gun free police force contributes to shooting death....

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this off Fox news.....

my cynical synopsis...

Police surveilance of a known bomber's appartment building sees a "dark skinned foreigner" leaving with a nap-sack and heading towards the tube. The Bobbies at the tube don't stop the guy and say "hey, what's in the bag" because they're afraid he'll blow them all up.

So what do they do?

Call the "Fire arms officers" to save the day.

Problem....they can't get their in time.

So then what does "Mr. nice Bobby" (who would never dream of protecting state disarmed civilians with a gun) do....let the suspected bomber board the train.

What is the very first thing the "fire arms officers" do when they get to the scene.......storm the train and put 7 bullets into the suspected bombers head.

Oh...by the way....the "suspect" is an imigrant electrician from Brazil going about his daily business.....probably running because he's late for the tube.

and the moral of the story....

A failed philosophy about firearms (guns kill people becasue people are "fundamentally good" and couldn't possibly be responsible for killing each other).....

breeds a failed government policy (disarm all people...well maybe just the little people).....

breeds a SOP at police headquarters (nice Bobbies don't pack).....

breeds a failed police response (don't look at him funny, he might blow us all up...and....just let him get on the train with all the little people.....and....where is he, bang! (X7).....

breeds........a dead imigrant electrician....who is after all, just a little people, so what's the big deal?

Maybe the U.K. would benefit from a little of their Calvanist Presbyterian legacy and resurect the doctrine of "total depravity". Nah! actually thinking, let alone tip-toeing through the TULIPs, isn't where it's at these days.

So....like....what ever happened to...

"freeze, hands up, you're under arrest"??

Obviously the Brits haven't watched enough Starsky and Hutch re-runs.

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LONDON — A jury on Thursday found London's police force guilty of violating health and safety laws in a high-stakes anti-terrorist operation that led to the shooting death of a Brazilian man mistaken for a suicide bomber.

London's Metropolitan Police was convicted of placing lives at risk and fined $362,000 in the operation that led to the death of 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes on July 22, 2005.

The forces was also assessed $798,000 in prosecution costs.

Prosecutors told the jury at London's Central Criminal Court that police killed de Menezes and put the lives of others at risk during their anti-terrorism operation because of flawed planning and chaos at headquarters.

The force had denied the charge, saying the killing was an error, not a crime. Police chief Ian Blair issued a statement after the verdict, expressing "my deepest regrets" over the killing.

The Brazilian electrician was killed by police who followed him into London's Stockwell subway station from an apartment building that had been linked to a failed bomber. He was shot seven times after he boarded a train.

The shooting occurred the day after a group of would-be suicide bombers botched an attack on London's transit system, and two weeks after a similar attack killed 52 commuters and four bombers on three subway trains and a bus.

No individual officers have been charged over de Menezes' death. The foreman of the jury told the court that blame did not rest with Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, the officer in charge of the operation.

"In reaching this verdict the jury attaches no personal culpability to Commander Dick," he said.

Police lawyer Ronald Thwaites had argued that a health and safety prosecution should never have been brought and was a last resort by prosecutors who had failed to find enough evidence to charge any individual with murder or manslaughter.

Thwaites told the jury that de Menezes was shot because he had behaved suspiciously and "because when he was challenged by police he did not comply with them but reacted precisely as they had been briefed a suicide bomber might react at the point of detonating his bomb."

After two of the bombing suspects were identified as living in the same south London apartment building as de Menezes, police developed a plan to watch the building and stop anyone who came out for questioning. Firearms officers charged with making such stops did not arrive at the scene until several hours later, when de Menezes had already left.

Two teams of surveillance officers tailed de Menezes as he left his apartment and boarded two public buses before entering the subway system.

The prosecution said there was no good reason for the police to fail to stop a possible attacker from entering London's subway network, just two weeks after suicide bombers had killed 52 people.

"If he (de Menezes) had been a suicide bomber emerging with a backpack and a murderous intent, no one had any established plan that could have dealt with him because the firearms officers had not arrived," prosecution lawyer Clare Montgomery said.

