Quote:
Originally Posted by Trooper
Very odd policy.
In Finland police use pistols only for self defence. If you are expecting armed resistance - number one choice is submachine gun, shotgun or assault rifle. Its not unusual to find one or two H&K MP-5s in normal squad car + pair of heavy IV-class vests.
MP-5 is quite popular weapon in police use. First there was some leftist whining about "machinegunners & stormtroopers". In real police line of work MP-5 saves lives- its nowdays much easier to shoot gun toting criminal in the leg. In "bad old days" you had to aim to "ten" (heart or head) with 38 snub nose or with 7,65 FN pistol.
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Let's add, the Finnish Police MP-5s are semi-auto only. If the police needs automatic weapons, they can request them from the military and the Commander of the Ground Forces will review the request either granting it or not. The same thing goes for armored personnel carriers that are crewed by the professional military, armed for self-defense only. The law says, military can not be used in crowd control and in case of military vehicles, even a water cannon is considered a weapon - if needed, the Border Guards can be called to assist the police in crowd control.
The military assistance to the police, including more advanced weapon systems like missiles and such, can be given with the consent of the Ministry of Defense, along with the crews to use them. Technically the police will then be responsible of their use while they are operated by the military (who will probably provide advice to the police on how to implement the said weapon systems).
The only difference to this is the Police Special Team "Karhu" (=Bear). They are police officers who receive a SWAT-style special training.