Arming of British police hasnt really changed since 9/11.
They have differing armouries depending on region or
constabulary.
While the standard street policeman/woman will not be armed, there
are a fair amount of Firearms Officers.
The specialist Firearms Officers routinely train with the SAS, and
even within the London region there will be weapon variations
between local units [ie. Thames / River police and Met / SO19 /
Anti-terrorist branch].
Within the Met, so19 train D/RPG's, AS, SB, and others [bodyguards,
air marshals].
Weapons spotted have been the standard MP5 variants [LE variant
with SA only and 10 rnd mags, as well as standard models], Glock's
[usually 17], Browning [phased out], Sig's, AUG LE variants and
G36's [both carbine and rifle variants]. MP5K is also used.
Marksmen have been seen with the AI [incidently recently saved from
receivership] L96's.
The Smith & Wesson .38 Model 10 revolver is still issued
[usually only Special Branch].
[LE variants are all usually semi-auto only, with low capacity
magazines]
I say they havent changed much since 9/11 mainly because people
forget that the British Isles has lived through terrorism before,
for 30-40 years during the Irish troubles [which are not yet over]
- a fact that seems to have been forgotten by alot of people
[perhaps most of all by Americans..] - but has armed the British
services with probably more active experience than anyone else in
the world [indeed they are often asked overseas to lend their
experience to others combatting terrorism].
As for actual shooting, police tend to be trained for centre of
body mass shots and not using anything that would likely go beyond
the targets body..
[depending on situation obviously]
[the police actually also offer training to certain sectors of the
public, but its pretty expensive] - and the preferred weapons are
the mp5 and the glock.
Taser's are now also employed.
While not strictly police, the MOD police have been issued the
H&K MP7.
