They didn't even knock...

It's still rare for the British police to go in heavy as the above quote from an onlooker proves after he saw armed police do their thing in yesterday's kidnap rescue:

Armed police have rescued a 10-year-old boy who was kidnapped from his family home and held captive for 35 hours. A ransom demand was made after an armed gang snatched the boy in Walthamstow, east London, on Thursday morning. Witnesses described hearing six shots and a flash grenade during a raid to free the boy from a flat in Great Peter Street, Victoria, on Friday night.

Witness Kevin Jacob watched the whole thing and seems quite bemused at the spectacle of 25 officers waiting to storm the flat:

They didn't even knock, they used a flash grenade, it went bang and the whole place lit up. Once they gained entry and had the door open, they grabbed the little boy and whisked him into the van.

American onlookers were also amused; when asked what his response would have been, Colonial Marine Cpl. Dwayne Hicks (retired) was heard to say that he would have taken off and nuked the flat from orbit as "it was the only way to be sure".

Kidnap boy rescued in armed raid: BBC News