We make no judgement on the veracity of the police account of their killing of two men on Friday at Catherine Hall, St. James, which became the subject of a demonstration by friends and colleagues of the dead men. The police have been accused of murder.

This is, indeed, a recurring theme: men shot dead, police claim that they were fired at and returned the fire, residents protest, claiming extra-judicial killing. If the protest is violent enough, is sufficiently played in the press, or demonstrators have the backing of an influential person, the next step is usually to announce an investigation by the police Bureau of Special Investigation and that the police involved in the incident have been taken off front-line duty. That usually is that, insofar as the public is concerned. They are usually told little else, except on the rare occasion when a case reaches the courts, most likely to end in the acquittal of the accused officer(s).

Of course, no one needs to remind us that policing in Jamaica can be a dangerous, and sometimes deadly, business. About a dozen cops were killed last year and several have already been murdered or shot this year.

But even the constabulary would admit, we believe, that upwards of 150 police homicides a year, even in the context of Jamaica's murder rate, are far too many. It suggests that the police are not getting something right; not least, their rules of engagement.

Not long ago, several police officers were freed of charges of murder over an incident at Flankers, St. James, that caused near conflagration in the community and much soul-searching by the police and the authorities. But the acquittal notwithstanding, few people ever believed that an aged taxi driver and his newspaper vendor and grandmother as passengers ever engaged the police in a shoot-out. It ought to be obvious to the police that on this matter of shootings, they face a grave problem of credibility.

Incidents like the one in Catherine Hall on Wednesday night, and the other across the country, do little or nothing to improve the situation. In the latest case, a taxi driver and a hotel worker, the latter whom neighbours claim to be a decent, hard-working young man, were shot dead.

By the police account, faced with a recent spate of rapes allegedly committed by taxi drivers, they were doing spot checks and signalled this taxi to stop. The driver failed to obey, drove on, and at one point came out the car, firing at the cops. The fire was returned. The driver then returned to the car, drove off but soon crashed the vehicle in a ditch.

This might all be plausible. The point is that, apart from the dead men, one of whom was the driver, three passengers were taken from the vehicle. One of the victims of the police bullets was sitting directly behind the driver.

There seems to us to be legitimate questions about when and how the police open fire, even if they are attacked. It seems to us rather asinine when there is the likelihood that the lives of innocent persons could be put in danger, like those of passengers in buses and taxis. But perhaps we are wrong. For it happens so often.