Police officer cleared

This pisses me of.:
Reported in the Spectator about the Runnymede Trust's response to the not guilty verdict:

"The taxpayer-funded racial justice group.....Runnymede took to Twitter to call for ‘real justice’ for families affected by ‘racist state violence’, raging:
This lack of police accountability perpetuates cycles of violence and impunity. Our thoughts and solidarity are with Chris’ loved ones and wider community".

My son, his friends, and my friends in the area plagued by CK's gang ARE the wider community. 'Solidarity' would look like trying to get rid of these violent drug dealing gangs. That's what the 'wider community' want!

I totally agree and was thinking the same thing myself.

@ChesterDrawz& @MilletOver

I didn’t realise that at all.
I though it hadn’t been reported previously due to the ongoing case.
Thanks for clarifying.

They did ask, via their legal team, for it not to be made public.

The police had to go to court for a judgement for it to be made public because of the fear of public disorder and the threats to Blake's life.

But it is true that a jury is not usually made aware of a defendant's previous convictions so as not to influence their verdict.

It's not as simple as that.

His mother had been seeking an injunction to stop it being reported.

They didn’t hide his criminal history, it wasn’t mentioned due to the ongoing court case. Now it is over, his history is being reported.

What strikes me about this case, the behaviour of Kabas family and the attempts to hide his serious criminal history is just how much harder its going to make it for black people to be taken seriously when they have actually been a victim at the hands of the police.

There is always going to be a risk when we arm police- from arming a dangerous psychopath (Wayne Cousins) to accidentally shooting the wrong person, bystander or mistaken identity (Jean Charles de Menzes) to a hasty shot by an officer in the heat of a moment where hindsight suggests it might have been OK to wait.

But we started arming police because of armed criminals, and terrorism. Armed gangs are the part cause of the risks they encounter facing armed police. And bear responsibility for the risks that occur because they have made armed police a necessity.

IMO.

have not yet read the entirety of the thread. I do not trust the police and if a police car flashed me to stop, my reaction would be to drive to the nearest police station. But then I'm a white woman.

But this isn’t really the same circumstances. I might do the above if I was flagged down by a lone officer but if I’m surrounded by armed police pointing guns at me compliance is the best advice.

The advice from the Tory government was "to flag down a passing bus". Appalling lack of care for women's safety.

I'm generally no fan of the Met when it comes to women's safety, and I'm vocal when I think they're wrong. But by all accounts Chris Kaba was no angel, and I'm finding it hard to mourn his loss to society. I am mindful that he will have family who love and mourn him, of course, but as a society, I don't think he's a huge loss.

A lot of talk about confidence in the police being at rock bottom in the local community. How about confidence in the local community deserving to take a knock? We've all spent days/weeks listening to his family wailing on about how tragic and unjust the loss of his life was, police violence, miscarriage of justice etc etc and all along they knew fine well he was an extremely violent, gun-totting gangster. Frankly, I'm disgusted by them as much as him. I doubt many of the local community who stood supporting the family in their protests were unaware of CK's serious criminal activities either, so I'm pretty disgusted with them too.

I get that the majority honest, law abiding black community have their own wholly legitimate grievances with the MET, where institutional racism is a long-standing and ongoing issue. Standing beside the families of violent thugs does them no favours though. The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. They may well be your enemy too.

The answer is dont shoot people, don't get involved in violent gang culture. If you go into a nightclub armed with a gun & shoot someone then it's likely to be armed police who stop your car & when that happens you need to co-operate with them & follow their requests. Failing all of those things there's a risk of being shot!!

At every stage Kaba made the decisions that led to the consequence. Shooting to kill should be an absolute last resort by the police & every time this happens it should be scrutinized but Kaba's actions on that night & leading up to it resulted in the last resort option by the officer.

Can you understand how it can be used as a dangerous weapon?, ie it’s driven at someone

Plus, I don't much care for driving in London round all those pesky 20mph little streets at 12 mph in a massive £100k Q8 or similar BMW iX. I prefer a smaller car, bombing along the motorway, more enjoyable driving.

My early 20s black (mixed race) son has been pulled over by police in S London, v v close to this incident: he was polite, showed his licence, waited for them to check the insurance details, and rolled his eyes while he was driving away. And seethed.

