Operation Kratos
Encyclopedia
Operation Kratos referred to tactics developed by London
's Metropolitan Police Service
for dealing with suspected suicide bombers, most notably firing shots to the head without warning.
The tactics were developed shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks, based in part on consultation with Israel
i and Sri Lanka
n law enforcement agencies on how to deal with suicide bombers.
Little was revealed about these tactics until after the mistaken shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
on 22 July 2005, in the wake of the 7 July 2005 London bombings
.
The term is no longer used by the Metropolitan Police, although similar tactics remain in force.
s in their own home countries and cities.
A Metropolitan Police team led by Barbara Wilding
, Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Specialist Operations, visited Israel, Sri Lanka and Russia, to learn from their experience of suicide attacks.
They also consulted with UK government scientists.
Key findings were:
New tactics were developed in the first half of 2002 by Wilding and Sir David Veness
, Assistant Commissioner
Specialist Operations.
These were designated Operation Kratos, named after the Greek demi-god Kratos
.
Work on the policy was taken over by the Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers
(ACPO) in January 2003.
A paper entitled Operation Kratos People was circulated among UK police forces, and Operation Kratos became national policy.
These plans deal with identifying and confronting suicide attackers.
Ideally the confrontation would be arranged in a secluded location to avoid risk to police officers and members of the public.
In extreme situations, the policy recommends that covert police officers fire on suspected suicide attackers without warning, aiming multiple shots at the brain stem
to minimise the risk of detonation of a bomb.
The Metropolitan Police and other forces also issue Kratos officers with hollow point ammunition, but this has not been incorporated into national guidance.
The decision whether to take such drastic action would be made by a Designated Senior Officer (DSO), an officer of Commander or Deputy Assistant Commissioner
rank designated for that incident.
The Met had previously used an on-site Designated Senior Officer in policing the Notting Hill Carnival
, to decide whether to employ baton round
s should a riot develop, but the situation never arose.
To deal with the more severe challenge of suicide bombers, Kratos DSOs would be centrally located, and would be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Tube
and Bus bombings
of 7 July 2005, an internal email was sent to specialised police units reminding them of the secret tactics for dealing with suicide bombers.
Operation Kratos was first described publicly in an article in The Scotsman on 15 July 2005.
Between 21 July and 5 August, Designated Senior Officers were alerted on 11 occasions, with Armed Response Units deployed to 6 of these incidents.
On one of these occasions, they opened fire.
In the evening after the attempted 21 July 2005 bombings
, Specialist Firearms Officer
s supporting the search for the bombers were issued with hollow point ammunition.
When police linked Hussain Osman and another suspect to a block of flats in Brixton
, the block was placed under surveillance.
Commander Cressida Dick
, who would also act as Gold Commander of the operation, was appointed as Kratos DSO.
The firearms team were informed that they faced suicide bombers, that a DSO was in place, and that they might be required to use "unusual tactics".
On the morning of 22 July, surveillance officers believed that a man leaving the flats might have been Osman.
In fact the man was Jean Charles de Menezes
, who had no connection to the bombers other than his home address.
As the firearms team was not at the site (for unknown reasons), one of the watchers followed him onto a bus.
His innocent actions were misinterpreted as counter-surveillance measures, and a firearms team was called to intercept him.
By the time they had arrived, de Menezes had entered Stockwell tube station
and boarded a Tube train.
Although no Kratos codeword had been given, the firearms officers believed him to be a suicide bomber.
A surveillance officer seized de Menezes in a bear hug, and two plainclothes armed officers fired a total of nine shots, six of which struck his head from distances of 1 to 8 cm.
Menezes died instantly.
. Most commentators agreed that the authorities must have been certain of an imminent threat to order such drastic action.
After the police admitted that they had shot an innocent man, the Operation Kratos policies came to national and international attention, with some commentators decrying the policies as unnecessarily violent and ineffective, and others supporting the difficult decisions made by the police in fighting terrorism.
An Independent Police Complaints Commission
(IPCC) report identified a series of errors on the part of police, and recommended a number of changes.
No individual officers were charged, but the Metropolitan Police were later found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined.
The inquest into the death of de Menezes made further criticisms of the police, and returned an open verdict
.
ACPO reviewed Operation Kratos in March 2006 and declared it still "fit for purpose".
The Met made changes to the command structure of Operation Kratos after the shooting.
In future, authorisation of a critical shot would be communicated by a clear English phrase rather than codewords.
Authorisation would still come from specially trained officers of Commander rank or higher, but these would now be called Extreme Threat Tactical Commanders rather than DSOs.
Despite the high rank of this officer, they would not command the whole operation, but would monitor the operation and take over tactical command when a threat of suicide bombing became apparent.
The number of such officers in the Met would be reduced to 12, and they would receive more intensive training.
The term Operation Kratos was dropped at the beginning of 2008.
