London to get additional armed police units

Mounting gun violence has led London's Metropolitan Police to request 200 more armed officers for its street patrols 24 hours per day.

The force now has an armed unit with 700 officers, but Scotland Yard has asked for an additional 200 officers, and Assistant Commissioner Steve House told while no firm decision has been made, be believes an increase "is the way to go."

Commissioner Ian Blair is also concerned about the continuing rise in gun crime, which rose by 5 percent in the past year to 3,903 cases in London.

The proposed increase follows an internal review, sparked partly by the shooting death of Constable Sharon Beshenivsky, an unarmed officer who was killed as she responded to a robbery report last month, according to UPI.

V.Y.