The UK has relatively few armed police—but their specialist squads are hotbeds of 'warrior culture'

When unarmed black Briton Chris Kaba was killed by a single shot from a London Metropolitan police officer in September 2022, his family and communities of color demanded answers. A year later, they have the beginnings of one—the Crown Prosecution Service announced it was charging an officer with murder. In response, over 100 armed Met officers voluntarily stood down from firearms duties, suggesting they were alarmed by the decision to prosecute one of their own.