Posted on 07/28/2005 8:42:34 AM PDT by skyman
A family says on a quiet May evening members of the Utah County SWAT team erroneously invaded their Springville home and roughed them up without cause.
The next day, the Chidester family, including Lawrence, his wife Emily and their adult son Larry, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Utah County and six SWAT team members.
According to court documents, the Chidesters say the SWAT team arrived on the street outside their home May 25 at approximately 10:30 p.m. They say the officers then proceeded to man-handle them in the execution of a search warrant -- albeit for the wrong address. The police unit's intended target, the suit claims, was the residence next door.
"Larry Chidester was asleep in his residence when he heard a loud bang or crash outside and exited to investigate the source of the noise," court documents say.
He observed Utah County SWAT team members departing their police vehicle and heading toward their neighbor's home. The sound he had heard was flash-bang devices detonated by the officers. However when SWAT team members saw Larry, they went after him, the suit claims.
"The officer pointed his firearm at Larry and started running towards him, yelling, 'There's one!,' " the document states.
Despite the fact that Larry had his hands in the air and told the officer repeatedly "I'm not resisting," the suit states the SWAT member continued to run over or tackle him, "and shoved his face into the ground and rocks."
The suit claims Larry Chidester was later transported to the emergency room at Mountain View Hospital in Payson to be treated for injuries.
Two officers then kicked open a side door of the home and entered Lawrence Chidester's bedroom as he was dressing, according to the suit.
"A law enforcement officer grabbed Lawrence and threw him to the floor ... the officer held a firearm to the back of Lawrence's head in the presence of his wife, Emily Chidester," the documents say.
Afterward, when the family was questioned about their names and address, the suit claims SWAT team members "admitted ... they were in the wrong house and they had made a mistake."
The Chidesters said the addresses of both homes were clearly marked by curbside mail boxes.
In the federal suit, the Chidesters claim that the members of the Utah County Sheriff's Office were "grossly negligent ... and acted with deliberate indifference" of their rights. They say the SWAT team members had no probable cause for their arrest or detention.
The family is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages to be determined at trial.
Though Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said the Chidester home was not the SWAT team's original objective, he said the Chidesters became involved in the raid "as an ancillary issue."
"The warrant was for the house nextdoor but in the service of that warrant they became involved ... they had contact with us," Tracy said.
He said he could not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit since he had not yet reviewed it.
"We dispute the accuracy of their version of the events," Tracy said, regarding what's been reported to date about the nature of the incident.
You're insulting all cops, questioning their intelligence and questioning if we even need them. Do any of you guys actually know any cops? Do you think they are perfect people?I know quite a few cops; only one truly honest cop.
And even he has the trademark "Us versus them" attitude. You're either family or you are one of them, and the moment they run your plates they know whether you are family or not.
There ought to be a law that all SWAT team members be ex-military with training night raid tactics and all this stupid stuff would come to a halt.
No! No! NO! NO! That is exactly the problem.
Ex-military types are trained for military situations where the rules of engagement are ... when in doubt, kill the enemy. There is a presumption that anyone you see will be trying to kill you. If he has something in his hand, shoot to kill - it might be a gun (and not a cell phone). If you make a mistake, call it "collateral damage" and go home. THIS IS NOT THE CULTURE I WANT FROM MY "POLICE"!! This is the culture that led Horiuchi to take a sniper shot at Ruby Ridge and kill a woman holding a baby! This is the culture that led to the Waco massacre!
Apply the quality culture to this situation for a moment - if there is a serious problem, it is probably not the fault of the men, but the fault of the system. What is the system?
Let's start with "no-knock warrants". They were originally justified because perps would get rid of evidence if the police knocked on the door. Bookies would touch a cigar to flash paper and burn up the booking slips. Dealers would flush drugs down the toilet. To fix this problem, police requested "no-knock" warrants to stop the perps from destroying the evidence.
So police did this -- and found that drug dealers and some bookies worry about being robbed, so they have guns, and are ready to use them instantly against people who bust in on them. When police busted in the door, some of them got shot by the perps. Soooo...
