On shooting first

Over on Boing Boing, Xeni Jardin has assembled a nice roundup of thoughts and feedback concerning the International Association of Chiefs of Police's new recommendation that officers shoot suspected suicide bombers in the head.

How to identify a suspected suicide bomber, you ask?

The police organization's behavioral profile says such a person might exhibit "multiple anomalies," including wearing a heavy coat or jacket in warm weather or carrying a briefcase, duffle bag or backpack with protrusions or visible wires. The person might display nervousness, an unwillingness to make eye contact or excessive sweating. There might be chemical burns on the clothing or stains on the hands. The person might mumble prayers or be "pacing back and forth in front of a venue."

The police group's guidelines also say the threat to officers does not have to be "imminent," as police training traditionally teaches. Officers do not have to wait until a suspected bomber makes a move, another traditional requirement for police to use deadly force. An officer just needs to have a "reasonable basis" to believe that the suspect can detonate a bomb, the guidelines say.

Security expert Bruce Schneier, who assessed the wisdom of a shoot-to-kill policy last week, highlights the obvious constitutional question raised by this new policy.