Met chief wanted Army rules for police

The Telegraph
Oct. 01, 2005

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, asked the Home Office to draw up "rules of engagement", similar to those issued to the military, for use by armed officers confronting suspected suicide bombers, it was disclosed yesterday.

He also pressed Tony Blair to give officers the maximum legal protection against prosecution.

The requests emerged with the publication under the Freedom of Information Act of letters written immediately after the shooting of an innocent man at Stockwell station on the London Underground in July. Police killed Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician, believing that he was a suicide bomber.

Sir Ian wrote to Sir John Gieve, the permanent secretary at the Home Office, asking for his officers to be protected from possible repercussions.

"They cannot risk the kind of containment and negotiation tactics which would normally be the case," he said.

"The only choice an officer may have may be to shoot to kill in order to prevent the detonation of a device. In due course, I believe we need a document similar to the military rules of engagement but time does not permit its creation at the present. "

Sir Ian said he was not seeking exemption for the police from investigation or even prosecution but he was "confident that prosecuting authorities will take cognisance of the pressure under which the service operates in terrorist scenarios".

Armed police chasing terrorists in London operate under so-called Kratos guidelines and shoot suspected suicide bombers in the head to avoid detonating any device. While they have some protection in law if they "reasonably believe" that lives are at risk, they can be prosecuted if there is evidence of deliberate wrong-doing.

The Army issues its rules of engagement on a yellow card carried by all soldiers patrolling potential trouble spots. The rules specify when lethal force can be used as a last resort. A soldier may fire if he believes himself, a colleague or civilian to be in imminent danger and is trained to shoot to kill.

The publication of Sir Ian's letter also confirmed that he sought to delay any investigation of the Stockwell shooting by the Independent Police Complaints Commission because of the risk of compromising the anti-terrorist investigation then going on.

Although the police have a statutory obligation under section 17 of the Police Reform Act 2002 to hand over information to the IPCC in such cases, Sir Ian, who was unaware that an innocent man had been killed, wrote: "I believe that in a fast-moving, multi-site terrorist situation, in which suicide bombers are clearly a very strong possibility, a chief officer of police should be able to suspend section 17. The IPCC has a dual role in the sense that it is under a duty to provide as much information as it can to the complainant or to members of the deceased's family. This could put further lives at risk in these circumstances."

However, Sir John told the commissioner that, while he understood the pressures on the police, section 17 could not be suspended and that other options should be explored. That view was reinforced by Len Duvall, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Sir Ian has been under great pressure since Mr de Menezes was shot on July 22, the day after four suicide bombers tried to detonate packages on the transport network.

The Met has also been accused of trying to cover up the affair by seeking to delay the inquiry and by failing to correct reports that Mr de Menezes had run away from police and that his dress and behaviour was suspicious.

Sir Ian told the Commons home affairs select committee last month that on the morning of July 22 his force faced "unique circumstances", with at least four bombers on the run.

"There has been an allegation of cover-up," he said.

"My view is that you do not cover things up by writing to the permanent secretary of the Home Office."