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@pigfarmer
That's better.
Please don't think that I'm condoning the behaviour of the officer at all. I'm very much of the school that over policing is positively detrimental. Gone are the days my parents and their friends reminisce over when a police officer would help rather than hinder an individual. There is no question that policing is run through fear today. I don't think this is correct and I do, to some degree, believe that this has pushed society into a state in which it feels less accountable for it's decisions and their impact on those others around them. 1984 and rule though fear (although obviously I'm not talking Communism here).
However with respect to this incident there is no clean easyway out. What we have is an individual being charged with manslaughter and the Met being removed of all responsibility for the affects of it's officers actions. Obviously the best all round (apart from the accused officer - and let's bare in mind that he has not been found guilty yet). But I find it difficult to accept that the police force are in no way responsible for it's officers actions. They are. The officers ARE the police force and therefore the police officers actions are the actions of the police force. I find it almost impossible to understand how people could differentiate from that.
People should not be killed by police, especially when they pose no threat at all. It is very, very wrong. However, I can't get my head around any possible good that can occur from this. Harwwood is/was a police officer. One would assume from that very title that he is a responsible individual with no criminal record.
The idea that he intended to cause death is not even suggested (hence his being charged with 'manslaughter'). We need to stand back a little as individuals, take our heads out of the dizzying clouds of media hype and group opinion and realise that an upstanding member of society (at least as we can assume) was put in a situation in which he caused the death of another human being. There has been no speculation or suggestion that he would have acted like this in anotehr situation by the media or the prosecution.
Please don't jump on the bandwagon of vilification when we are not talking about an Osama or Sadam.