Guernsey Police Complete Firearms Exercise

Vehicle checks, casualty response and hostage negotiations were carried out by Guernsey Police during a firearms exercise.

A group of Guernsey officers ran through a high-stakes scenario at St Peter Port Harbour this morning (21 April).

The team responded to a casualty seemingly struck by a car, where the necessary first aid response was discussed before they moved on to a developing hostage situation, where negotiation and de-escalation skills were tested.

This exercise is part of a week of firearms training.

Sergeant Sacha Yabsley says despite little violent crime on the island, being prepared is important:

"Guernsey is a very safe place and we are very fortunate with that, but this kind of training is necessary just so that we have planned and prepared and we've exercised with partners like Guernsey Harbours to make sure that we've got that capability to respond to incidents.

There have been a number of UK enquires, the findings of which have really emphasised the need for emergency services and their partners to prepare and respond to incidents.

Our officers are trained to the same level as UK officers and we do occasionally send officers off to provide mutual aid to other forces such as the UK and most recently down to Jersey.

So for us, this is the combination of a week of firearms training. Everything seen here has been fairly dramatic but it's not been that dramatic all week."