A police and crime commissioner who suggested that members of the public who own guns might be able to help counter terrorist attacks in remote locations is to meet her chief constable to discuss the issue.
The Devon and Cornwall commissioner caused huge controversy when she appeared to say that ordinary people with gun licences might be able to help in a terrorist crisis.
Alison Hernandez did not apologise for her remarks, made during a BBC Radio Cornwall phone-in, but claimed in a statement issued on Tuesday that she had been misinterpreted. She said she backed the police advice to “run, hide and tell”.
Still, she kept the issue live by making it clear she wanted clarification from the chief constable, Shaun Sawyer, about what would happen to people if they did take up arms.
In her brief statement, Hernandez said: “My comments on BBC Cornwall, in response to a telephone caller question, have been misinterpreted. To be clear, I am not advocating the use of firearms or other weapons by members of the public in the event of a terrorist incident.
“As I have said many times previously, the police instruction to ‘run, hide and tell’ is the appropriate action and that should be followed. The caller raised a question about what the large number of people who hold legitimate firearms licences could do in the event of an attack on their community.
“For a more comprehensive answer than I was able to give at the time, I suggested that the caller should write to me personally so that I could meet with the chief constable and provide a detailed reply.”
The commissioner’s comments caused alarm within the force and among rank and file officers and prompted a swift warning from a senior officer that citizens should not arm themselves.
Hernandez, a former Conservative election agent, made the remarks during an extraordinary exchange with a caller to the phone-in programme.
The caller, from Bude in north Cornwall, said she was a gun owner and a former firearms dealer and asked: “If there should ever be a terrorist attack, what happens if I and other people try to defend themselves using those guns? What would be the repercussions?”
Hernandez replied that it was a “a very good question” and asked the caller if she would put it in writing so the chief constable could consider it. But she added: “This might be some of our solution to our issues.”
When challenged by the programme presenter if she was advocating vigilantism, Hernandez replied: “I’m just saying … let’s officially have a look at that and see what would be the implications of it. Let’s unpick it a little bit.
“We work with businesses to keep our communities safe. I’d really be interested in exploring that with the chief constable.”
The presenter asked the caller if she would be happy taking on a terrorist. She replied: “Yes,” prompting Hernandez to remark: “She’s not messing about, don’t go down to Bude.”
She added: “I think the reality is, if your community was coming under attack, people would do all sorts of things to try and save their community without even thinking. Look at how some of the emergency services responded, some of the community responded on the bridge in London.
“People will do incredible things without thinking to protect themselves and people around them.”
The presenter again said he could not believe the chief constable would entertain the idea of the public defending themselves with firearms.
Hernandez replied: “I’m sure he wouldn’t want to entertain it but these are times that are challenging and I would like to have an official response on that myself.”
Within hours of the interview Devon and Cornwall police had issued a strong warning that citizens should not arm themselves if there was a terrorist attack.
The force’s deputy chief constable, Paul Netherton, said: “Quite obviously, a marauding terrorist is the most challenging of circumstances, the police response requires significant professionalism and training as well as firearms capability.
“During these incidents, highly trained police firearms officers and special forces will be deployed to protect our communities.
“Under no circumstances would we want members of the public to arm themselves with firearms, not least because officers responding would not know who the offenders were, and quite obviously they would not have the time to ask. Our message to the public is a simple one: to run, to hide and to tell.”
Rank and file officers also made it clear they did not believe it was a good idea for members of the public to take up arms. Janice Adam, from the Police Federation, said reacting to and dealing with any such incidents should be left to highly specialised firearms officers.
