Police officer cleared

[Toomanywars]

Martin Blake police officer today cleared by a jury of unlawful killing of Chris Kaba

Should police officers get more support. Perhaps not release name until after trial or inquiry.

https://www.itv.com/news/2024-10-22/chris-kaba-was-core-member-of-one-of-londons-most-dangerous-gang

sums up life of Kaba … right down to gunpowder residue on his clothes

another criminal off the street i call that justice

his family should ave kept quiet with some dignity an just mourned him

thhey say they wont be silenced- what next a riot? i dont understand their thinking id be ashhame if he was my family not proud

Oh give over. You've been watching too much telly.

The armed officers were called because the vehicle was linked to an armed incident. Therefore they had to assume , until they searched the vehicle & occupant that there was a firearm in the car & therefore a sky high risk to them & the public.

If Kaba had co-operated with them and they had been able to search him & the vehicle and verified there was no firearm they would not have shot him - he'd have been arrested & likely charged with offences relating to him shooting someone in the night club.

At every point Kaba chose the consequences & not the officers.

I'm willing to bet that Chris Kaba brought more danger and misery into the lives of young black men than the average police officer. His ex-girlfriend clearly thought he was a danger to women too.

He drove a lethal weapon at the police because he would rather kill police officers than be arrested for the violent crime he had not long committed and he was driving around with guns in a car because he was obviously on his way to commit more violent crimes. Do people even understand that the police have a duty to prevent gunmen committing more murders? Can you imagine the furore if they had decided against doing the hard stop and Kaba had gone on to murder more people? Kaba caused his own death.

I wonder how his ex is feeling?
The pregnant one he beat up. Can't help thinking that both her and her kid are better off now that he is no danger to them.

I've just read about the protection racket his gang ran, targeting primarily recent immigrant women and families, basically threatening to beat people up and vandalise and burgle their houses unless they regularly handed money over. Utter lowlife scum. And the domestic violence order his girlfriend obtained was requested while she was pregnant. I don't know how anyone has had the nerve to spin him as an 'expectant father.'

I really don't understand the people who think the police should have allowed this man to escape or should have allowed themselves to be killed, paralysed or maimed when he rammed his car into them.

I guess it depends on what one wants to achieve: when engaging in a theoretical argument about some randomly defined buzzwords to please an online audience, perhaps you can say that my point is irrelevant. If the goal was to save as many lives as possible amongst the black community, my point is highly relevant...

A mafia shooting in Southern Italy (most likely both victim and perpetrator will be white, so a "white on white crime" as you define it) will certainly be reported as mafia crime, not simply "crime". And there are extensive media coverage and (at least occasional) mass demonstrations against the mafia.

Coming back to this case, gang crime (to leave out the colours but still use a more specific term) is a much bigger threat to many black communities than the police, hence a more pragmatic approach should focus on that! Mass protests against gangs, rather than allowing the family of a known gang leader to take centre stage

I can't find the original poster who said that black on black crime isn't a thing. Do you know how ridiculous you sound? Police violence again black people is "a thing" but black on black crime isn't?

It isn't just crime...it is crime that is targeted against the black community specifically. If you want to draw inference about police victims, draw it about other form of violence too. It prays on community silence and structural oppression. It damages young black men and keeps them locked in a cycle of fear. By denying the problem, you perpetuate it. Until communities, all communities, own their failings,, nothing will change. And Kava's family are a prime example of this. Instead of standing up and saying don't replicate our child's mistakes, they seek to pretend he is some kind of martyr. Which Lord knows, he certainty is not

Violent gang culture very definitely does exist and an overwhelmingly disproportionate number are black males. It's not 'standard' crime - those would be theft, shoplifting, burglary, fraud, traffic offences, public order etc

Going 'colour blind' on tackling violent gang culture let's the whole community down.

