YOURSAY 'The ‘shoot to kill' policy is worrying. What if the injuries show that these men were shot at point blank range?'

Waytha questions manner of killing of suspects

Arowana: The police always claim their actions are right and justified. They should have videotaped the whole incident from beginning to the end.

This would have made clear whether sufficient warning was given for them to surrender, whether there was an exchange of gunfire, whether the place the police officers were standing had bullet holes.

At the end of the day, the blame will fall on the government. All patrol cars should have audio-video equipment for all kinds of incidents.

Then we will know for certain whether proper procedures were followed. We want to see and hear the evidence. Then the affected families will understand the situation and not blame the government.

Holden: The ‘shoot to kill' policy is worrying. What if the injuries show that these men were shot at point blank range? What evidence were these shootings based on?

And is this method really going to address the root problems related to crimes?

Kamal19: Gangsterism is becoming so rampant and they are becoming bolder and more ruthless. Most of us have experienced it first hand. Four of the five men shot had criminal records.

The public has been clamouring for action to quell the violence. The police make an example of these suspects, and now we are condemning them for doing their job. (Just for your information, I am no fan of the police.)

Anonymous #02382443: Give the police a break. Unless we have findings to the contrary, let us give them a pat on the back for what they have done.

On the face of it, those killed were dangerous criminals. Let's trust that the police know what is best.

Joker: Deputy Minister P Waythamoorthy has said that he is in the cabinet in order to put the spotlight on Indian issues. He should be very happy now. The Indians are very much the top "focus" of the police.

Mark Anthony: MIC, what have you got to say about this cowboy-style shooting?

Mamadias: The people are demanding safety immediately and the police have no choice but to do what they need to do.

What do you expect the police to do when faced with gang members who have been going round the country killing others without any remorse?

It's just unfortunate that most of gang members today are Indians. It was the Chinese at one time.

Waytha, please go and address the social issues of the community since that's what you were hired for as a deputy minister. Let the police do their job.

I don't really care how they do it since the majority of the people here need to be protected from these thugs.

Malaya: If a deputy minister can claim that these guys were shot at point blank range, it is time to overhaul the police. Prime minister, it's time to step in and bring back the rakyat's trust.

Hang Tuah PJ: The police who killed these victims are scarier than the victims themselves. I think they get a 'high' out of shooting people dead.

CiViC: Waytha, do you mean there are "proper" and "acceptable" manners of killing suspects?

Anonymous 89051931: All five shot dead. Nobody left to challenge anything the police say. Give the Indians a break.

Psycho: Are those killed really responsible for the recent shootings in town? When the police claim there was no foul play in lock-up deaths, we do not trust them.

But when police say that these are the guys were responsible for the recent shootings, we believe them.

Mind you, the IGP has said none of the guys are on the Emergency Ordinance list. Something is not right here.

These guys are responsible for at least 12 other shootings? Well, if this is true we should not see any further shootings in town. If there are, then the police are lying.

Psycho: The condo is equipped with CCTV. However there are no recordings as the security there had been instructed to switch off all CCTV recording for reasons best known to the police.

Gggg: Police claimed they were monitoring this group for more than a week and they also said they were suspects for some murders. The police released the identities of them yesterday but one guy was not even the person identified by the police.

So how come the police after one week of surveillance, were so sure of the identities of the suspects?

2 Tim 1:7: "For those of us concerned with the Constitution, due process, and the rule of law, however, 'suspected militant' [suspected criminals] is just a euphemism for a person not charged with any crime, not afforded even the most perfunctory due process protections, but executed by presidential decree anyway [on the orders of the IGP].

"In this way, we are no better than those we kill in the name of safety," writes Joe A Wolverton in response to President Barack Obama's drone strikes which killed six ‘suspected militants' in Yemen in May.

The words in square brackets are my own, being included here to make the passage more relevant to Malaysians.

Haveagreatday: Our criminal justice system is based on the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

However in this instance, the police had presumed guilt and acted in a manner that left doubts as to whether those shot dead were indeed involved in a shootout with the police.

The dead men can't defend themselves but the sad state of our police force makes one suspicious of their version of events.

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