Police officer 'instinctively' shot colleague during training exercise

[David Guyatt]

This is far from the first time that armed police have been trigger happy. But now we have a case of PC PLod who couldn't tell fantasy from reality was allowed to become a member of the Police Firearms squad.

I'd be interested in knowing what psychological testing these people are put through before being allowed to play gunslinger...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7...rcise.html

Police officer 'instinctively' shot colleague during training exercise
A specialist firearms officer who shot dead a colleague at close range on a police training exercise acted ''instinctively'', an inquest was told today.

Published: 1:51PM GMT 15 Feb 2010
Pc Ian Terry, 32, was gunned down holding an unloading gun as Greater Manchester Police's firearms unit practised in a disused factory in June 2008.
The father-of-two was playing the role of a criminal fleeing in a car when he was hit with a single shot of Round Irritant Personnel ammunition. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Opening the inquest into his death, Manchester Coroner Nigel Meadows said the officer who shot him dead claimed he was unaware it was a ''shoot scenario''.
The hearing was told the aim of the role-play was to immobilise the suspect vehicle by deflating its tyres and then pulling the pretend armed robbers out of the vehicle. Officers taking part in the exercise were told specifically to keep shotguns aimed downwards at all times, it was alleged.
The officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons but was referred to by the pseudonym Chris, was interviewed shortly after the incident at a disused factory in Newton Heath, Manchester.
Mr Meadows said: ''Chris said he was not aware he was in a shoot scenario. He said he acted instinctively to the threat of the gun from Pc Terry, although it was appreciated it was a training exercise.
''He later told an investigation carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission that he acted by instinct and had not intended to shoot a colleague.'

[Peter Lemkin]

What kind of idiots would have a 'training' exercise with loaded guns? If I were looking into this case, I'd ask if the dead man had enemies in the Dept. who wanted him dead...but they never 'go there'.

[Magda Hassan]

No being able to tell fantasy from reality is something of a worry isn't it? But then that is the world these institutions live in and create anyway. To a large extent at least. You'd think they would pick that up on the psychological testing at enlistment.

When I was in the military there was widespread disdain for the police and their firearms training. They were seen as 'cowboys' and unprofessional which was also my observation of them in joint exercises. There are exercises with live ammo but mostly they do use blanks.