But at no point did he panic that it might be the last thing he ever did.

Probably because everything was legal, he wasn't driving a 'wanted' car, didn't have a balaclava in his pocket, has no criminal past etc.

And as a pp pointed out: SO many black men are stopped by police every day and are NOT shot - so why would anyone panic?

"Given the circs, it was inevitable that once armed police were involved it may end very badly. As it did. Would the outcome have been different if he'd stopped first time of asking, and shown his hands? possibly. Impossible to say."

Given the police officers had their body cams recording the whole time, they're not exactly going to shoot someone that willingly complied with their instructions are they??

The armed police are out and about on the streets day in day out and every single example of them using their guns is reported on. It's not exactly a common occurrence.

As I said before, the only reason armed police were involved was because CK shot someone a few days earlier, so their involvement and his subsequent death came as a result of his own actions, both two days earlier and on the day itself.

The stupid boy thought his "gansta" status made him invincible.

@EasyTouch
"pure naivete on your part."

No, I'm well aware that all you have written goes on, and plays a part. Of course its complex. I do know that. I'm not stupid, nor naive.

for sure. I have been stopped by the police precisely once in a stop that was ultimately stupid (of them) and i sent them away with a flea in their ear (sorry, too outing, and looking back completely hilarious to me).

At that time when i had stopped i kept my engine running and my window up until i had been shown both the police officers ID cards. They complained that i made them do that. Absolute idiots. But it was 40 years ago and i was in the army at the time (they were subsequently stupidly deferential to my rank)

But now? or if i were a young black man? I'd be panicking that it may be the last thing i ever did. I simply don't know what the answer is.

Would the outcome have been different if he'd stopped first time of asking, and shown his hands? possibly. Impossible to say.

Given this happens on a pretty much daily basis in London, (that is black men being detained by armed police without being shot) I think we can reasonably assume that yes, the outcome would have been different. Or do you think that if he’d been compliant when they tried to pull him over they’d have just shot him anyway?

You might have a valid point with parts of your argument but it’s very hard to take what you’re saying seriously when you suggest things like the above.

@Locutus2000

"Clearly you haven't driven an Audi Q8."

How do you know I haven't? I have.

An absolute disgrace that the poor policeman ever went to trial.

Now the BBC have just published a video that Chris Kaba had shot someone in a night club days before he was shut. His Audi had also been implicated in a shooting the night before.

post Everard the advice from many quarters was for women to drive to a police station.

I totally understand where this advice is coming from and I totally understand that there are a number of communities that are fearful of the police. However the reality is that if you drive away from a police officer this is going to create more problems than it solves.

post Everard the advice from many quarters was for women to drive to a police station.

Bel Ribeiro-Addy is right - trust in police in the area is at rock bottom, and it will be the opinion of many in her constituency (where I lived until recently, and was living when this incident took place) that CK is a martyr having been 'executed'.

This is one of the bad outcomes of his being shot rather than arrested alive.

The police are mistrusted because they often DO treat young black people as guilty until proven innocent. I have had direct experience of this and witnessed it directly with young people I was working with.

However, there is also huge recognition amongst Ribeiro- Addy's local community that young black men, in particular, are victims of these gangs. And they want MORE attention from the police to help protect their sons.

Look at the havoc Kaba's gang (and he was a core member, a lieutenant - not a hanger on) created - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/67_(rap_group)

At DS's school, in his year, there was a boy whose brother had been stabbed by this gang. There was another whose brother was in prison having been a member of that gang. There were mothers moving to places like Purley to get their teens off the estate where they were vulnerable to being recruited. The harm these gangs do is mostly wreaked on black people. And too many ofRibeiro-Addy's constituents are painfully aware of that.

yes i do read back what i write. Did you read what i wrote?

A young black man stopping for armed police is going to worry that he's going to end up shot in a way that i as a white woman wouldn't.

Given the circs, it was inevitable that once armed police were involved it may end very badly. As it did. Would the outcome have been different if he'd stopped first time of asking, and shown his hands? possibly. Impossible to say.

I'm not losing any tears over the death of a violent thug. I feel sorry for his family because they didn't make his choices for him.

I don't trust the police, but you have to always try to force the least-worse scenario when they are trying to stop you.