In this recent BBC article, a BBC reporter was mistaken for a terrorist and restrained by police.

Must be a horrible situation for an upright, perfectly innocent member of the public who only wants to do his job. I have no idea how I would feel in such a situation.

BUT: imagine it HAD been a terrorist wearing a bomb, and the police had NOT reacted.

There is no way that the police have enough time in this type of situation to gather intelligence (i.e. background info) on the person in question, as the reporter requested.

Although this greatly inconveniences innocent people (at the moment Arab looking), I personally still prefer the police react quickly and restrain an innocent person, than react too late (or not at all) and let a terrorist blow up other innocent people.

What's your take on this?