An international organisation representing police chiefs has broadened its policy for the use of deadly force by telling officers to shoot suspected suicide bombers in the head, it was reported today.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police issued new guidelines to its 20,000 members about two weeks before British police shot dead a Brazilian electrician because they mistook him for a suicide bomber, the Washington Postsaid.
Jean Charles de Menezes (27), was shot repeatedly in the head by plainclothes officers on July 22nd at a London Underground station as police hunted suspects in a failed bombing attack on the city transit system a day earlier.
The Washington Postsaid the international police chiefs group produced a new training guide for confronting suicide bomber suspects after the July 7th attacks on three London underground trains and a bus that killed at least 56 people, including four bombers.
US law enforcement officers typically had been authorised previously to use deadly force if lives were in imminent danger, the newspaper said.
According to the newspaper, the guide recommends that if lethal force is needed to stop someone who fits a certain behavioural profile, the officer should "aim for the head." The intent is to kill the suspect instantly so the person could not set off a bomb if one is strapped to the person's chest, the newspaper said.
Among signs to look for listed in the police organisation's behavioural profile are wearing a heavy coat in warm weather, carrying a backpack with protrusions or visible wires, nervousness, excessive sweating or an unwillingness to make eye contact.
According to the newspaper, the new guidelines also say the threat does not have to be "imminent" - as in traditional police training - an officer just needs to have a "reasonable basis" for believing a suspect can detonate a bomb.