There is an independent investigation being carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the circumstances of this incident and I’m pretty confident that the truth will come out. However even at this stage with the scant evidence we have it’s clear that a number of errors were made by the police and that Jean Charles’ actions (probably innocently carried out through error or misjudgement) may have in some way contributed to this tragedy.
He was misidentified as a potential suicide bomber.
He was not apprehended immediately but was instead followed.
He was then misjudged at some point to not only be a suicide bomber but also one that was at that very moment about to activate a device. Because only in this circumstance does the shoot to kill policy apply.
A number of questions still need to be answered though.
If he was judged to be a suicide bomber why was he not apprehended earlier?
Why did he run from the police?
Did the police identify themselves sufficiently ?
I believe that the reason why he was not apprehended earlier before he reached the Underground station is that initially the police judged him not to be a threat and were following him as part of an intelligence gathering operation.
A number of reports particularly foreign media seem to suggest that as the British police in general do not carry guns that they were not able to deal with this situation appropriately. This is not the case though. The armed response unit are supposed to be well trained and deal with armed criminals often and in most cases will actually deal with the situation without the need to shoot.
Regardless of this tragedy I think that the Shoot-to-Kill policy is seriously flawed as it in no way guarantees the prevention of the suspected bomber from carrying out his intended purpose.
The terrorists now simply need to add a Dead Man’s switch to future devices so that the detonation is activated when a button is released, rather than when it is pushed. Ensuring that their goal is achieved even if they are shot in the head.
Not to mention the chance that innocents may lose their lives in the carrying out of this policy.
EDIT: Just read on Bruce Schneier’s blog something that reminded me that far greater numbers of people have died on the London Underground due to poor maintenance of the track or through driver error and that a greater number still have died on the streets of London due to drunk drivers. Should we now institute a shoot-to-kill policy for suspected bad maintenance staff or suspected drunk drivers?