Surveillance officers never positively identified de Menezes as a suspect or completely ruled him out, prosecutors said. Firearms officers, who arrived on the scene after de Menezes had entered the subway, believed he was a bomber and shot him dead.
 
I was there the day it happened.

I think the issue was more lack of training and established protocols than anything else. I think he was running because he was terrified as to why armed men were chasing him.

I will say, it's amazing how differently the news covers things over there. It's just as tainted as our news is, just in a different way.
 
A jury on Thursday found London's police force guilty of violating health and safety laws
If they're not getting 'em for shooting the guy (neither murder nor manslaughter) then what is the violation of health and safety law? Discharging a gun on a train (noise complaint)? Littering (empty shell casings that can be slipped on)?
Just strikes me as bizarre - either say they shouldn't've shot the guy, and that any reasonable person would've never done it, or that it was a crazy situation and the actions taken were understandable in light of it all.
 
Wow. Poor guy.

The cops should be in jail for homicide of the second degree.
Well,they won't get jail,because as far as the Met is concerned,'accidents happen'.Harry Stanley was killed by two SO19 cops,because he was holding a bulky package,believed to contain a sawed-off shotgun and was suspected of being an IRA hitman.This happend because some moron in the bar,where Stanley was drinking at,rang up the police and told them that Stanley was an IRA hitman,sent over to do a 'job'.Now it was either intended as a joke or because that guy had a grudge against Harry Stanley and so Harry paid with his life,because of someones stupidity-so despite being severly drunk,didn't help things either.

Another incident happend when a poor guy was shot in his bed,as the swat team make a stealthy entry,into his house and into his bedroom.
 
I empathize with the "fire arms officers".....

they probably only get called out when the S%&T really hits the fan (similar to SWAT types)....

they're probably told....."bomber on the tube... holding back pack bomb... just ran past police check point."

They storm the car and see the guy....he flintches and maybe holds up the pack as some kind of psycological shield....

officer thinks he's attempting to detonate the bomb and Pow! (x7) in the head.

Apparently, there's at least one aspect of their "fire arms officer" training that they got correct, in that they hit him seven times in the bean (per an earlier article) and didn't scratch a bystander (well.....accept for the one they intentionaly shot of course).

hey....you guys are letting me down...no one bit on my TULIPs....no live wires out there interested in getting down to "root causes"?

Oh well, at least the thread didn't get shut down. (yet)

I just can't be PC.....not a PC bone in my body
 
This story keeps getting rehashed over and over...

But as to this:
Apparently, there's at least one aspect of their "fire arms officer" training that they got correct, in that they hit him seven times in the bean (per an earlier article) and didn't scratch a bystander (well.....accept for the one they intentionaly shot of course).

It is my understanding that they were on top of the guy. I do not mean they were like within five feet, I mean they were on top of the guy, holding him down, guns against his body. Kinda hard to miss at that range.
 
T Total Depravity
U Uncondentional election
L Limited atonement
I Irristable Grace
P Preserving/Perserverance of the saints.

I'm not sure how TULIP helps us understand this incident in more than a general way. (people are depraved - so don't be so suprised if some do really bad things). The court case seems to have been focused on lack of early intervention - which I guess is the point of the OP. No guns with regular cops so they couldn't intervene early. Lack of early intervention puts larger group of innocent citizens at risk. I am sure it is too much to hope for to expect a change in that countries practice of not arming their LEO's.
 
then what is the violation of health and safety law?
Fast moving lead tends to be a health hazard in a crowd.

Surveillance officers never positively identified de Menezes as a suspect or completely ruled him out, prosecutors said. Firearms officers, who arrived on the scene after de Menezes had entered the subway, believed he was a bomber and shot him dead.
Apparent lack or breakdown of communication among the officers as well.

The force had denied the charge, saying the killing was an error, not a crime.
And they can get away with it with a simple, "My bad."

A jury on Thursday found London's police force guilty of violating health and safety laws in a high-stakes anti-terrorist operation...
So they were found guilty of putting people at risk, but not for actually killing someone needlessly? Don't seem right to me.

same cr.p happens in your country
Yep
 
no live wires out there interested in getting down to "root causes"?

