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This is an archive article published on August 21, 2005

London police say shoot-to-kill policy to stay

London's police force has reviewed its controversial ‘‘shoot-to-kill’’ policy leaving it largely unchanged, despite the ...

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London’s police force has reviewed its controversial ‘‘shoot-to-kill’’ policy leaving it largely unchanged, despite the killing of a Brazilian mistaken for a would-be suicide bomber, Scotland Yard said on Saturday.

‘‘We have reviewed it and we have made one or two small changes, but the operation remains essentially the same,’’ a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman declined to detail the changes, but London police chief Ian Blair said officers would continue to use deadly force to stop possible terror attacks.

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‘‘The methods that were used appeared to be the least worst option (for tackling suicide bombers)…. We still have the procedure in use,’’ he told the Daily Mail.

A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Officers—which issues the shoot-to-kill guidance, codenamed ‘‘Operation Kratos’’— said the overall policy was unaffected.

‘‘They are going to make changes operationally, but they are not in a position to change the guidance. We are not changing it,’’ she said.

Operation Kratos outlines what level of force officers can use to thwart what police call a ‘‘deadly and determined attack’’.

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Public awareness of the policy only emerged after police the police killing of Jean Charles de Menezes as he boarded an underground train on July 22. —Reuters

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