I’ve only skimmed this thread. But I see there are plenty of (predictable) posts from various people who really seem to think they would have dealt with the stop on Kaba better than the attending officers. And lots of people who seem very sure that the officers were not facing any threat, or fearing for their lives. This is despite the fact they have literally no experience in policing, let alone armed policing. What a shame you weren’t there that night, to have tasered Kaba (through his windscreen) or shot him gently through his foot to stop him making off. Unless you are a highly trained firearms officer with lengthy experience, your suggestions of what these officers should have done are frankly embarrassing.

Let me tell you that Martyn Blake is an extremely accomplished officer, one of the absolute elite, whom we have been incredibly fortunate to have had working in our police force. Every armed officer knows that should they find themselves in a situation where they feel they must shoot someone, they do so knowing their own life, and the lives of their families, will become unrecognisable, and probably unrecoverable. They know they will be suspended, subjected to an investigation over several years by the IOPC, face financial ruin, and taken to court in an attempt to have them convicted and imprisoned. Blake’s name was released, despite the wide-ranging criminality of Kaba’s associates being well known. Blake and his family are now in genuine danger of being murdered. Blake knew all these things would happen, and he still took the shot. That is how sure he was that it was necessary. God knows how we have any officers left who are prepared to take on the role.

The phrase ‘Black on Black’ crime is damaging because it promotes the idea that Black people are inherently more violent. I really don’t know how else to explain this.

When there’s gang violence going on in Liverpool or Sheffield and is being carried out by white males, no one refers to it as ‘White on White violence.’ That’s my point. I’m not denying that there’s a gang culture in SW London at all. I’m not going to keep going back and forth with this, feel free to do your own research about the phrase and why it’s damaging

Lots of crime against black men especially is framed as being routed in racism, highlighting that a lot of it is from other black men is reasonable. The phrase on its own doesn't suggest anything about violence on a societal level.

I’m married to a Police Officer. Every time he goes to work, I wonder if he’ll come home. I’m glad Kaba was the one who died, not a Police Officer.
Kaba was a waste of oxygen, a nasty piece of work with a long criminal history, it has since been revealed. He deserved every shot.

Lots of clips and detail on BBC news just now, including a clip of CK firing shots in a busy nightclub.

No defense of him needed. Can you imagine if your son, daughter, sibling, friend were in that nightclub.

But …. No one is saying police are bad shooting white gang men…..
maybe white gang guys in crime …. But their response to armed officers is different. Gangs have cultures … and strategies for dealing with LE. Like complying ….

Well said.

This is an excellent post.

This👍

If a terrorist had been driving an SUV at people I wonder if people would be arguing the police shouldn't have shot him because he was 'unarmed'?

It simply not true to see the police had no idea who was driving the car and whether he was a criminal. That car was known to be linked to firearms offences the police had every reason to believe the person driving it was a criminal with access to firearms.

No one would now say the police officer deserves to be killed because of his actions
We know the police officer shot and killed someone but we don’t justify someone now killing him

Unfortunately, if the reported £10k bounty on his head are correct, some are saying exactly that

It's also been said he'll be back at work after some retraining/refresher courses, and what's to stop some of the gang members following him home?
I wouldn't want to be in his shoes, that's for sure ...

He should never have been named. It was due to politics. Protect the police, not scum.

Don’t waste your breath arguing with 35890, clearly got a very different opinion to most rational people! I wonder if they are part of the criminal fraternity that thinks policing is a joke and they should be able to ignore the law at will.

Firstly, I take no side here, and have no legal knowledge. Its a desperately sad affair for all concerned.

But I am puzzled why he was charged with murder, which I believe involves premeditation and planning. Would not manslaughter have been more appropriate?
One might think he was charged with murder, as public opinion required action, but thought that a murder verdict was unlikely.

I agree with the poster we have armed police because of criminals of this level.

Gangster shooting each other I don't care for they play with fire. But county lines is something else and I'm disgusted that knowing he's involved in that the family had the cheek to make that statement.. County lines metaphorically ruins childrens lives, their familys lives...