Met chief tells Zack Polanski ‘arresting violent criminals is a messy task’
The Met’s highest-ranking officer has defended the arrest of the Golders Green stabbing suspect after police were seen stomping on his head.
Footage shared widely on social media showed two officers using a Taser and repeatedly kicking the suspect in the head while arresting him.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski reposted an X post accusing officers of ‘repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser’.
But Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he was ‘disappointed’ in Polanski, who is Jewish, for sharing the ‘inaccurate’ post.
In an open letter to the political leader, Sir Mark said: ‘Those officers are nothing short of extraordinary. They were on the scene within a few minutes, and their actions undoubtedly prevented further injury and saved lives.
‘As I said yesterday, the officers confronted a dangerous man, they believed to be a terrorist, who refused to show his hands, who was violent, and who continued to pose a clear threat. They were not armed officers, and they feared he was concealing an explosive device.
‘Using only their training, equipment and a substantial level of bravery and courage, they detained him while he continued to try and attack and stab them.
‘Without their efforts to stop him, I dread to think what the outcome could have been.
‘Apprehending violent and dangerous criminals is a full-contact and messy task which may appear shocking to observers with little experience of policing in the real world.’
Police previously said that the suspect attempted to stab police officers and was hit with a Taser weapon before he was arrested.
What is a Taser?
A Taser is a popular brand of stun gun by Axon Enterprise, formerly known as Taser International.
These days, however, ‘Taser’ has become a catchall for any type of stun gun.
A discharge, also known as a ‘cycle’, immobilises someone by jolting them with 50,000 volts of electricity. It lasts about five seconds.
The shock has been described as painful, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
College of Policing guidelines state that only highly-trained officers can deploy a Taser in authorised situations.
The college does not provide exact circumstances, rather describing it as ‘where any person could reasonably perceive the action as a use of force’.
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The post Polanski shared was in response to comments made by Sir Rowley that the suspect had a ‘history of serious violence and mental health issues.’
The Green Party said: ‘Zack has seen the video like everyone else, and doesn’t know the full picture and knows it was a very difficult situation for the authorities, but we do need to understand more about the response.’
Suspect Essa Suleiman, 45, remains in custody, having been arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76.
The terror alert level has since been raised to ‘severe’ following the attack that unfolded on Highfield Avenue on Wednesday morning.
It is now ‘highly likely’ a terror attack could happen within the next six months, according to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre.
This is the first time the threat level has been changed since February 2022, when it was downgraded from ‘severe’ to ‘substantial’.
Head of counter terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said this evening that the UK has seen a ‘gradual increase’ in terrorist threats from far-right and Islamic groups.
‘Our casework is increasing across a number of ideologies and within that we are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK,’ Taylor added.
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