Damned If You Don't

Last Sunday, the Rolex shop in Greenbelt 5 was attacked by 6 heavily-armed men dressed in Bomb Squad uniforms in a robbery attempt. The robbery was thwarted by the two police escorts of Taguig Mayor, Fred Tinga, who happened to be lunching at a nearby restaurant. One robber was killed but the others got away with about P6M worth of watches.

Everyone is now under investigation. The security agency might lose their license for neglect. There was even a question posed by one broadcaster as to why the mall security did not join in the shoot out. The police are being asked why their response was not as fast as a bullet train. Another allegation was the mall security tried to mislead the policemen by giving them wrong directions.

How can they, again, try to make matters seem like someone's shortcoming? The security guard who questioned the robbers when they entered the basement parking immediately called the police. The police arrived within minutes of the call. The mall security did not engage in the gunfight because they secured the bystanders.

I remember another incident when the SWAT had a shoot out with some criminals on the street and some civilians got killed. They were then accused of sheer disregard for public safety and consequently removed from duty. It was an overkill... literally. This time, the gunslingers did not shoot enough so they failed in their duty as well.

Both incidents were in public places with many civilians present. What is it that the police really need to do for people to say they did their job exactly as they should have? Shoot or not shoot?

Personally, I think they might as well shoot and be damned with guns a-blazin'.