The Met Police Chief has insisted that the policy of "shoot-to-kill in order to protect" should continue.
Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, 27 was shot dead in error by police at Stockwell Tube station as part of the inquiry into attempted bomb attacks. He was later found not to be connected to the incidents.
Met Police Chief Sir Ian Blair has apologised to the family and warned that more innocent people might be killed in the fight against terrorism.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4711189.stmMy reply to this "Talking Point":
It's not entirely clear to me what evidence the police had to lead them to such drastic measures. What should be clear, however, is that there are thousands of relatively dark-skinned people in London carrying bags of one sort or another, the overwhelming majority (to say the least) doing so perfectly innocently. It should also be clear that yelling the word "police" does not conclusively identify one as a police officer, and that merely running from the police does not necessarily identify a person as particularly dangerous. Here in the US, many people would run from the police merely because they are carrying marijuana, or simply because they are distrustful of the local police's treatment of minorities. These are factors that armed police in London, dealing with terrorism, will have to learn to take into account. Shooting to kill is not "protecting" if the person shot is not a dangerous criminal. One has to accept a degree of ambiguity in society -- anybody could be a dangerous criminal, but most people aren't -- if the cure isn't going to be worse than the disease. Here in America, we are still wrestling with the problems presented when the government grants itself too much power in order to "protect" us from terrorism.
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