EDITORIAL - Human sanctity under fire

In just a matter of hours, the police solved the murder of a suspected robber who was shot and killed right after he posted bail in preparation for turning state witness. He was done in by his colleagues, the police declared.

Nobody is buying that, of course, at least not by a police that has not solved even one of close to 200 similar killings spread over a period of two years. That is simply not the way our police as we know it operates.

Besides, the police presented no shred of evidence to back up its claim. All that we have is just its say-so, as if that would suffice, given the kind of credibility it has. But then, do we really need to be told that which we already know?

Actually, it is not really who killed the suspected robber that is of issue here. After the series of killings, none of which has been solved to this day, the public has ceased to care about the whoddunit. What needs a clear and immediate answer is when the killings will stop.

The police probably ascribed the killing quickly to colleagues of the victim in order to beat the gun on those who might ascribe it to so-called vigilantes, among whose favorite suspects are cops themselves.

Again, the public has ceased to care about who is doing all these killings. For of what use is knowing the culprit when everybody knows nothing will ever come of the knowledge. A rising and unassailable body count is the only reality that continues to interest the public.

Not interest in the sense that people welcome and enjoy these developments but interest in the sense that unresolved killings will all eventually come back to haunt us all. When crime becomes rampant and lives are increasingly in danger, all society stops and everybody loses.

There are those who secretly agree with these methods of eliminating criminals, but civilized society must reject them while they have not yet permanently and irretrievably damaged human sanctity.