. For a more detailed discussion of the right to use deadly force
in the prevention of crime, whether as a private citizen, police officer or member of the armed forces, see self-defence in English law
and use of force
.
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
's Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
for dealing with suspected suicide bombers, most notably firing shots to the head without warning.
The tactics were developed shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks, based in part on consultation with Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n law enforcement agencies on how to deal with suicide bombers.
Little was revealed about these tactics until after the mistaken shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
Jean Charles de Menezes
Jean Charles de Menezes was a Brazilian man shot in the head seven times at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground by the London Metropolitan police, after he was misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts...
on 22 July 2005, in the wake of the 7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
.
The term is no longer used by the Metropolitan Police, although similar tactics remain in force.
Development
After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, many police agencies worldwide began to seriously consider the possibility of suicide attackSuicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
s in their own home countries and cities.
A Metropolitan Police team led by Barbara Wilding
Barbara Wilding
Barbara Wilding, CBE, QPM, CCMI, FRSA is the former Chief Constable of South Wales Police, the first woman to hold the post.Wilding began her career as a cadet in 1967 and was named as constable in 1970. The following year she transferred to the Metropolitan Police where she served as an...
, Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy assistant commissioner is a rank in London's Metropolitan Police Service between assistant commissioner and commander. It is equivalent to deputy chief constable in other British police forces and wears the same insignia: a pip above crossed tipstaves within a wreath.The rank was introduced...
Specialist Operations, visited Israel, Sri Lanka and Russia, to learn from their experience of suicide attacks.
They also consulted with UK government scientists.
Key findings were:
- The explosives used by suicide bombers were very sensitive, and were likely to be detonated by the conventional tactic of firing at the chest, as well as by less-lethal weaponLess-lethal weaponNon-lethal weapons, also called less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than are conventional weapons...
s. - Suicide bombers were likely to detonate their devices on realising that they had been identified. Police must act covertly, and tactics must ensure immediate incapacitation to give the bomber no opportunity to detonate the bomb.
New tactics were developed in the first half of 2002 by Wilding and Sir David Veness
David Veness
Sir David Christopher Veness, CBE, QPM is a British former senior police officer and United Nations official. He served as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in the Metropolitan Police from 1994–2005, leaving to serve as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Safety and...
, Assistant Commissioner
Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, usually just Assistant Commissioner , is the third highest rank in London's Metropolitan Police, ranking below Deputy Commissioner and above Deputy Assistant Commissioner. There are usually four officers in the rank...
Specialist Operations.
These were designated Operation Kratos, named after the Greek demi-god Kratos
Cratos
In Greek mythology, Kratos or Cratus was the son of Pallas and Styx, and the personification of strength and power. Kratos and his siblings - Nike , Bia and Zelus - were the winged enforcers of Olympian God Zeus...
.
Work on the policy was taken over by the Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
(ACPO) in January 2003.
A paper entitled Operation Kratos People was circulated among UK police forces, and Operation Kratos became national policy.
Details
These plans deal with identifying and confronting suicide attackers.
Ideally the confrontation would be arranged in a secluded location to avoid risk to police officers and members of the public.
In extreme situations, the policy recommends that covert police officers fire on suspected suicide attackers without warning, aiming multiple shots at the brain stem
Brain stem
In vertebrate anatomy the brainstem is the posterior part of the brain, adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. The brain stem provides the main motor and sensory innervation to the face and neck via the cranial nerves...
to minimise the risk of detonation of a bomb.
The Metropolitan Police and other forces also issue Kratos officers with hollow point ammunition, but this has not been incorporated into national guidance.
The decision whether to take such drastic action would be made by a Designated Senior Officer (DSO), an officer of Commander or Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy assistant commissioner is a rank in London's Metropolitan Police Service between assistant commissioner and commander. It is equivalent to deputy chief constable in other British police forces and wears the same insignia: a pip above crossed tipstaves within a wreath.The rank was introduced...
rank designated for that incident.
The Met had previously used an on-site Designated Senior Officer in policing the Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...
, to decide whether to employ baton round
Baton round
A baton round is a generally non-lethal projectile fired from a riot gun. There are three types:* Bean bag round* Plastic bullet* Rubber bullet...
s should a riot develop, but the situation never arose.
To deal with the more severe challenge of suicide bombers, Kratos DSOs would be centrally located, and would be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
London bombings and the de Menezes shooting
After the LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Tube
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and Bus bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
of 7 July 2005, an internal email was sent to specialised police units reminding them of the secret tactics for dealing with suicide bombers.
Operation Kratos was first described publicly in an article in The Scotsman on 15 July 2005.
Between 21 July and 5 August, Designated Senior Officers were alerted on 11 occasions, with Armed Response Units deployed to 6 of these incidents.
On one of these occasions, they opened fire.
