From what I understand there’s a special force that has firearms whereas the regular beat cop (whatever they call them there) do not.
Yes, there are special officers designated as qualified to carry firearms. The numbers have been increasing significantly.
When I had an FFL, I purchased 20 - 30 Smith & Wesson model 10 London Police surplus. It was when there were a lot of surplus revolvers on the market. They were great guns, some holster wear, but not shot much. Hard to beat a S&W model 10.
They had British proof marks and some sort of amorers number stamped on them. All were 4” barrels.
The importer that I got them from said they were being replaced with Glocks. Great guy. We hit it off, and he included one with target sights, trigger, and hammer, a model 15, I think, in the next shipment. Those are fond memories.