F113 DOP Metropolitan Police Wasserwerfer 9000

F113 DOP Metropolitan Police Wasserwerfer 9000

This is one of three water cannon purchased by the Met in 2014 and sold off in 2016. Bought second-hand from the German police, these vehicle were very controversial due to the cost of buying, maintaining and upgrading them – particularly when they weren’t authorised for use on the streets.

In the wake of the 2011 riots, then London Mayor Boris Johnson authorised the purchase of the three vehicles at £28,000 each and asked them Met to prepare them for use. They were stored at the Met’s Gravesend outdoor training facility and the Met denied the existence of them for quite some time.

The Home Secretary has never authorised their use and provided a long list of reasons why they wouldn’t be authorised. The Met confirmed that they had spent £330,000 in total on the project including upgrades, paintwork and training.

London’s former Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Stephen Greenhalgh tweeted a picture of one of the water cannon in use on the training ground. Credit: Twitter/Stephen Greenhalgh.