gilesjuk said:
He is 29 not 20 and the Police stopped a cab he was in. If he had co-operated with the Police then he wouldn't have been shot. But obviously he had a firearm or some other weapon.
The Police don't shoot unless they feel there is a serious danger to the public from an individual.
Local people have painted a picture of him being a model citizen with his family and 4 children. But that doesn't mean anything if he also carries a gun?
Exactly. This isnt the US, armed police here are trained to use their guns only as an absolute last resort. The vast majority of police armed responses do not end up with the police using their guns. The bloke that died was a criminal carrying a gun, he shot at the police, what are they supposed to do, ask him nicely to stop & would he mind if they put some handcuffs on him?
I feel sorry for the police in all this, they really are damned if they do, damned if they dont. If they had deployed 100 riot police straight away to what was initially supposed to be a peaceful vigil from family & friends they would be criticised for a heavy-handed approach, aggravating the situation. As it is they are being criticised for not doing enough. They got criticised for using their batons on protestors in the student riots, sometimes vilified in the press, what are they supposed to do? The people rioting last night were criminals, not protestors, & they should have all had a baton round the head if you ask me. But of course you cant do that can you, its not fair on the poor criminals. Justice in this country is a joke- it needs to be much tougher & people should stop criticising the police & start respecting them for the very difficult job they do.