Had the officer in the tube station had a firearm, he could have stopped de Menezes before he got on the train. Something like, (hand on weapon) "Ok sir, drop the bag and step away..." Guy drops bag and begins explaining himself profusely thinking he might get shot. Officer calls in backup. Or even the bomb squad if he's nervous like that. The place goes nuts with cops. They find only electricians tools in the bag. Everything wraps up in a few hours. A major PITA for everyone, but de Menezes lives, there's no property damage, and no bystanders are placed in danger.

Or...

Because tube officer is not armed, he lays down due to the fact that he has absolutely no way to stop pretty much anyone, and he knows it. Let the guy pass and call in the hit squad. Now the situation is perceived to be more dire because the potential bomber may or may not know they're on to him. The situation is escalated due to nothing more that the time that has elapsed. As well, the gun guys have been amped on adrenalin several minutes. The rest... you know.

Maybe not as eloquent as I could have put it, but that's the idea. Seems clear to me that the first line of defense should be an armed one. What if the Coast Guard was unarmed and unable to engage a threat? They'd have to call in the Army/Navy/Airforce/Someone with a GUN. Pfff. By that time, good bye NY (or any other coastal city).


-T.
 
Hmm no mention of the fact that Mr De Menezes was acting so erraticly because he had cocaine in his blood stream and he was in the country working illegally on a 2 year expired student visa.

Yes this is a major f*** up. However in the wake of a major terrrorist incident an unarmed officer grappled with someone he believed was carrying a bomb with the intent of blowing up a train full of people after said person had been given a challenge by police officers who identifed themself as such.

Then several other firearms officers ran towards the suspected bomber and as per Operation Kratos policy the tactics are intended to be used on an intelligence-led basis. They are not implemented at random but as a result of intelligence and backed up by senior decision-making.

This was a spontaneous incident where officers on the ground acted in the interests of every person on that train and did exatly what they were trained to do.

Were there mistakes made? Yes, an innocent man was killed but this isn't the fault of the officers on the ground this is a problem with the command structure and their orders on the day.
 
I think the main issue is that people are OK with, no, they WANT internal security like the KGB in Russia. It's horrible, you shouldn't even be able to detain a pedestrian without just cause, let alone murder them.
 
I read a report a while back by a Scotland Yard official who really raked the British "armed police" over the coals. The gist was that they are poorly trained, trigger happy, and inclined to shoot without warning even when a warning could have been issue. Armed police were seen waving submachine guns around in bars and threatening women with guns to get them to undress. No disciplinary action was taken, of course.

I have made a number of trips to the UK and almost every trip there is an accidental shooting by police. More than in the U.S.? I don't know, but I think in proportion to the numbers it is a lot higher. Like many people with no familiarity with firearms, the cops see the gun as an all powerful means of enforcing their will, and shoot at the slightest sign that it isn't working.

One disturbing element of that report was that recruiters for the armed police CANNOT consider any officer who has ever owned a gun, fired a gun, or had one in the family. The rationale is that they want to train officers to be totally hostile to guns and to kill without any compunction, and an officer who knows what a gun will do might hesitate.

I am a bit surprised that this case got to a court, and it was probably only because the victim was a foreigner. In other cases, the papers and TV were allowed to go on about the case for a couple of days, after which the Home Office and its lap dog Press Board told them to shut up and find a royal scandal to cover.

Jim
 
I read a report a while back by a Scotland Yard official who really raked the British "armed police" over the coals. The gist was that they are poorly trained, trigger happy, and inclined to shoot without warning even when a warning could have been issue. Armed police were seen waving submachine guns around in bars and threatening women with guns to get them to undress. No disciplinary action was taken, of course.

Please provide evidence or a link to this because I believe it is totally false!

Firearms officers in the UK recieve a lot more training than officers in the USA, almost weekly tactical training and a hell of a lot of range time, some forces operate monthly requalification shoots and they will not hesitate to take an officer off firearms duty if they do not meet the required standard.

