Shooting of man on London train: police in uniform better for arrests

[Eric J in MN]

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_07_27_london_shooting_of_an_innocent_man_shows_that_police_in_uniform.asp

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft/images/jean_charles_de_menezes,.jpg
Jean Charles de Menezes

The best article I've read about the innocent man shot to death on a London train, Jean Charles de Menezes, is this one from the UK's Times Online.
The police were watching his apartment building because a bombing suspect lived in another apartment in the building.

They knew he wasn't a suspect as he left the building, but for some reason figured that perhaps he was on his way to meet a bomber, and so they should follow him anyway, as he boarded a bus.

Then when Jean Charles de Menezes headed towards a train station, the police panicked and...

The decision was taken at Scotland Yard that he must not be allowed to get to the platform.

The marksmen were told: if you think he has explosives under his coat and he fails to heed shouted warnings, then you must shoot to kill.

As the three plain-clothes officers closed in on Mr Menezes, they say that they screamed their first warning that they were armed police...

A number of witnesses who have cast doubt on police statements that they shouted a warning or identified themselves to the suspect before opening fire.

If the police had been wearing uniforms, Jean Charles de Menezes would have known they were police, either way.


The lesson is that plain clothes police officers should NOT attempt an arrest whenever that can be avoided. Confusion is likely.

Far better for plain clothes police to work with uniformed police and ask them to make the arrest.

Regarding the end of the pursuit:

Less than a minute later Mr Menezes was pinned to the floor of the carriage by two men while a third officer fired five shots into the base of his skull.

If they can pin him, they can handcuff him, thereby preventing him from setting off a bomb, if any.

Jean Charles de Menezes was an innocent man, but bombers are important to take alive, too, to learn who sent them.

The Family of Jean Charles de Menezes: BBC Coverage

"The family of a Brazilian man shot by police who mistakenly thought he was a suicide bomber urged the government to withdraw the shoot-to-kill policy," writes the BBC.

Furthermore, his family disputes the account that Jean Charles de Menezes was wearing a heavy coat (they say he was wearing a denim jacket), and the account that the jumped the turnstile.

[Kraklen]

1. I think under cover agents shouldn't perform arrests at all...

unless they're backing up uniformed officers.

At least I can't think of any good reason why they should.

[Eric J in MN]

3. I agree about 99 percent of the time with that.

If a plain clothes officer is spying on the mob, and theyare about to kill someone, then he may need to act immediately.

With the situation in London, though. the plain clothes officers could have coordinated with uniformed officers from the start and prevented the outcome of killing an innocent man.

[Guckert]

2. If they are holding his hands, he could use his magical powers to set

off his invisible devise.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Tony Blair is against changing the shoot-to-kill policy,

in spite of how nonsensical it was in this situation.

[puddycat]

5. the USA & Great Britain are moving towards a police state

Prince George and his legion of sycophants, and Tony the Blunderer and his ignoble knights probably have constant hard-ons at the terror they've created in their own countries.