Andrew C!
Been around a while....
Like politics, the police attract vast swathes of precisely the kind of people that are least suited to the job and their presence deters others from applying.
They have no choice but to rely on unsuitable candidates to keep the numbers up.
Blimey - I lasted well - being from a swathe of people being totally unsuited to the job. I also managed to go a whole 10 years without shooting anybody with a real bullet.
I do not think for one minute the handling of the shooting incident subject of this thread has been handled empathetically and smoothly from the start. I also fully acknowledge there have been cases where PIMS and subsequent 'evidence' seems to have been very interestingly gathered in some other cases. I refer to my 1st post on this thread for my view on this.
Some reading: https://news.met.police.uk/news/update-following-police-shooting-in-lambeth-453722 - no mention on here yet of the original reason for the vehicle stop?
"The watchdog said he was driving a vehicle not registered to him that had been flagged up by an automatic number plate recognition camera as having been linked to a firearms incident in previous days." source - ITV news: https://www.itv.com/news/2022-09-12...o-fatally-shot-chris-kaba-suspended-from-duty
The IOPC enquiry will look at all of the angles from this, including the info marker on PNC, the command and control leading to the stop - which will have been recorded etc etc.
The IOPC are treating it as a homicide inquiry. That leaves all angles and options open to follow. They do not have the luxury that some posters on here have in coming to a conclusion before examining all available evidence - factual or otherwise.
Finally, I always thought that if I'd had to do my job in this regard it would have changed my life forever. I was always briefed that it would be fully and impartially investigated, and the final decision to discharge my f/arm was mine and mine alone. That caveat was in the tactical F/Arms manual right up until I left in 2015. This information has been a matter of public knowledge for many years. https://www.college.police.uk/app/armed-policing/use-force-firearms-and-less-lethal-weapons
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