Paramilitary police tactics misfire again

[Neubob]

His absolute level best? Are you kidding?

He and his armed cohorts illegally broke into the guy's house. Badges or not, the moment they did that, they became nothing more than the common thugs that they're supposed to be combatting.

Rejoicing in his death may have taken it a step too far, but if this sort of behavior characterizes 'a bit of what makes us a civilized nation', then you should probably lay off whatever it is they've got you on.

[john9001]

police should not be breaking down doors in the middle of the night, they should stick to what they do best, harass motorists.

[Elfie]

Let's take a closer look at this shall we Airhead?

This pretty much sums up what the police did wrong.

A bad warrant is generated, there's no evidence of investigation ahead of time (it's all based on a confidential informant who appears to have burglarized the house 3 days earlier).  They kick down his door in the middle of the night, so he shoots.  Kills the first person, is taken down by the rest who then identify themselves as police.  Now he's under arrest for murder and may be facing the death penalty.

The mans house was burglarized 3 days prior to a no knock raid on his home. Police say there were a dozen *or more* officers involved in the raid. (They don't know exactly how many?) Neighbors who witnessed events dispute this, they say there were only 2 initially and the rest showed up after the first one was shot.

This man had every right to defend his home. It is an unfortunate tragedy that the officer died. Perhaps if they had done their jobs in a more complete and professional manner he would still be alive.

To many people have died during no knock raids, this time it happened to be a police officer and the shooter is now facing first degree murder charges and a possible death sentence. What about the second and third paragraphs below? An innocent civilian gunned down in his own home. Why is the officer not also facing first degree murder charges? Whats good for the goose is certainly good for the gander is it not?

What's clear, though, is that Chesepeake police conducted a raid on a man with no prior criminal record. Even if their informant had been correct, Frederick was at worst suspected of growing marijuana plants in his garage. There was no indication he was a violent man—that it was necessary to take down his door after nightfall.

The raid in Chesapeake bears a striking resemblance to another that ended in a fatality. Last week, New Hanover County, N.C., agreed to pay $4.25 million to the parents of college student Peyton Strickland, who was killed when a deputy participating in a raid mistook the sound of a SWAT battering ram for a gunshot, and fired through the door as Strickland came to answer it.

In the case where a citizen mistakenly (and allegedly) shot through his door at a raiding police officer, the citizen is facing a murder charge; in the case where a raiding police officer mistakenly shot through a door and killed a citizen, there were no criminal charges.

Over the last quarter century, we've seen an astonishing rise in paramilitary police tactics by police departments across America. Peter Kraksa, professor of criminology at the University of Eastern Kentucky, ran a 20-year survey of SWAT team deployments and determined that they have increased 1,500 percent since the early 1980s—mostly to serve nonviolent drug warrants.

This is dangerous, senseless overkill. The margin of error is too thin, and the potential for tragedy too high to use these tactics unless they are in response to an already violent situation (think bank robberies, school shootings or hostage-takings). Breaking down doors to bust drug offenders creates violent situations; it doesn't defuse them.

Shivers' death is only the most recent example. And Ryan Frederick is merely the latest citizen to be put in the impossible position of being awakened from sleep, then having to determine in a matter of seconds if the men breaking into his home are police or criminal intruders.

No knock raids need to stop. Now.

[Elfie]

Here's another case Airhead. Two sheriff's deputies try to serve civil papers on a guy but they fail to check to see if the papers had already been served. They had, 5 days prior.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070518/NEWS/705180360&SearchID=73312117852650

Not one, but TWO judges conclude that the deputies were in the wrong and still the deputies insist they were in the right.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070316/COLUMNIST36/703160622&SearchID=73312117852650

Internal investigation concludes:

I just checked and found that, over the summer, internal affairs investigators also determined that the deputies acted unlawfully. Sheriff Bill Balkwill first ordered four-week suspensions, but a review board decided one week was appropriate.

The findings also required training on the constitutional rights that make it illegal for police to enter a home or make an arrest without probable cause or a warrant.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071106/COLUMNIST36/711060664&SearchID=73312117852650

The police are human also, they make mistakes just like we do. In this thread we have two cases of the police making mistakes, one of them had very tragic consequences. In the other the two sheriff's deputies were apparently tasered and physically beaten.

[BBBB]

I don't feel bad for the officer killed at all. If you do something stupid to get yourself killed then I am not about to shed a tear for you. Kicking someones door in, in the middle of the night with a no-knock warrant is that something stupid.

 Just because someone is sworn in and wears a shinny piece of metal, does not mean said person is above the law. It is very clear what happened here. You have two overzealous detectives, moving on the word of an informant, waking a Judge up to get a warrant signed, without investigating their informants claim properly.

