London police chief defends handling of subway shooting investigation News
London police chief defends handling of subway shooting investigation

[JURIST] Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, London’s chief of police, is defending his handling of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes [JURIST report], by his officers July 22. In an interview [NOTW article] Sunday with British tabloid News of the World, Blair says that his actions following the shooting were not inappropriate, as members of de Menezes' family are claiming. Relatives of the victim are calling for Blair’s resignation [JURIST report], in part because they say Blair tried to block a public inquiry [JURIST report] into the incident. Blair says that he initially resisted turning the investigation over to the Independent Police Complaints Commission [official website] due to a potential conflict between national security concerns and the IPCC's obligation to keep the victim's family fully informed. However, Blair says the investigation was referred to the IPCC when it became known that de Menezes was not a terrorist. Reuters has more.