with these guys? How many times do they stand back and wait for a SWAT team?
Chris