Killing of journalist yet another blot on police

From bribery, extortion, and brutality to extrajudicial killings, the police service has always topped the charts. [iStockphoto]

In what the Police Service claims to be a case of mistaken identity, investigative Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was killed by police on Sunday in Kajiado County. The fatal shooting came barely days after a presidential directive to disband the Special Service Unit (SSU), a police unit presumed to be responsible for extrajudicial killings.

The circumstances of the shooting raise more questions than answers. Did Pakistan and his driver forcefully drive over the spiked barrier at the roadblock? Aren't police supposed to simply immobilise a vehicle by shooting the tyres where a motorist disobeys orders to stop? Why did the police shoot without correctly reading the number plate of the vehicle? How could the officer(s) mistake a Toyota Prado for the Mercedes Benz said to have been stolen?