Police Kill Family Dog During Raid (yet another isolated incident)

ABC News ^ | 2/7/09 | Jeff Hager

[ellery]

"They hit the door right here and the door flew open," says Mike Hasenei, standing outside his Elkridge home.

His wife, Phyllis, was watching television with her 12-year old daughter when members of the Howard County Police Tactical Team came through the door.

"They had guns pointed at us. You have 25 guys coming in here all dressed in black and all that we saw were their eyes, and they're screaming 'Hands in the air!'"

Members of the team were acting upon a tip that an assault rifle, magazines and hollow-point bullets stolen from a marked police car the night before may be located inside.

Adding insult to injury, when the search led police to a back bedroom where they encountered the family’s dog, they opened fire.

Officers found no evidence of the stolen goods after ransacking the house.

At this point a complaint has been logged against the department, but Howard County Police aren't about to admit they were wrong or to apologize for their actions.

"No. We didn't find a weapon in this particular case,” said Sherry Llewellyn, a spokeswoman for the department, “but that doesn't mean that there wasn't good information that there were weapons there before we had a chance to get inside the house."

Now, Mike Hasenei is waiting on an Internal Affairs investigation into the raid before deciding whether he and his family will take the department to court.

"I'm not gonna sit down and let people walk all over me and say 'sorry' and walk out of my house."

[JSteff]

Told my wife about your girl chasing the seagulls. She said she wanted another Australian Shepperd. Smokey was her name. Thanks for the condolences. When she was passing that night she just laid there with an occasional soft whimper and wagging her tail in the vets office right up to the end. Hadn't really though about it much since then and got to admit it was touching to go through it again. Cathartic. Very much appreciated. Wish you the best with your girl. Thank you. Have a great rest of the weekend.

[papertyger]

“Taking the info at face value” was the key part. It makes your three paragraphs after that pretty meaningless.

No, it doesn't, because there is more than enough reason to believe "taking the info at face value" is itself a duplicitous tactic.

[papertyger]

Just because they didn't find anything doesn't mean the person didn't do anything.

But it DOES mean the tactic used by the police to secure an arrest and conviction in this circumstance was totally without merit.

[randomhero97]

They should identify themselves first. The only two reasons I can really think of the need for SWAT is bank robberies and hostage situations.

If you don't want the risk then don't become a cop.

[randomhero97]

You just hate different people that keep us safe.

The Supreme Court has ruled it is not the job of local law enforcement to keep us safe.

[IrishCatholic]

No it doesn’t. It simply means the information available was used, not your personal bias.
Change the info, change the outcome. So the paragraphs remain meaningless.

[IrishCatholic]

and....?

[randomhero97]

You implied it is the job of LE to keep us, the citizens, safe. It is an incorrect assumption. Yes, I will provide links very shortly.

[randomhero97]

This should get you started:

link

[IrishCatholic]

Imply?
Well, allow me to disabuse you. If I ‘implied’ it, it wasn't intentional the way you put it. The courts have said the police are not responsible to prevent crimes.
Common sense, sorely lacking these days, would have taken that as given. In many cities the ratio is 1 cop for every 5-10,000 people. That alone should indicate they are not able to stop crime.
They look for it, try to stop it, but their main role is to keep the peace, prevention, and investigation of crimes with the aim of presenting a case in court.
The courts have said the police are not responsible because lawyers have tried to lay liability on the police for failure to prevent crimes. No one can stop crime before it happens until mind reading comes into fashion.

I think they made a movie about that...

[November Gale]

Yes, and I’m a pretty reasonable gal too, believe it or not. We had a pretty spirited debate last night. That’s what Free Republic is all about, expressing opinions. Even if things do get a little heated sometimes. I knew there had to be SOMETHING that we could agree on, somewhere along the line. Just took us a while to get there. I’m sure there are a lot more things that we probably agree on.

Any government agency investigating it’s own isn’t a good thing. It’s kind of like having the state medical board investigating it’s own doctors. There can be real conflicts of interest there.

[November Gale]

I totally agree with that point. Somehow, some people on here have repeatedly overlooked the fact that I thought it seems these officers were in the wrong. I’m so happy that in those 25 years my husband never had to shoot anyone or anything (except for a skunk that was roaming a neighborhood, and the skunk got revenge by spraying him). Somehow, he was glad he shot that skunk. Pepe LePew got his revenge. But seriously though, my husband always said that if you shoot someone, it’s something a person would have to live with all their lives.

[deks]

Correction for broken link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/26/AR2006012602136.html

SWAT Tactics at Issue After Fairfax Shooting
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 27, 2006; Page B01

Salvatore J. Culosi Sr. still can’t believe his son, a 37-year-old optometrist, was a suspected sports bookie. He can’t believe a heavily armed SWAT team fatally shot his unarmed son, Salvatore J. Culosi Jr., outside his Fair Oaks home Tuesday night.

And Culosi can’t believe that the SWAT team’s sudden descent on his son, apparently causing one officer to accidentally fire a .45-caliber handgun once into his son’s chest, is standard procedure for Fairfax County police conducting a search.

[Kozak]

Maybe thats the cure. A surge in “anonymous tips” involving local politicians and civil servants. Lets see how they like being on the receiving end......

[dirtbiker]

Fishermen and construction workers are at much greater risk of losing life.

Likewise, farmers and coal miners....

[2nd amendment mama]

No justification needed. I threw a general description out there and you saw yourself in the mirror.

No, I didn't see myself in the mirror - I saw you as a pompous a$$ who assumes that everyone who is against this kind of police behavior as "trailer trash".

[SkyDancer]

Hi - not really. Their legs are real short so they do more running around. Their website is: www.ewe-topia.com ... in the summer I camp out there over the weekends ... lots of people do. It’s a great time ....

[SkyDancer]

I am not relishing the time when I have to put my girl down. She’s seven now ... I try not to think about it. But then, it’s natural I suppose - do the grief - then get another to ease the pain ...

[SkyDancer]

Thought I'd share this with you. My girl playing with an Aussie shepherd.

[Gaffer]

Members of the team were acting upon a tip that an assault rifle, magazines and hollow-point bullets stolen from a marked police car the night before may be located inside

Yes, it seems hollow-pointed bullets are some LEO's choice of humane treatment. And they wonder why their foes use armor piercing bullets?