A gun in the hands of a police officer indicates the potential use of violence and the right to do so in the interest of maintaining state order and security. For a long time a gun in the hands of a police officer also symbolized masculine strength and power.
These ...
(Show more)A gun in the hands of a police officer indicates the potential use of violence and the right to do so in the interest of maintaining state order and security. For a long time a gun in the hands of a police officer also symbolized masculine strength and power.
These ideas were questioned during the second half of the 20th century by the British military government, female police departments and new social and political movements. Alternative models of policing without guns were discussed, but were often dismissed as weak, feminine or foreign.
The militaristic outlook in the culture and training of the uniformed German police was challenged from within the force itself from the late 1960s onwards by a new generation of senior officers, and as a result of discussions about the psychological aspects of shooting someone – fatally or otherwise. Training subsequently changed; emotional aspects such as stress, fear and social competences were incorporated in the programmes and units of military trained marksmen were established.
This paper discusses the attitude of both male and female police officers towards guns and the significance of carrying or refusing to carry a gun on the image of the individual officer, special police departments, and the police force as a whole in West Germany from the end of the Second World War up to the 1980s.
(Show less)