Changes in the British police culture

Recent events have pointed out how terrorism can modify the culture of police action in any land.

The latest informations are that the British police shot (and possibly killed, according to some reports) a suspicious Asian man in the London underground. What would appear as an ordinary information in any other country, when it is spoken of use of force by police agents takes another colour in Britain : indeed the police culture prides itself on a culture of unarmed response, except when serious offences are involved, and the persons representing a threat are armed.

Here it looks like the police agents (plainclothes policemen according to an eyewitness quoted by the BBC World Service ) were armed while guarding the London underground. The fact that one of the most famous police forces in the world has been obliged to post armed policemen in its cities is a striking exemple of the terrible destructive force of Islamic terrorism. The use of kamikazes oblige police officers to take no risks with potential bombers, even if it means shooting them before they have any chance of detonating an explosive charge. There is a clear occurrence of the perversity of terrorism, since it deepens society’s fractures and the prejudices one can have against certain categories of the population.