In the evening after the attempted 21 July 2005 bombings
21 July 2005 London bombings
On 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks disrupted part of London's public transport system two weeks after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on London Underground, and on a bus in Shoreditch...
, Specialist Firearms Officer
Specialist Firearms Officer
A Specialist Firearms Officer is a British Police officer who has undergone training in the use of police firearms, and therefore is authorised to carry and when necessary use a firearm to prevent an immediate threat to life. All SFOs first train as Authorised Firearms Officers which crew armed...
s supporting the search for the bombers were issued with hollow point ammunition.
When police linked Hussain Osman and another suspect to a block of flats in Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, the block was placed under surveillance.
Commander Cressida Dick
Cressida Dick
Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, QPM is a senior officer in London's Metropolitan Police. Before 2005 she attracted little media attention, but became well-known as having been the officer in command of the operation which led to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes...
, who would also act as Gold Commander of the operation, was appointed as Kratos DSO.
The firearms team were informed that they faced suicide bombers, that a DSO was in place, and that they might be required to use "unusual tactics".
On the morning of 22 July, surveillance officers believed that a man leaving the flats might have been Osman.
In fact the man was Jean Charles de Menezes
Jean Charles de Menezes
Jean Charles de Menezes was a Brazilian man shot in the head seven times at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground by the London Metropolitan police, after he was misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts...
, who had no connection to the bombers other than his home address.
As the firearms team was not at the site (for unknown reasons), one of the watchers followed him onto a bus.
His innocent actions were misinterpreted as counter-surveillance measures, and a firearms team was called to intercept him.
By the time they had arrived, de Menezes had entered Stockwell tube station
Stockwell tube station
Stockwell tube station is a London Underground station in Stockwell, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is located on the Northern Line between Oval and Clapham North, and on the Victoria Line between Brixton and Vauxhall. It is the southernmost station on the London Undergound that serves more...
and boarded a Tube train.
Although no Kratos codeword had been given, the firearms officers believed him to be a suicide bomber.
A surveillance officer seized de Menezes in a bear hug, and two plainclothes armed officers fired a total of nine shots, six of which struck his head from distances of 1 to 8 cm.
Menezes died instantly.
Reaction to the shooting
The manner of the killing was such a departure from previous police practice that observers speculated that it had been carried out by military special forcesSpecial forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
. Most commentators agreed that the authorities must have been certain of an imminent threat to order such drastic action.
After the police admitted that they had shot an innocent man, the Operation Kratos policies came to national and international attention, with some commentators decrying the policies as unnecessarily violent and ineffective, and others supporting the difficult decisions made by the police in fighting terrorism.
An Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...
(IPCC) report identified a series of errors on the part of police, and recommended a number of changes.
No individual officers were charged, but the Metropolitan Police were later found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined.
The inquest into the death of de Menezes made further criticisms of the police, and returned an open verdict
Open verdict
The Open verdict is an option open to a Coroner's jury at an Inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict strictly means that the jury confirms that the death is suspicious but is unable to reach any of the other verdicts open to them...
.
ACPO reviewed Operation Kratos in March 2006 and declared it still "fit for purpose".
The Met made changes to the command structure of Operation Kratos after the shooting.
In future, authorisation of a critical shot would be communicated by a clear English phrase rather than codewords.
Authorisation would still come from specially trained officers of Commander rank or higher, but these would now be called Extreme Threat Tactical Commanders rather than DSOs.
Despite the high rank of this officer, they would not command the whole operation, but would monitor the operation and take over tactical command when a threat of suicide bombing became apparent.
The number of such officers in the Met would be reduced to 12, and they would receive more intensive training.
The term Operation Kratos was dropped at the beginning of 2008.
The law
For a general discussion on the policy and theory underlying the defence of self-defence and the defence of others, see the Theory of Self-DefenceSelf-defense (theory)
The right of self-defense is the right for civilians acting on their own behalf to engage in violence for the sake of defending one's own life or the lives of others, including the use of deadly force.- Theory :The...
. For a more detailed discussion of the right to use deadly force
Deadly force
Deadly force, as defined by the United States Armed Forces, is the force which a person uses, causing—or that a person knows, or should know, would create a substantial risk of causing—death or serious bodily harm...
in the prevention of crime, whether as a private citizen, police officer or member of the armed forces, see self-defence in English law
Self-defence in English law
Self-defence is part of private defence, the doctrine in English law that one can act to prevent injury to oneself or others or to prevent crime more generally – one has the same right to act to protect others as to protect oneself. This defence arises both from common law and the Criminal Law Act...
and use of force
Use of force
The term use of force describes a right of an individual or authority to settle conflicts or prevent certain actions by applying measures to either: a) dissuade another party from a particular course of action, or b) physically intervene to stop them...
.
External links
- Stockwell reports, Metropolitan Police Authority.
- Coroner's Inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes (copy at Internet Archive)