A few weeks ago the Metropolitan police launched a recruitment drive - a "call to arms" as it was put in the force's in-house magazine - aimed at tempting an extra 130 officers into its SO19 firearms unit by March to combat the growing threat of terrorism.
On top of the 400 SO19 officers, another 2,000 or so are licensed to carry weapons for guard and other duties.
But it remains to be seen whether the instructors will be a little less busy than they would have been had SO19's recruitment drive not been disrupted by this week's events.
SO19 also has to work closely with the anti-terrorist branch (ATB) (SO13) that was formed as a specialist unit in 1970 and uses the same weapons as SO19 with whom they frequently exercise.
Whenever SO19 is called out, the media is always on hand to record the situation, armed officers at airports and ferry terminals are accepted by the general public, but they recoil from the knowledge that they are in our midst and on the streets of some of our cities and large towns.
Sadly, it is a measure of what has happened in a short time to the UK that consistently has resisted the issue of arming officers as a matter of course.
At least 20 members of the Metropolitan police's elite firearms unit are refusing to carry their weapons in protest at the suspension of two colleagues over the death of a man carrying a table leg which they mistook for a shotgun.
The prospect of a quarter of the officers in SO19 striking over the case has led to two crisis meetings in the 400-strong unit.
SO19 sources said those who do withdraw will still turn up for work to perform other duties but will not carry weapons.
Press photographs of members of the armed response team taken in the immediate aftermath of the killing show at least one man carrying a special forces weapon that is not issued to SO19, the Metropolitan police firearms unit.
Although this weapon is used on occasion by SO19 it appears to be fitted with a target illuminator purchased as an “urgent operational requirement” for UK special forces involved in the war on terror.
One key tenet of that training is to ensure that a suicide bomber is killed rather than wounded, which would allow them to trigger a bomb.
After earlier beating FCC by the same scoreline in the WCG qualifiers, SO19 continued their form into the BWCSL tie and managed to make up for their default loss to ONE from the previous week.
Arma basicaly it says all BWCSL but SO19 v FCC games were postponed due to WCG taking place at same time, FCC and SO19 pld each other in WCG earlier than the other clans at 7PM, so we were able to play BWCSL at normal time, both results were the same.
We started the t p (hehe) round very well and managed to get to about 5-1 then SO19 won some very close rounds where the bomb was down and it was all over.
He became an embarassment to the entire SO19 Unit when he accidentally shot to death an armed juvenile during a raid.
Although he was a bit suspicious of him, he soon trusted him during the renewed gang wars of 2003 and assisted him in bringing down the gangs in order to prevent the escalation of the feud.
Right now, a gang war/massacre is taking place inside the club and some SO19 operators have responded to the gunfire inside the place and have cordoned the entire street.So you have to drive there with your fellow SO19 officers and Munroe ASAP.
A first briefing for SO19 officers for the raid was held at 9:00 pm on 22 September.
Moreover, it emerged at the inquest that none of the officers was clear about the effect of CS in its micronised form and that the irritant had not been subjected to appropriate tests.
As the police assumed the suspects to be armed, the decision to use irritants was not in accordance with the Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO) guidelines at that time which disapproved of the use of CS gas against anyone who is in possession of firearms.
Members of the Metropolitan Police'sSO19 firearms unit say lack of staff, money and out-of-date equipment is threatening to affect their work.
Officers serving in SO19 told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that recruitment to the unit had dropped dramatically, and that the pressures of the job were taking a toll on members.
The "taser" gun, which uses an electrical shock to cause temporarily paralysis, could be introduced by the end of the year.
I am looking for a skin or mod that has a skin of a SO19 Officer.I am sure that I read there was one on a site but for the life of me remember where it was.
I don't think there is a mod that contains a SO19 Officer but there are similar ones.
Never heard of mod containing SO19 but any SWAT skin in very dark blue with a kevlar 'Fritz' would cover it.
Witness statement of surveillance officer 'Hotel Three'-News-UK-TimesOnline(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
"I immediately identified these men as police officers probably from SO19 and decided to identify the male in the denim jacket, who I followed onto the Tube, to them as they appeared to be looking into the carriage as if searching for someone.
The man did not stand still and advanced to within about three or four feet of myself and the SO19 officers.
Assessing that I may be dealing with a terrorist subject and fearing for the safety of the public on the carriage the SO19 officers and myself, I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso pinning his arms to his side.
This report displays the average property sale price for each type of property in SO19 for each month from April 2000 to March 2007.
The second graph displays the median property sale price graph for SO19, which may be more helpful for spotting trends.
You can view the House Prices Report for SO19 over another date range or view the report for another location using the options at the bottom of the page.