I have made a number of trips to the UK and almost every trip there is an accidental shooting by police. More than in the U.S.? I don't know, but I think in proportion to the numbers it is a lot higher. Like many people with no familiarity with firearms, the cops see the gun as an all powerful means of enforcing their will, and shoot at the slightest sign that it isn't working.

The number of accidental shootings is very low. When were you in the UK then...

Because in the last 6 years I can count 4 accidental shootings.
One disturbing element of that report was that recruiters for the armed police CANNOT consider any officer who has ever owned a gun, fired a gun, or had one in the family. The rationale is that they want to train officers to be totally hostile to guns and to kill without any compunction, and an officer who knows what a gun will do might hesitate.

Again FALSE, I own several firearms and so do quite a lot of the officers I work with.

I have read a few of your posts now and when it comes to this subject I find you to be worryingly ill informed and you continue to spread these malicious untruths around without providing a shread of supporting evidence.

While I may only have 6 posts on this site compared to your 6k+ I actually live in the UK and work with firearms in the police daily.

What you do not seem to understand is the UK is totally different to the US, the culture and people are different and so is law enforcement. It is like comparing apples to oranges.
 
Were there mistakes made? Yes, an innocent man was killed but this isn't the fault of the officers on the ground this is a problem with the command structure and their orders on the day.

That's exactly my take on it.
When the green light was given to stop De Menenzes, that was his death warrant right there. The mechanism by which it happened is a sundry discussion that doesn't influence the outcome.
 
I think he was running because he was terrified as to why armed men were chasing him.

Just picking this one thing out. That is not really any sort of defense. You can't turn a speeding ticket into a high speed chase and claim you started going 120mph because you were being chased by another car. If that other car is a police car, you can't use fleeing them as an excuse. And you can't use the police being "armed men" as an excuse to flee the police. If you're close enough to see they're armed, you're close enough to see they're police.
 
Had the officer in the tube station had a firearm, he could have stopped de Menezes before he got on the train.

Exactly....thankyou for illustrating the point better than I did.

Yes, an innocent man was killed but this isn't the fault of the officers on the ground this is a problem with the command structure and their orders on the day.

Exactly!! The guys on the ground did exactly what they were told...now they have to live with a man's blood on their conscience because someone at HQ hit the panic button.

I'm not sure how TULIP helps us understand this incident in more than a general way.

I have a theory that anyone who subscribes to the T in TULIP, will not wind up in the anti camp and that the notion that "all people are fundamentally good deep down" leads one to think that the gun is really the problem, not the shooter.

why Menenzes was running
It appears that he knew he was doing something wrong (drugs, illegal immigration status) and though that's hardly a capital offense, he doens't go down as innocent bystander with no share in the blame.....not in my book at least.

uw145

Welcome to THR and thankyou for adding your insight to this thread.
 
So the police department was charged with a crime but not the police officers? Weird.
No,it isn't if you think about it carefully.Cops from SO19 or now CO19,carry out orders,from above.Cops are agents of the police force and when a major incident occurs,then it's the department that suffer the consequences of their actions.The Commissioners board is the brains of the Met and so they face collectively the charges and Ian Blair,faces more.After all they represent the Metropolitan Police Force,at an extremely senior level.

Personally Mendez was a bloody foolish prat,to of have run away from SO19,but he was an illegal-immigrant and he knew that if he was caught then he would face a deportation,back to Brazil-so he took the chance of running away and assuming that they wouldn't shoot him,an unarmed man.But gunning him down like that was very stupid,considering that they weren't really in any danger,from him.Not even an idiot deserves to die like that.I'm sure that Mendez saw the Police baseball caps and vests,too.They are clearly marked and visable for all to read.But this is a lesson for anyone who runs away from armed police and calls their bluff.

In saying this,CS gas spray attatchments for pistols and pepperball guns should have been issued as well as handguns and I'm amazed that these wern't carried,as standard operating equipment.Perhaps if they were carried by SO19,then Mendez would have been alive and well today.
 
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