The shooting of Jean-Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station in 2005 raised acute issues about operational practice, legitimacy, accountability and policy making regarding police use of fatal force. It dramatically exposed a policy, amounting to ''shoot to kill'', which came not from Parliament but from the non-statutory ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers). This vital and timely book unravels these complex and often misunderstood matters with a fresh look at firearms practice and policy in a traditionally ''unarmed'' police service. It is essential reading for all those interested in the state's role in defining coercion and in policing a democracy.