Met police firearms chief: length of Mark Duggan case 'intolerable'

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/10/mark-duggan-metropolitan-police-fiirearms-chief

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Scotland Yard's firearms leader believes his officers and the family of Mark Duggan have been put under an "emotionally intolerable" strain by the length of time it has taken to investigate the 2011 shooting that led to the worst riots in modern British history.

In a Guardian interview, Commander Neil Basu condemned a "ground swell of opinion" that his officers should automatically be treated as criminals for opening fire during the course of their lawful duties.

But he accepted that his force had lost some public confidence and trust meaning that some people disbelieved their account of the shooting in August 2011 in Tottenham, north London.

Basu said he respected the inquest jury's findings this week that the police shooting of Duggan was lawful and that the officer had opened fire while Duggan was unarmed, having tossed a gun away seconds before he came face to face with armed officers.

But in a surprise intervention Basu, commander for armed policing in London, sided with the Duggan family in condemning as distasteful some media comments suggesting Duggan deserved to be shot because of his alleged criminal past.

Basu also praised the Duggan family for urging calm ahead of a vigil on Saturday at 2pm outside Tottenham police station in memory of Duggan, 29.

The dead man's aunt, Carole, called for protests to be peaceful while vowing to continue the family's fight to prove their claims Duggan was executed. Basu said: "We ought to pay tribute for those considered words about calm."

Basu said the process of investigating police shootings had to happen but took too long, exacerbating the pain caused to all involved. "I think the investigations are emotionally intolerable," he said.

"First of all, for the family it can't be right that they have to wait three years, and it cannot be right that firearms officers have to wait and their families have to wait for the same length of time."

Both police and the Duggan family were "effectively under suspicion" for that period, with press and public "comment and speculation" about those involved adding to the burden, he said.

"As head of armed policing in London this has been an extremely difficult experience, but an awful experience for the family," Basu added.

Basu criticised media comment suggesting Duggan deserved to be shot because he was a "gangster". Police at the inquest had said Duggan was involved in serious criminality, although he had a minor criminal record.

Basu said: "I don't think anyone deserve to die because they are a 'gangster', I think that is distasteful."

Police correctly suspected Duggan had picked up a gun on the day he was shot, and forced a minicab he was travelling in to stop as he drove along Ferry Lane, Tottenham. He was shot twice by an armed officer, V53, who said he was sure the suspect was holding a gun.

The shooting in August 2011, led to riots after a protest outside Tottenham police station with some feeling the Duggan family had been poorly treated by police and the authorities, who failed to properly inform them that their loved one was dead.

The officers were treated as witnesses by the investigation conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is still ongoing.

Basu criticised some in the media and some lawyers who believe firearms officers should be arrested and interviewed under criminal caution. "There is a ground swell of opinion that somehow a firearms officers who discharges their weapon and shoots someone has become guilty of a crime or misconduct offence, until proven innocent," he said.

"After a shooting they should be treated as witnesses unless there is reasonable suspicion that they have committed a crime."

The firearms chief said that when his officers have to draw their weapons when confronting a suspect, their main thought is: "Please don't make me do this."

Basu said the force's leadership and armed officers accept they have lost the trust and confidence of sections of the community – in the Duggan case, parts of the black community. "The job is only doable with the trust and confidence of the public. We will do everything we can, including wearing body cameras."

The Duggan case highlights long running concerns about shootings where police kill. The families of those killed and the public expect thorough and competent investigations in keeping with article two of the European Convention on Human Rights, guaranteeing the right to life.

But some officers, at least in private, say the need to account for every action and decision, taken often in seconds, borders on being humanly impossible. Basu said : "It is unreasonable for people to remember everything milisecond of an incident that can be done and dusted in the blink of an eye." He added: "An article two investigation when the state takes a life ought to be the most rigorous and accountible investigation."

Basu said firearms operations carry an inherent risk and added: "The only way to minimise that risk is not to carry a firearm in London."

Police are hoping those infuriated by the jury's findings and by the actions of their officers will heed the Duggan family's calls for peaceful protest at Saturday's vigil.

The officer in charge of policing the vigil, Chief Superintendent Victor Olisa, borough commander for Haringey, said some people in the area had been left confused by the verdict and others angry.

Olisa said while the jury had given detail on the thought process behind some of their findings, they had not on their conclusion the shooting was lawful despite the fact Duggan was unarmed when he faced police: "I'm not sure it is helpful for the police the way they delivered the narrative, made it paradoxical.

"If they had explained the decision they made on lawful killing that would have given people a better understanding of why they reached that decision."

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