North London Riots

[GrooveMan.exe]

Hey, just a question. Are police allowed to use lethal force if their own lives are in danger? Because I've heard that the guy who they shot was certainly firing at them with the intention of killing. If that's true, the rioters are a bunch of fucking idiots.

Not that they aren't fucking idiots anyway.

You're oversimplifying it. The Met did release a statement that it was a 'gunfight'; and there's prior evidence that the man they shot had a previous criminal record, knew he was being chased by the police and was apparently planning to leave town - but there is no real solid evidence of this actual gunfight, or even if the guy had a gun in the first place.

This makes it very hard to say that the situation was all above board on the part of the police. Ordinary policemen don't have firearms - only special forces do (called out for terrorist attacks or otherwise work at airports) If it escalated to the point where they need to get special forces in, and no one was shot prior, wouldn't shooting this guy be the absolute last thing to be tried?

Basically, a lot of the North East London councils are shit, the areas these youths live in are pretty shit, the way the police handles the majority of street crimes is shit, and the people who are rioting and looting just because they can are incredibly shit, and a potential danger to me and my friends.

Fuck, it was reported that Birmingham, a city about an hour and a half away from London by train has started up it's own riot. With no cause, no apparent provocation. It's scary; and even in my privileged middle-class situation, I don't feel entirely safe.