Police group oks shooting suicide bombers in head

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An international organization
representing police chiefs has broadened its policy for the use
of deadly force by telling officers to shoot suspected suicide
bombers in the head, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

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 newspaper said.

U.S. law enforcement officers typically had been authorized
previously to use deadly force if lives were in imminent
danger, the newspaper said.

Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot repeatedly in the
head by plainclothes officers on July 22 at a London
underground station as police hunted suspects in a failed
bombing attack on the city transit system a day earlier.

The Washington Post said the international police chiefs
group produced a new training guide for confronting suicide
bomber suspects after the July 7 attacks on three London
underground trains and a bus that killed at least 56 people,
including four bombers.

According to the newspaper, the guide recommends that if
lethal force is needed to stop someone who fits a certain
behavioral 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 organization’s
behavioral 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, the Post said.

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.