Highland councillors vote 59-9 to disarm cops
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HIGHLAND councillors have voted overwhelmingly in favour of disarming police in the area.
At a meeting today (Thursday), a councillor’s motion calling for PoliceScotland to change its gun policy was agreed on a 59-9 vote.
The motion was lodged by Liberal Democratic councillor David Alston (Black Isle).
The amendment, by Inverness West SNP councillor Allan Duffy, said members had confidence in armed officers to only use their weapons to defend themselves and the public. But only nine members voted for it.
Councillor Alston said armed police were a "fundamental change to the style of policing" and it was wrong that one person in Scotland, Chief Constable Sir Stephen House, had sole power to make that decision.
"The Chief Constable needs to remember that he is a servant of the public," he said.
The debate resurfaced a fortnight after Chief Superintendent for the Highlands Julian Innes spoke at Highland Council’s Inverness HQ after members demanded to know why the public was not consulted over a policy change that sees 16 officers in the region routinely carry hand-guns out of a total 30 officers across Highlands and Islands.
Prior to the new policy, brought in without public consultation in April last year, guns were locked in secure cabinets in the boot of patrol cars.
Portree councillor Drew Millar, chairman of the community safety, public engagement and equalities committee, told members that comments by Sir Stephen House in a recent letter made it clear the country’s top police officer was "not for turning".
Councillor Millar, who supported councillor Alston’s motion, said: "He does mention the Paddy Power incident at Queensgate and the discharge of an illegal shotgun in Hilton in August 2013 to justify the change in policy and he said both the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the chairman of the Scottish Police Authority have stated that the power to make this decision rests with him. It’s quite clear that he’s not for turning."
