karlpejera: Mark Duggan death: Met officers refuse IPCC interviews

Huwebes, Abril 26, 2012

Mark Duggan death: Met officers refuse IPCC interviews

Officer who shot Duggan and others say they will only give written statements, as footage of shooting aftermath emerges

The police marksman who shot Mark Duggan dead and 30 other officers are refusing to be interviewed by the official investigation into the incident which triggered the summer riots across England.

Duggan was shot dead by a Scotland Yard marksman on 4 August 2011 in Tottenham, north London. The shooting triggered some of the worst riots in modern British history, which began inthe London borough in response to the treatment of the Duggan family.

The investigation into Duggan's death is being carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Met officers involved in the incident and the immediate aftermath have given the IPCC written statements. In January, the IPCC asked to interview the police officers, who have refused. Controversy and confusion surround the circumstances of the shooting.

On Thursday, the BBC reported an account of a new witness, who said they heard officers shout "put it down, put it down" before shots were fired.

Duggan was traveling in a minicab, which police had been following, having gained evidence he had acquired a weapon.

The BBC said the new witness's evidence was: "They blocked him in, they blocked him in. He jumped out ... and then he's taken out, shot him ? because I heard them shout at him yeah, put it down, put it down."

Neither Duggan's DNA nor fingerprints have yet been recovered from the weapon or a sock it was contained in. The weapon was found 10 to 14 ft from where he fell, over a low wall, after he was shot twice by a police marksman.

David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, condemned the officers' refusal to be interviewed by the IPCC. "It is unacceptable that the police officers have not made themselves available for interview and it is unacceptable that the IPCC does not have the power to compel them to do so.

"Any member of the public involved in, or witness to, a fatal shooting would expect to be questioned about what they had seen or done, there cannot be a completely different rule for Police Officers."

Some officers believe IPCC investigators are "fishing" for information about the planning and intelligence that led to the operation that ended in Duggan's shooting. The IPCC has already said some evidence may not be revealable to the upcoming inquest into Duggan's death, because of laws covering intercept evidence, which severely limit who can be informed of information gained from methods such as phone taps.

Peter Smyth, chair of the Met branch of the Police Federation, criticised the IPCC and said officers deserved the same legal protections as members of the public. "Officers are entitled to know if they are being treated as suspects or witnesses. If the IPCC makes that decision clear, then officers would further co-operate and be interviewed as witnesses and back up their original statements."

The IPCC wants powers to compel officers to attend interviews, even if they are not a suspect. Deborah Glass, deputy chair of the IPCC said: "It's not to jump in and criminalise officers who may not have done anything wrong, but if officers need to be held to account, we need to have a way of doing so."

The Met said guidelines covering shootings were approved by UK forces and the IPCC itself. "Where officers have the status of witnesses in post-incident investigations, the way information is provided is set down in law and in the national Association of Chief Police Officers guidelines (Manual of Guidance on the Management, Command and Deployment of Armed Officers). Both of which officers fully comply with.

"The Manual was recently updated in 2011 and the relevant chapter ? Post Deployment Processes ? was considered and approved by UK forces and the IPCC," the Met said in a statement.

The IPCC investigation is not expected to be completed until the summer at the earliest.

Vikram Dodd