HUNDREDS of armed officers will be routinely deployed to incidents that do not involve firearms for the first time ever.

In in a major shift in policy, police with weapons will now be allowed to attend non-violent incidents if they are nearer the scene than unarmed colleagues.

Police Scotland chiefs have revealed that 399 officers have now been approved to carry guns which is a rise of 124 and they will now be used more frequently in routine investigations.

Until now, armed response units could only be deployed in incidents involving firearms or violence but will now be able to attend any incident to get officers on the scene as quick as possible until unarmed colleagues arrive.

The removal of the current restrictions will be presented to the Scottish Police Authority on Tuesday and will come into effect in early in the New Year if approved.

Announcing the move at the Police Scotland College at Tulliallan, Deputy Chief Constable Johnny Gwynne said: “We have increased the number of ARV officers available in our communities but our current deployment model is inefficient.

“It does not allow these officers to be sent by the control room to anything other than firearms or threat to life incidents.

“They already respond to things they come across and are sent to other incidents where there’s a threat to life but no firearms are involved.

“They are trained in advanced emergency first aid and we have many examples of incidents where these officers have assisted, such as at road crashes or medical emergencies where they have been able to get to the scene before an ambulance.

“ARV officers will now support colleagues and the public by responding to a wider range of incidents with an emphasis on public protection, vulnerability and speed of response.”

“This move is designed to maximise the safety of the Scottish public, but we are aware that in the past there have been some concerns about the role of armed police officers in our communities and that previously we have not engaged as well as we could have when making decisions about how they are deployed.”

In a separate move rank and file officers will be trained in handling stun guns before they are rolled out across Scotland in a move which will more than double the number currently on the streets.

The plan will see 500 new trainees join the 275 specialist firearms officers who currently carry the 50,000-volt weapons.

Currently, only firearms officers are authorised to use Tasers but the newly trained officers will be part of normal shifts.

It follows a survey which showed that nearly two-thirds of Scotland’s police officers want to have access to a handgun, while nine out of ten said they wanted to carry a Taser.

The move is driven by an increase in the number of assaults on officers on duty, from 764 in 2016 to 969 so far in 2017.

Officers trained to use the Taser X2 will be deployed in all 13 divisions across Scotland, with training due to start in May 2018.

Police said the Taser allows officers to maintain a safer distance from the threat, giving the opportunity to prevent the incident from escalating and the hope of a quicker and safer resolution.

The number of officer assaults is growing, how can we protect our teams better?

DCC Gwynne added: “Those who volunteer for the training are already part of shifts across the country, from Ullapool to Dumfries, and they will continue to perform their normal duties but will have Taser capability.”

David Hamilton, Vice Chair of the Scottish Police Federation said: “This is a very welcome development and goes some way to responding to the concerns expressed by members in our recent survey.

“The extreme violence and dangers police officers face on a daily basis are poorly understood by those out with the police service. Far too often police officers are seriously assaulted and injured when dealing with violent events.

“Evidence from across the world shows Taser reduces such assaults and injuries considerably, and leads to safer outcomes for police officers, the public and offenders.”

“Like any employer, the police service must ensure its workforce is provided with appropriate safety equipment to perform its role. We believe this announcement represents an awakening in the service that its obligations to the safety of its officers can no longer be set aside.”