A police bullet has for the umpteenth time, ended the life of a suspected criminal under circumstances, which have prompted a near national conversation about the management of firearms by law enforcement agencies.
The mother of the late Adjei Akpor, has denied vehemently that her son was a landguard; a denial which some persons who claim to know him side with.
The police operation to dislodge squatters on the Aviation land in Adenta, and which attracted copious publicity because of the blood it drew has compelled some to ask why law enforcement agents cannot shoot to disable suspects instead of killing them.
Police related fatalities are not endearing the law enforcement agents to the public whose cooperation they need to undertake their rather difficult task of policing.
Some cynics regard them as trigger-happy who are quick to cock and shoot even when the circumstances do not require them to do so.
Since dead men do not talk, it is impossible to interrogate such issues effectively and meaningfully, leaving only the police to present their defensive stories.
We do not seek to deny the law enforcement agents the necessary encouragement they need to carry out their rather challenging and sometimes life-threatening occupation, but only wish to ask that a professional approach can win them hearts and souls.
Brutalities when they are detached from policing, would earn for the law enforcement agency a decent image befitting of a modern Police Service light years away from the Gold Coast Constabulary regime.
The Aviation death adds to the unholy statistics of such killings by law enforcement agents, something lawyers and human rights advocates find not only untoward but callous.
The unresolved confusion over whether some suspects who fell on police weapons at the Mallam-Atta market area sometime last year is still fresh in the memories of people who questioned the veracity of the police claims.
It is weird and scary when people think that law enforcement agents place weapons beside dead suspects to justify their deadly actions.
If such an impression is harboured in the minds of people who should feel safe in the face of law enforcement agents, then it is worrying as it denies the police the deference they need to mount successful security operations.
We are aware that being humans, the police have erred in their judgments in some circumstances and pulled the trigger when it was avoidable. The emanating deaths are irreversible, leaving families devastated with a permanent hatred for the law enforcement agency.
It is our take that when such blunders occur and fatalities are registered, the police should take the trouble to express remorse to the families of the deceased and where feasible, work out compensations.
It is a civil thing to do and it adds to our stature as a civilized country where brutish conduct by law enforcement agents should have long been shoved to the backburners.
