BRITAIN: The death of an innocent young man is a disastrous result for the first deployment of Scotland Yard's new "shoot-to-kill" policy for suspected suicide bombers.
The Metropolitan police's elite S019 firearms team has been on the sharp end of criticism over a number of highly contentious shootings in recent years. But the case of Jean Charles de Menezes, the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician gunned down on board a tube train on Friday, raises huge issues for the entire force.
While questions will rightly be asked of those who pulled the triggers, perhaps even more crucial explanations should be demanded of those who placed Mr de Menezes under suspicion, resulting in police tailing him several miles from his home to the tube station before armed officers tried to stop him and killed him. The two inquiries into the shooting must examine the whole anti-terrorist investigation in the run-up to the shooting.
Initially, police insisted Mr de Menezes was under surveillance because he had emerged from a property of "major interest" to detectives investigating last Thursday's botched bomb attempts. Police were alerted to this address by papers found in the rucksack abandoned by a bomber. But the building where Mr de Menezes lived contains several flats. So how reliable was the intelligence? Although police did not think he was one of four bombers who tried to set off devices on three tube trains and a bus, they believed he was linked and could have been about to trigger a suicide blast.
It has been suggested they hoped he might lead them to the bombers. But this could be seen as a high-risk strategy. If he was seriously considered a potential suicide bomber, why was he allowed to leave home at all, and board a bus? Why was he not stopped before he entered the station? Ken Jones, the spokesman on terrorism for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said tactics on "deadly and determined attacks" were intelligence-led.
"They are not implemented at random, but as a result of intelligence and backed up by senior decision-making," he said.
While Scotland Yard clammed up yesterday, it is understood surveillance officers tailed Mr de Menezes for several miles from when he left his home in Tulse Hill, got on a bus, and arrived at Stockwell tube station in south London. The Met refused to clarify, but it is understood a separate armed unit was called to intercept him at this point. As he entered the tube, officers were instructed to effect a "hard stop" - that is, arrest him. When he bolted on to the train, someone decided to shoot him.
The Met refused to say yesterday whether the final decision was taken by an officer at the tube station, or whether it was authorised by a "gold commander" (senior officer) back at the control room. Mr de Menezes, it is suggested, aroused suspicion because he was wearing a thick coat which could have concealed explosives, and he bolted when approached. Others have said his attire was not unusual, given he was from a hot climate, and it is unclear what warning was issued by the officers, who, it is thought, were not wearing uniform. He may have panicked, not knowing who they were.
Glen Smyth, chairman of the Met Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, stressed the immense pressure on armed police, who bear the huge responsibility of split-second, life-and-death decisions.
A 2003 Police Complaints Authority report found the Met twice as likely to open fire as other forces. Of 24 police shootings - including 11 fatalities between 1998 and 2001 - many of those shot were mentally ill, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The Crown Prosecution Service is considering charges against two officers who shot dead Harry Stanley in Hackney in 1999, after apparently mistaking a table leg in his bag for a shotgun.
Acpo guidelines state police can open fire to disable a suspect if, after shouting a warning, they believe the suspect poses a threat to their lives or those of the public.
But Acpo advice acknowledges that "in the modern era of terrorism, it is essential that police are able to deploy appropriate tactics when necessary, whilst remaining accountable to the law, in order to safeguard the public against mass murder".
The Met police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, described Mr de Menezes' death as a tragedy. But yesterday he also openly admitted what is being termed a "shoot-to-kill-to-protect" policy over potential suicide bombers, explaining the necessity of shooting them in the head rather than elsewhere in case the shot triggered any explosives strapped around their body. Police previously refused to openly discuss the policy, codenamed Operation Kratos. Sir Ian could not rule out the possibility of officers shooting dead others as the hunt continues.
Lord Stevens, the former Met commissioner, also defended the tactic. He had sent officers to Israel and other countries hit by suicide attacks, where they learned that the only way to stop a suicide bomber was to "destroy his brain, instantly, utterly", otherwise he might still be able to trigger a device.