The reassuring presence of armed officers...

I was a little disturbed to find a large number of armed police milling around the station this morning. I know the queues for tickets yesterday were exceedingly long (extending out of the station and into the car park) and the language of some commuters may have strictly speaking constituted a breach of the peace, but I hardly thought it warrented such a heavy-handed response. It then occurred to me that perhaps the government really WAS serious about enforcing the ban on smoking in public places, but having half of Surrey police on patrol at the station with their fingers twitching on big, scary-looking guns slung around their torsos still seemed like overkill to me.

Apparently, in view of recent events, the officers were providing "general reassurance". Oh good. Then I shall remember to feel reassured instead of a sense of looming danger the next time I see the station looking like the anticipated location of an armed standoff...