Sheriff Terrell says the suspects are dangerous drug dealers who are known to be armed. Hence, the SWAT team, the no-knock raid and the flash grenade. I’ve yet to see any indication that drugs were found, which usually (but not always) means that the police didn’t find any. Frequently in cases where a raid goes wrong, police tend to be quick to point out what they found to justify their actions. (The police did apparently make an arrest.)
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Here’s the problem: If your drug cops conduct a raid that ends up putting a child in the hospital with critical burns, and they did nothing that violates your department’s policy, then there’s something wrong with your policy.
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There are some very limited circumstances where flashbangs may be appropriate in domestic policing, such as when a fugitive has barricaded himself in a building, or during a hostage situation where lives are at immediate risk. Using them for drug raids is reckless, dangerous, and unnecessarily jeopardizes the safety and constitutional rights of citizens in the name of preventing other citizens from getting high.
Of course, that’s also a pretty good description of the drug war in general.
Drug task force that burned a toddler this week also killed an innocent pastor in 2009