London Anti-Terror Police Fiasco

There is an article this morning, on the BBC's website, with the headline : Terror Raid Pair May Sue Police . This article is the latest development in a story that is a micro-version of the war in Iraq.

It all began with a little piece of (false) intelligence. A tip from "a human source", according to the Metropolitan Police, led to the raid of a typical family home in a quiet part of London. 250 policemen, with emergency services in tow, stormed into the house and promptly shot an unarmed man.

They then arrested the whole family, shut down and cordoned off a whole neighborhood, and proceeded to don safety gear and begin to search for Weapons of Mass Destruction.






The search of the small terraced house lasted for a week. The neighborhood was shut down for a week while neighbors and family members were questioned. No WMD's were found. Two brothers arrested in the raid, one of whom was shot descending a staircase as he came to investigate the racket below, were held for a week and then released without charge.







Needless to say this heavy-handed and trigger-happy raid has done little to increase Muslim community support for the anti-terror police and their tactics. Protests have taken place by local Muslims over the raid who saw it as another example of the oppression of Muslims. Muslim leaders in Britain have warned of the danger of a breakdown of trust between the community and the police.

Questions as to why the police acted without gathering any real evidence of a conspiracy, or any evidence of chemical procurement, have yet to be answered. The police have said that they were responding to a tip-off, and they acted with the safety of the public in mind. After the bombings in London last year the police have determined that they had no choice but to take the intelligence seriously and act upon it.

Questions concerning their heavy-handed tactics also need to be addressed. The fact is that they have shot yet another innocent and unarmed civilian during the exercise of their duties.

The police find themselves in quite a conundrum. They must act if they believe the public is in danger. To not do so could be disastrous for the community as a whole and would be grossly negligent on their part. But to act without proper investigation, and to use a "shoot first and ask questions later" policy in the exercise of their duties is unacceptable. The police could find themselves in situations like this on an almost daily basis if malicious rumours and anonymous tips are going to provoke this sort of response from them. They should remember that their duty to protect the community does not mean that they shouldn't use proper police procedures and investigative techniques to gather sufficient enough evidence to warrant arrests and secure convictions...before they start breaking down doors and shooting people in their homes.