In a little-noticed move,
a small number of police officers are now routinely carrying sidearms
while on patrol in much of Scotland - the first in the UK outside
Northern Ireland to do so. How did this come about, and does it alter
the relationship between the constabulary and the public?
Saturday night in Inverness. Outside a McDonald's restaurant,
a scuffle between two men breaks out. Three police officers arrive to
intervene. So far, so mundane. Except that strapped around the hips of each of the policemen approaching the brawl is a holstered Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol.
It's a sight that once would have been unthinkablehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28656324
