The rush to judgement

When I heard radio reports of the London police shooting a suspect in the tube, my heart sank. It sounded like a failure to capture a suspect, it sounded like another possible attack, but most of all it sounded like the last chapter of Blink, where Gladwell analyses closely how easy it is a for a group of armed policemen in hot pursuit to make fatal snap judgements.
He summarized in Slate:

We tend to think that high-speed chases are a problem because of the dangers they pose during the chase. That's true enough. But the real problem is the danger they pose after the chase. I cannot tell you how many cops I talked to who spoke of how disoriented and crazed and incoherent they were after racing after someone through streets at 120 miles per hour. You finally cut off the suspect's car. You charge out of the cruiser. You yank open his door. Your pulse is 175. Your heart is in your throat. Your body is awash in adrenalin and cortisol. And everything we know about human physiology and psychology says that no one can make intelligent snap decisions under those circumstances.

Today the police said the man was unconnected to the attacks.

Updated: Blink's chapter discussed the shooting of Amidou Diallo. Jean Charles de Menezes was the man killed in Stockwell.

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