Police Shot Man Over Panic
Jean Charles de Menezes was in the prime of his life at age 27. Originally from Brazil, he came to London to study and work part time. He had family and friends who loved him very much. He has never been in trouble with the law, until one fateful day. Police called out to him and ordered him to stop. Instead of sticking around to see what they wanted, he ran away and the police shot him five times.
Why did an innocent person run from the police? It is speculated he may have run from police because of his visa situation, but this does not merit a death penalty. Even if that speculation were not true, suppose he had some illegal substance on him, that still would not put him to death in a court of law. Suppose he had just stolen someone's purse or robbed a bank, they don't just murder the criminal for those crimes. Suppose he had a lot of parking tickets and outstanding fines, did he need to be killed over that issue? Suppose he was just in a state of panic not so long after the last bombings and he misunderstood what they were saying to him and thought it was a dangerous situation and he needed to run? You certainly do not kill someone over a misunderstanding.
Why did the police want him to stop anyway? They were in the middle of investigating the recent bombings. They are in a high pressured job and sometimes their minds get stuck on one track. They are only human and make mistakes. It is not easy to be a police officer. Sometimes a person must make snap decisions for the safety of the general population. Was this the case? Could they have done something different?
It is a general assumption with the police if they ask you to stop and you do not stop, you are probably hiding something illegal from them. If you are doing something illegal, it is their duty to investigate. If a police officer tells you to stop and you run, it sets off a signal in their minds that something is not right.
These particular officers were on a one-track mind of investigating the bombings. That was their current focus. The poor, innocent man who got caught up in their focus made the unfortunate decision to run instead of stopping to see what they wanted. In a highly charged atmosphere filled with fear and wanting to prevent more deaths, the officers panicked. They were in that state of mind an officer never should have to be in when enforcing the law. This kind of panic does not allow for rational decisions and this was a situation when rational thinking was critical.
A rational move to prevent possible injury to others would dictate at the most to shoot him in the leg to stop him from running, or calling for back up, or yelling out to the people to clear the area. An irrational move would be to shoot him several times in key areas to make sure he would end up dead in order to prevent a bomb from going off - if he had one. He didn't. Even if he did have a bomb and was a suicide bomber, logic would dictate that the moment the police called him over he would have set it off before the chase. Logic would dictate this man may have been guilty of something, but that did not necessarily mean he was going to set off a bomb.
A police officer is not supposed to be the judge, jury and executioner. On that day, these officers took on all those roles without having all the facts in hand. They abused Mr. Menezes' human rights on an assumption they were protecting the people at large. You cannot kill a person on a hunch.
The people of the UK are not used to this kind of thing happening. This situation happens a lot in the US. It is so old news in the US that when it happens, it barely gets a headline. The police in Brazil can be equally brutal and have done this on a frequent scale. Many third world countries will shoot first and ask questions later. This is not a unique phenomenon, it just is not the kind of thing they expect to happen in England where such impulsive acts are considered vulgar.
These officers were trying to do their job and made a really bad decision in the heat of the moment. They need to have time off from their jobs and to re-train in order to make better decisions. They need time to re-think about the seriousness of how their duty is to protect all citizens, even the ones suspected of wrong-doing. They need to weigh heavy on their minds the fact they killed an innocent man and how that has wronged his family and loved ones. These officers are not the bad guys, but made a really bad choice and should be made to pay for it.
Many people make serious mistakes. Sometimes the result of serious mistakes is the death of another. Average citizens who make these kinds of mistakes are usually given jail time or pay fines or do community service to compensate for their serious mistake. Shouldn't these officers be held up to the same standards?
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Why did an innocent person run from the police? It is speculated he may have run from police because of his visa situation, but this does not merit a death penalty. Even if that speculation were not true, suppose he had some illegal substance on him, that still would not put him to death in a court of law. Suppose he had just stolen someone's purse or robbed a bank, they don't just murder the criminal for those crimes. Suppose he had a lot of parking tickets and outstanding fines, did he need to be killed over that issue? Suppose he was just in a state of panic not so long after the last bombings and he misunderstood what they were saying to him and thought it was a dangerous situation and he needed to run? You certainly do not kill someone over a misunderstanding.
Why did the police want him to stop anyway? They were in the middle of investigating the recent bombings. They are in a high pressured job and sometimes their minds get stuck on one track. They are only human and make mistakes. It is not easy to be a police officer. Sometimes a person must make snap decisions for the safety of the general population. Was this the case? Could they have done something different?
It is a general assumption with the police if they ask you to stop and you do not stop, you are probably hiding something illegal from them. If you are doing something illegal, it is their duty to investigate. If a police officer tells you to stop and you run, it sets off a signal in their minds that something is not right.
These particular officers were on a one-track mind of investigating the bombings. That was their current focus. The poor, innocent man who got caught up in their focus made the unfortunate decision to run instead of stopping to see what they wanted. In a highly charged atmosphere filled with fear and wanting to prevent more deaths, the officers panicked. They were in that state of mind an officer never should have to be in when enforcing the law. This kind of panic does not allow for rational decisions and this was a situation when rational thinking was critical.
A rational move to prevent possible injury to others would dictate at the most to shoot him in the leg to stop him from running, or calling for back up, or yelling out to the people to clear the area. An irrational move would be to shoot him several times in key areas to make sure he would end up dead in order to prevent a bomb from going off - if he had one. He didn't. Even if he did have a bomb and was a suicide bomber, logic would dictate that the moment the police called him over he would have set it off before the chase. Logic would dictate this man may have been guilty of something, but that did not necessarily mean he was going to set off a bomb.
A police officer is not supposed to be the judge, jury and executioner. On that day, these officers took on all those roles without having all the facts in hand. They abused Mr. Menezes' human rights on an assumption they were protecting the people at large. You cannot kill a person on a hunch.
The people of the UK are not used to this kind of thing happening. This situation happens a lot in the US. It is so old news in the US that when it happens, it barely gets a headline. The police in Brazil can be equally brutal and have done this on a frequent scale. Many third world countries will shoot first and ask questions later. This is not a unique phenomenon, it just is not the kind of thing they expect to happen in England where such impulsive acts are considered vulgar.
These officers were trying to do their job and made a really bad decision in the heat of the moment. They need to have time off from their jobs and to re-train in order to make better decisions. They need time to re-think about the seriousness of how their duty is to protect all citizens, even the ones suspected of wrong-doing. They need to weigh heavy on their minds the fact they killed an innocent man and how that has wronged his family and loved ones. These officers are not the bad guys, but made a really bad choice and should be made to pay for it.
Many people make serious mistakes. Sometimes the result of serious mistakes is the death of another. Average citizens who make these kinds of mistakes are usually given jail time or pay fines or do community service to compensate for their serious mistake. Shouldn't these officers be held up to the same standards?
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posted by Callen Damornen at 2:17:00 pm
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