Confronted with a furtive individual who reportedly refused to obey orders, dressed suspiciously, and fled over a turnstile towards the subway train, London authorities made a fateful split-second decision in a moment of great danger. I have a feeling that no one who works in law enforcement–here or around the world–will blame the police for the actions they took, and I doubt the majority of Britons will either.
Well, yes. The majority of Britons will accept that the police had to respond to a perceived threat and had seconds or less in which to act. I really do hope that the officers involved in this will not face repurcussions — I suspect that the death of an innocent man will be enough to cope with. Even so, I doubt that Mr Menezes’ family will accept his death as merely a tragic inevitability in the “war on terror”.
But just as this episode shouldn’t be used as an opportunity for “police-bashing”, I hope it will also give pause to those who were quick to jump in with rejoicing when the shooting was first announced. But I’ve said that before.
One last, more trivial, thing.
Can I please urge US commenters on all this business to stop referring to “the subway” in London. In our capital it is called “the tube” or “the Underground”. I don’t know why it should irritate me so much, but it does.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
John 07.24.05 at 6:19 pm
Why shouldn’t we? Ya’ll ought to larn to speak English properly.
Olive Morgan 07.24.05 at 9:27 pm
Olive Morgan Says:
July 24th, 2005 at 5:02 pm
Yes, it sounds odd to us, Richard, but presumably the Americans of whom you write are speaking to their own folk who would know immediately what was meant by ’subway’. I imagine ‘the Tube’ could be incomprehensible to some Americans. It’s the same thing as we are frequently doing in our churches when we use the New English Bible or the Living Bible, isn’t it? Though sometimes these new versions don’t always help our understanding. This morning the new version said that God has ’set us apart ‘ and I winced a liitle because the original word was ‘predestined’. ‘Set apart’ could have been done this morning or even an hour ago, whereas ‘predestined’ conjures up for me an everlasting God who aeons ago had plans for us and all his creation.
John 07.25.05 at 4:47 pm
I don’t know about the UK, but in America, we have a rather blase attitude to police gunning down people in the street. It’s not safe to pull out your wallet anymore.
Richard 07.25.05 at 10:50 pm
No, we’re not used to it John. Most of our police still don’t carry firearms, and I reckon we like it that way.
PS I’m sorry I got grumpy about “subway”
Malc 07.26.05 at 4:19 pm
Don’t be grumpy about it, I still shout at our news-broadcasters when they say 9/11 as opposed to September eleventh…. as on 9/11 not a lot happened… (note to those who might not know, over here 9/11 is the ninth of November, dd/mm/yr)
Though saying that, I do wonder why they followed him from his appartment, onto a bus, and into the tube station before confronting him. And if you were in a foriegn country and men drew guns, would you not run (as the armed police were undercover (which meant I lost all sympathy for the police))???
Richard 07.26.05 at 4:39 pm
I think 9/11 is the right thing to call it, because that’s what the Americans call it and it’s “their” day. Likewise, for example, “Kennedy space Center” (not centre)and for the same reason. I suppose that’s what irritated me about subway.
On the other thing, I agree. I didn’t twig at first that the police involved were plainclothes. If someone brandishes a gun who looks like a citizen, I think I’d be tempted to run. Bearing in mind that Mr Menezes had as much time for rational thought as the pursuing police, but without the training.