London shooting
Run for your lives. (But not if undercover plain-clothed police officers are chasing you, unless you want to get shot in the head.)
Why are our officers being taught how to deal with suicide bombers by the Israelis? They might have had experiences with suicide bombers, but do they have a solution? Remember this is the country that has a policy of assassinating people. So what have our police force learnt? Well, let’s see:
“Officers from Kratos or following their tactics are reported to be authorised to shoot to kill, and aim for the head to avoid triggering explosive devices attached to the chest or waist.”
What does this achieve? Will it really make any of us any safer? It doesn’t take long (nor a genius) to figure out ways around this tactic: a dead man’s switch mechanism used in reverse would ensure the suicide bomber achieves his aim even if he’s incapacitated. I figured this out independently, but it’s not a new idea.
Just what do you do when you’re being chased by three plain-clothed guys wielding automatic pistols? Even if the Brazilian man knew in the rush of the moment that he was being pursued by the police, there are plenty of reasons why someone would want to make a run for it. He might have committed some petty crime. He might have stolen a car. He might have been dealing illicit drugs. He might have broken the law, but he did not deserve to be judged and sentenced in the space of a few seconds. (Gee, he’s running away. He must be a suicide bomber.)
Additional choice quote:
“His unseasonally thick jacket apparently prompted concern that he had explosives strapped beneath.”
Unseasonal for anyone who grew up in a temperate climate, perhaps. But in London, the hub of multicultural diversity that it is, it certainly is not unusual to find people wrapped up in a layers of thick, puffy jackets in the middle of the summer. (As ridiculous-looking and unnecessary as I think it is.) What next? Maybe my skin colour will prompt concern that I might have terrorist intentions?
An inquiry is underway on the shooting. Whatever the outcome of that, it would not however be productive to make scapegoats out of the the officers who fired the shots - the entire police force will need to rethink the trigger-happy approach currently being adopted. Let’s hope this happens sooner than later.
I’ve no intention to change any of my travel plans.