Posted on 12/04/2006 9:08:57 AM PST by jjm2111
The State Bureau of Investigation is examining the case and three deputy sheriffs on the team are on paid leave, New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey said Sunday.
Peyton Strickland, 18, was killed Friday night at a home he shared with three roommates. His German shepherd dog, Blaze, also was shot to death.
The deputies were helping police for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington serve an arrest warrant that charged Strickland with armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and breaking and entering a vehicle.
Causey declined to identify the suspended deputies — members of an elite emergency response team — because he feared for their safety.
Roommate Mike Rhoton said Strickland was unarmed, but may have been holding a video game controller when he went to the door, which the roommate said was bashed in by officers.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Obviously this type of police action needs to be reserved for appropriate cases, and conducted with due caution, especially re making sure it's the right address. But I don't think back seat drivers on the Internet should jump to conclusions about when it is or isn't warranted, in situations where we do not have access to the background information police and courts had when they mae the decision.
And police aren't the only ones who need to be reigned in. We've got a huge number of violent career criminals in this country, and instead of keeping them locked up after they've already been convicted of one or more violent crimes, they're nearly all sent back out into society to resume their criminal careers. This is not the fault of police officers, and yet innocent police officers are often killed because their job requires them to interact with dangerous criminals who ought to be behind bars already. I don't like to see innocent people killed or maimed, regardless of whether they are police officers or people mistakenly accused of committing crimes. But the reality is that there are many criminals who cannot reasonably be handled by calm, courteous means. We have a hard enough time recruiting and retaining competent and conscientious police officers as it is, due to the high danger and low pay. If we take away the tools that enable police officers to handle threats from known criminals in whatever way best protects the safety of officers, we'll soon have absolutely nothing but "jack-booted thugs" for police officers.
Or so claim the little punk thugs.
"Daddy, I wanted a playstation really bad, so I asked someeone for theirs. Naturally, when he didn't give it to me I had to beat him to a bloody pulp and take it. Then, bad policemen came to the door and all we did was politely answer with a playstation controller in our hands."
Poor baby. Too bad. Got what he deserved.
When a court determines that someone is likely to flee, this is nearly always based on the suspect's prior record. In other words, this is not the first time the individual has been arrested, and the court is basing its decision on knowledge of the suspect's prior behavior.
He should have been staked out and arrested in a controlled way in order to avoid violence and eliminating his ability to flee.
We don't know what sort of housing situation this was. Quite possibly a house divided up into apartments occupied mostly by students, or a row house in a neighborhood with a high number of criminals. A stake-out may not have been practical, if it was likely to result in the suspect being alerted to the stake-out and thus given the opportunity to prepare for a violent response.
University police officers had requested assistance in apprehending this individual, suggesting they didn't feel it was a routine arrest that they could handle on their own, and they were obviously aware of what sort of assistance they had gotten before actually approaching the residence. This suggests that university police, probably in consultation with other university officials, had determined that the SWAT team approach was warranted. Since this obviously isn't a regular occurrence at a university, I have to assume there was information to support this assessment, unless and until an investigation shows otherwise.
This guy was no angel. Per the sheriff, "the robbery victim . . . was unloading the units at his campus apartment when one man beat him to the ground while another took the PlayStations". In other words, this was a planned attack/robbery involving cooperation between 2 perpetrators. The sheriff also said "If this boy would've come to the door, opened the door, we probably wouldn't be talking," which suggests that either on this occasion or in a prior attempt to make this arrest, there had first been a normal knock-on-the-door approach, and that the suspect had not cooperated.
The sheriff described the operation as "high risk", said he couldn't explain why right way, but said that "I am anxious to tell what happened. In a few days, we'll be able to. For now, it just wouldn't be right." I'm waiting for more facts to be made public before assuming that this no-knock SWAT team approach wasn't warranted.
Gee. I didn't read anything factual about anyone being beaten to a bloodly pulp. There was an allegation of a beating, but it's not clear what the "beating" consisted of.
One thing I am sure of is that people such as yourself and others on this thread have a really screwed up sense of justice and proportion. I only hope that your final judgement is metted out with such a fine sense of proportion.
So the late armed robber punk's daddy is a lawyer, eh?
"And police aren't the only ones who need to be reigned in. We've got a huge number of violent career criminals in this country, and instead of keeping them locked up after they've already been convicted of one or more violent crimes, they're nearly all sent back out into society to resume their criminal careers."
I agree. This is another example of politicians, judges and administrators trying to save a few bucks at the expense of police officers, and the public.
Peyton Strickland Family Statement WRAL.com, NC - Dec 3, 2006 Our son, Peyton, was a kind and gentle boy. He was generous, thoughtful and compassionate. He was deeply loved by us and adored ...
Peyton's daddy is a personal injury/malpractice lawyer. His writings include:
Focus Groups: How They Help and How To Conduct Them Inexpensively, by Howard Twiggs and Don Strickland, Twiggs, Beskind, Strickland & Rabenau, P.A. NCATL Focus Groups. March, 2001 (translation: how to manipulate juries on the cheap)
Maximizing Damages in Civil Cases, by Don Strickland, Twiggs, Beskind, Strickland & Rabenau, P.A.
The whole firm is devoted to raiding deep pockets. I'm sure they're hard at work preparing the suit already, aiming to convince a court that the taxpayers of North Carolina owe Mommy and Daddy Strickland many millions of dollars because the police shot and killed the violent young thug they'd raised.
Good grief.
Daddy Strickland sure runs with a slimy crowd. This article from last year details a case involving two brothers who ran a bail bonding company and had a habit of bribing court officials to remove court dates of clients who'd skipped bond, so the company wouldn't have to pay the bond, plus fixing tickets and other small time stuff. Strickland represented one of the brothers.
Oops, forgot the link:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_68227.asp
Something tells me this "student" is in the same category as the "exotic dancer/Duke rape victim".
IOW, a rap sheet as long as your arm, and up to no good.
I'm afraid that the difference between "elite emergency response team" and "paramilitary death squad" is too often becoming merely semantic.
And a follow-up on that case (focusing on the other brother, though, not the one Strickland represented) has a tidbit that's even more on point:
"He said Jerry Brock had made threats against him. He said Brock told him he had killed a fugitive by shooting him three times when he did not open the door after he said, "My name is Jerry Brock and you'd better let me in this door." He said he had a confrontation with Jerry Brock last Saturday, and Brock made the same threat to him. He said Jerry Brock had been accompanied by police officers while threatening him, and he said he had been stopped by officer Todd Coleman."
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_73198.asp
Gotta wonder why Strickland wanted to represent the co-owner/brother of a bond business that operated this way. Funny how karma works.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Check out his dad.
A few years back in Maryland, plain clothes police did a no-knock on a wrong address or based on info from an unreliable informant (whichever, it was a totally innocent family), and also failed to follow procedures which are meant to avoid the officers getting shot. As I recall, at least one officer was killed. I can't recall if a jury was involved, but the judge clearly expressed agreement with the outcome, which was that, given the police failure to follow proper procedures (including ascertaining that a no-knock raid was appropriate at this location), the homeowner had every right to shoot them.
That's how it should be. Police and courts have to consider very carefully whether this approach is appropriate. And they need to know that if they screw up, the courts will not excuse them just because they're police officers.
Don't worry. They didn't.
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