Armed Response Vehicle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs) are the British police's solution to combating armed criminal activity. They are also sometimes used for escorting Category A (high-risk) prisoners during transfers.
ARVs were modelled on the Instant Response Cars introduced by West Yorkshire Police in 1976, and were first introduced in London in 1991, when 132 armed deployments were made.
The British police do not routinely carry firearms – only specially-trained Authorised Firearms Officers may do so. AFOs typically operate in teams of two (or, in London, three), and patrol specific areas in ARVs.
The vehicles used are typically large saloon cars, people carriers or four wheel drives. The crew consists of a driver, responsible for getting to the scene of crime in the least time with due regard to public safety, and an operator, who uses the communications systems and extracts information about the situation en route. In London, a third observer is also carried, responsible for navigation, liaising at the scene with local police and requesting more AFOs if needed.
All officers wear police uniforms in order to be easily identifiable to the public.
Weapons include GLOCK 17 pistols for all officers, and each car also carries two Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns in a locked gun cupboard. Both weapons are chambered for 9mm rounds, selected for its good stopping power, in particular a statistically high one-shot stop probability.
