I also saw something about the London Metropolitan Police creating an app to call in to verify that plainclothes officers are police officers which, again, would not have helped the murdered woman just made it quicker to track down her killer.
In the US, the War on Some People using Some Drugs was a big driver of police militarization (dealers start flushing the goods down the toilet, so police start dawn raids with battering rams and get surprised when robbers use the same tactic or a frightened homeowner stabs them; gangs settle their business disputes with Glocks, so the police demand heavier weapons and get offended that someone thinks firing 50 rounds at a traffic stop was excessive). The UK has many fewer firearms in circulation, and its not quite as invested in the War on Some People as the USA is, so how does that affect things?
In the Can pol thread you brought up redistricting. Are there debates in the UK about rural areas being over-represented by population but being further from the centres of power to use their representation like there are in Canada?