Met Menezes measures 'too slow'

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The Metropolitan Police has been too slow in improving its surveillance procedures after the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting, a report says.

The report looked at Independent Police Complaints Commission recommendations after the shooting of the Brazilian in the wake of the 2005 London bombings.

The Metropolitan Police Authority study said the force had made substantial progress but more needed to be done.

The Met said it had been praised for its progress over the recommendations.

Firearms team

The Metropolitan Police Authority said gaps in technology needed to be addressed and the Airwave radio system needed to be rolled out fully, especially on the Tube.

It raised concerns about the length of time being taken to agree surveillance "technological support mechanisms" and about "fundamental differences in ethos" between the "crime" and "counter-terrorism" surveillance teams.

It also recommended an end to the practice of officers conferring to produce notes after operations, which it said was "clearly open to misinterpretation and suspicion".

The report added that many of the issues faced by the Met in July 2005 were likely to present themselves again at the Olympics in 2012, if not before, "and potentially on a far larger scale".

The Met said in response that it had implemented a range of measures since the death of Mr Menezes to minimise the risk of a similar tragedy repeating itself in the future.

It added that an Inspectorate of Constabulary report had concluded its progress in implementing the IPCC recommendations to be "significant, sustainable and often innovative".

Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot by police at Stockwell Tube station, south London, after being mistaken for a terrorist days after the 7 July bombings.