The police decided that, rather than get shot, they should have SWAT teams to bust in with overwhelming force and "secure" the situation. When some of them get shot, they go get taught by the military (OK, the military teaches the FBI, and the FBI teaches the SWAT teams), so you get militarization of the police; and the tactics are based on the fact that you shoot to kill anyone who has something in their hand that MIGHT be a danger to you when you surprise them in their own home. So when you learn the tactics, you absorb the culture - suprise the perps, and kill them under the slightest perceived danger.
After a few perps get shot by these guys, some bad guys decide they are going to get even -- so the SWAT team now wear their black ninja suits and ski masks so you are unable to find out who they are, and thus further reduces their sense of accountability.
The culture is re-inforced by the fact that not a single police officer who has killed a citizen this way has been convicted of manslaughter or murder; the Police management support their people. It's just collateral damage. This happens much more than we would like to believe -- read the "Whack and Stack" pages of Sierra Times and become appalled.
Conclusion: the system is wrong. Solution: change the system.
For example: Only use SWAT teams AFTER shots have been fired at police, or in hostage situations, where the presumtion of guilt is more applicable. And eliminate "no knock" warrants.
156 posted on 07/28/2005 7:39:43 PM EDT by Mack the knife
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Best post of the day ...... can't be said loud enough.
And when the boys we are training in Iraq come home ... look out for more "population control" as they join up with local LEOs.
It's a sad day when people tell their children not to attract the attention of law enforcment... yes , I have told mine that.
This is what you get when you have LE going military. I hope the family wins big time. Cops don't need to have machine guns nor do they need to play Navy SEAL with the citizens of this country.
The militarization of law enforcement must stop.
Mike
Just for the sake of argument, why do they need any guns? No tasers, no pepper spray. Just a night stick. Maybe.
I know I would be sent to jail but that cop would have had a bullet in the back of his head.
Gordon Liddy has had some thoughts on this sort of incident. He says (and I agree) that this is what happens when you have police forming "paramilitary" units. i.e. local cops playing soldier. They think they are rambos, but they really are......
I cannot believe how many times our corrupt government uses this excuse. WTF, we pay the payroll "IT IS OUR BUSINESS". Why do we let them get away with this?
LE needs firearms... They do run across armed badguys. However, there is NO need for any civilian law enforcement agency to deploy with select fire or full auto weapons. There simply is no situation within the realm of possibility where full auto is needed or should be used.
Mike
It is indeed refreshing to see so many posters realize that the militarization of civilian police must cease.
I spent three years training LE on weapons systems... I asked in every class for a single scenario where a subgun would be better employed than a handgun or a semi auto carbine.
I never got an answer. I'd love to see a federal mandate banning the use of MG's by LE in civilian law enforcement in the US. Wonder if it will ever happen.
Mike
Very true and needs to be kept in mind (I don't always do that) however, when they behave like brown-shirts, fire away.
"LE needs firearms..."
But they don't need tasers because they are abusing them daily. In the link below there is a story of a guy having a seizure tasered to death by Gwinnett county sheriffs in Georgia. There are similar cases of this abuse throughout the nation.
Read the alarming (though few) responses there. It's truly scary how some people can so readily justify murder by civilian police.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1418906/posts
I nominate you for poster of the day.
Still laughing.....
Personally, I think that in this day of possible terrorism and all that, SWAT teams have their place. They don't necessarily need to be doing every single raid, which seems to be the practice these days....
however, not EVERY single town needs a SWAT team.
It crossed my mind. I literally had to pray later for God to help me forgive him to prevent me from hunting his butt down.
I have many, many friends who are cops. I respect what they do. Most do it out of a sense of duty, akin to soldiers.
And then there are the idiots.
Unfortunately, being a cop is one profession where those who grow up dreaming of being one are ones that shouldn't be cops.
Tin foil alert
I hope this family not just gets the money but pushes hard for hard punishment and public humiliation for the folks responsible for this "raid."
With humiliation the police will think twice before trying this again.
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