system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do British police officers safely apprehend armed/dangerous criminals without carrying guns?
gpt
Some police officers carry guns.

Routine police work, such as investigating a crime scene and issuing traffic tickets don't require a gun. When evidence points to where a suspect who is likely to be armed is hiding, they'll send officers trained in the use of firearms.

Separating out armed police from unarmed police has proven useful in places that do it. It creates a sense that the unarmed police are trustworthy public servants without removing from the police's ability to arrest suspects. 

I think it would be harder to implement in America, sadly. In Britain, there's a gun registry and a lot of other firearms controls, so if someone owns a gun it's probably a matter of public record. In America, you can buy a gun at a show without so much as having your ID checked, so the police can't ever really know ahead of time if a suspect is going to be unarmed.