Do you trust your police?
Morning / afternoon / evening, Peter Dobbie here with news of todays WHYS, on air at the usual time: 1700 GMT :-) First things first:
DO YOU TRUST YOUR POLICE ?
The reason I ask is because London's Metropolitan Police force has been found guilty of endangering the public over the fatal shooting of a man officers mistook for a suicide bomber...
...The force broke health and safety laws when officers pursued Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes to a London Tube station and shot him seven times. The family's solicitor, said the police had been an "unstoppable force" when they pursued him, and the defence had "descended to the gutter" to blacken his name.
POORLY BRIEFED
During the trial, the jury heard that police commanders had made a string of errors on 22nd July, two years ago, that culminated in an unwarranted risk to the public and ultimately the death of Mr de Menezes. The family's solicitor, said the police had been an "unstoppable force" when they pursued him, and the defence had "descended to the gutter" to blacken his name.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ?
Can the police be trusted where you are to always get it right ? Is there a bigger question - even though one man died, are our streets safer because the "bad guys" think they might get shot ? We're not saying that Jean Charles de Menezes was one of the "bad guys" -- he wasn't. No argument. No debate. He simply wasn't. An innocent man died.
But are the police, in many parts of the world, perhaps not what they appear to be. Think of Iraq - questions over militants dressed as police, and then killing people. Think Gaza - a police force used as a bench mark for peace and self-determination. Northern Ireland - where sectarian tensions are policed by people from different sides of that same sectarian divide. And for every expert who says the police are a bench mark of a civilised society, you'll find someone else who says they're not to be trusted, not to be looked to, when YOU are in trouble. Tell us what you think.
BIG PROBLEMS IN MEXICO - MILLIONS AFFECTED.
Also today Mexico. A massive rescue operation is under way in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco after rains caused the worst flooding there in more than 50 years.
More than one million people are believed to be affected, with 300,000 thought to be trapped in their homes and more rain forecast in coming days. Most of the state is under water and its governor has urged anyone who owns a boat to help the rescue operation.
President Felipe Calderon said the situation was "extraordinarily grave". If you're there we want to hear from you. Call us, tell us what's going on. And be safe.
As ever:
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Later, Peter :-)
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