 They moved on their warrant, alone, in the middle of the night, on a fella who is already on edge since is place was burglarized a few days earlier. Rather than making a knock warrant with some uniforms as back up, they decided to make a no-knock warrant alone. A stupid thing to do, valid warrant or not.

 The end result is what you have happening here. It is the same thing that happened in Atlanta with that old lady. Except in that case an innocent civilian ended up dead for simply defending their self and their property from who they saw as intruders in the night.

 While I won't go as far as to say, "good job Joe citizen" in this case, I also wont feel bad the officer was killed. The way I see it, him and his partner made a chain of poor choices that night. The end result ended up in someone being killed and another persons life now in jeopardy.  Now the surviving officer needs to cowboy up and do the right thing here. So that another life is not taken, because of a stupid choice made by him and his partner.

[Rich46yo]

I'm 14    Boy oh boy I'd love to get an AR-15 and plenty of ammo 

For, uhm, home defense of course.
*cough*
 

                             At least you have your age as an exuse for talking like a fool. Whats Pooh21s exuse?

[lutrel]

I can think of very few reasons a no knock warrant should ever be issued; a local drug bust is not one of them.  It was a bad decision by the law enforcement and it is unfortunante it proved fatal.  With the facts we have read, there is no jury in this country that will convict the civillian for the murder of the law officer.

[Elfie]

Now the surviving officer needs to cowboy up and do the right thing here. So that another life is not taken, because of a stupid choice made by him and his partner.

Would be nice if that did happen, but it won't.

[lazs2]

much as I respect the police and feel for the job they have to do...

They really are responsible at this point to refuse to break down doors and enter in the middle of the night.. they need to say "no mas" to a lot of this.   "just following orders".. no matter how good a guy the cop is may not be the best defense at some point.   

Why do they break in during the wee hours of the morning anyway?  the only people who sleep at those hours are law abiding citizens.. if you wanted to catch crooks napping it would be at 1000 or noon.... could it be that they don't want citizens to see what they are doing?

lazs

[Rich46yo]

http://www.reason.com/news/show/125538.html

No-knock warrant: Check
Police using SWAT tactics: Check
No identification as police: Check
War on drugs: Check

A bad warrant is generated, there's no evidence of investigation ahead of time (it's all based on a confidential informant who appears to have burglarized the house 3 days earlier).  They kick down his door in the middle of the night, so he shoots.  Kills the first person, is taken down by the rest who then identify themselves as police.  Now he's under arrest for murder and may be facing the death penalty.

Cav58d, is this justice?

                                   Internet cop expert who believes leftwing opinion rag cause its saying what he wants to hear : CHECK!

[Toad]

There will be more of these incidents as time goes by. The 4th should mean something. At a minimum, it's not too much to ask that the intended target be verified as a true, serious lawbreaker and that the cops at least go to the correct address.

I wonder if they can afford a GPS along with all the ninja gear?

[Hornet33]

                                  Internet cop expert who believes leftwing opinion rag cause its saying what he wants to hear : CHECK!

I live where this happened and what that left wing rag said is pretty much spot on in this case.

"POP" there goes your bubble!!!!

[bcadoo]

34 years old, survived by his wife and three kids, and you say "nice shot?" How bout saying it's a tragedy we lost a man who dedicated his life to law enforcement, and he died doing his absolute level best to protect and serve? I don't care if the perp was a pot grower or whatever, whenever we lose a police officer in the line of duty we lose just a bit of what is supposed to make us a civilized nation.

Really, Pooh- that was about as insensitive and inappropiate a comment as I've heard here. To rejoice in the death of a peace officer makes me want to agree with Eagl concerning the ignore list- and believe me, you have to be pretty gross for me to want to ignore you- if you were a video your title would be "two girls, one cup."

Un-friggin-believable.

Of course its a tragedy when a police officer loses his life in the line of duty.  However, the problem is the people who are supposed to be enforcing the laws are behaving like criminals to do so.  The questions that come to mind:  1.  Why a no-knock?  2.  Why at night?  3.  Why no undercover investigation before executing the warrant?   The truth is the cops blew it, didn't do their homework, and one of them paid the ultimate price.

[Chairboy]

Rich46yo, are you able to make a statement about your opinion on what happened here? 

I went on the record, and my opinion is up for scrutiny.  You made a pithy saying, but haven't explicitly stated an opinion one way or the other. 

Do you feel strong enough about your convictions to do so, or would you rather hide in the shady area of indecision to protect yourself from being disagreed with?  I know it might be scary, but I'm sure you can handle it. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Shamus]

CI's are valuable to an investigation, but they are for the most part untrustworthy lairs and anything they say must be confirmed.

Relying on one as the sole reason for a warrant is sloppy police work and sloppy does get people killed.

shamus