Police Raid Berwyn Heights Mayor's Home, Kill His 2 Dogs

Washington Post ^ | July 31, 2008 | Aaron C. Davis

[Mr. Mojo]

A police SWAT team raided the home of the mayor in the Prince George's County town of Berwyn Heights on Tuesday, shooting and killing his two dogs, after he brought in a 32-pound package of marijuana that had been delivered to his doorstep, police said.

[Robbin]

BINGO we have a winner..

[Dead Corpse]

Troll? Maybe not from a poster whose been around since 2001. Not that we haven't had a few over the years.

But I smell a cop trying to justify his actions from a morally questionable standpoint he's never really had to consider before.

[DJ MacWoW]

so the whole 3rd party set-up thing is pretty much a non-issue.

No it's not. Who mailed it?

[thefactor]

no i have not ruled it out completely. but usually the simplest answer is the right answer: this guy bought the weed and had it addressed to his wife. if they were being set-up, that is a heck of a chance to take that a drug dog would get a hit off the box.

and yes, i am a cop. a damn good one as it turns out. or so people tell me.

[TalonDJ]

The tough thing about being a cop used to be that their own safety was secondary to the Constitution and the rule of law. Not any more.

And as they selflessly put themselves in harms way to protect us all they garnered the highest respect.

Thugs like these are rapidly blowing that respect away.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

and a part-time mayor of a small municipality is not someone i would call a high order politician.

Have you seen what he's involved with when he isn't being part-time mayor? Real ID legislation, insurance issues, genetic research policy, intergovernmental affairs, and more.

but the cops can only go on the info they have at the time.

Which apparently consisted of pot+house=must kick in door, kill dogs

[thefactor]

someone in arizona mailed that much weed to a small town mayor in MD to set him up? i don’t think so. his contact in mexico sent it. but hey, i have been wrong before.

[TKDietz]

A suspicious package addressed to his wife? My wife always has packages coming in the mail. It's a fairly common occurrence for me to find a package on my front porch. I just carry them in and leave them somewhere my wife will find them, just like this guy.

[beltfed308]

See my post at #180.

Have you heard of this happening in your area?

[commonguymd]

They really have lowered the IQ requirements it seems. Condoning this type of military raid and the killing of innocent pets must excite some of the low brows it seems.

[thefactor]

you smell a cop? what gave it away? when i wrote that i am a cop? nice work.

what are people questioning here? the raid itself or the tactics? i myself have questioned the tactics used. but i do not question the raid itself.

[lesser_satan]

someone in arizona mailed that much weed to a small town mayor in MD to set him up? i don’t think so. his contact in mexico sent it. but hey, i have been wrong before.

I don't give a damn who sent it. Nothing in this case justifies a no-knock paramilitary raid. They could have put the house under surveillance, detained him when he left, and executed a search warrant by civilized and constitutional means.

[patton]

Wer haette gewuesst.

[DJ MacWoW]

someone in arizona mailed that much weed to a small town mayor in MD to set him up?

It doesn't say the package originated in Arizona. That's just where a dog sniffed it out. And it was addressed to his wife who is a finance officer for the state.

his contact in mexico sent it.

Then it wouldn't have originated in Arizona.

That's not the point. WHO mailed it?

[TalonDJ]

They did not tell you what the ‘shift key’ was for in cop school?

You called this a good raid because no humans were hurt. Two dogs shot, one door kicked in, citizens terrorized, zero arrests. I call that abject failure. I think your police department needs to set its standards of sucess a little higher.

I suppose you think these guys earned those medals too: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053650/posts

[commonguymd]

You are trying to reason with a low brow thug excuse maker of the highest order. He gives the industry a bad name by condoning the apparent growing cowardice of the police forces out there. Maybe it is something to do with quotas forcing out the good public servants.

[thefactor]

absolutely. here it's done with electronics bought on a stolen credit card. they have to give the proper mailing address that matches the billing address on the card. they wait on the stoop of the building awaiting the delivery.

when the delivery guy shows up, "hey, that's me. i was just having a smoke out here. i can sign for that."

absolutely viable here. perhaps.

[thefactor]

nicht mir. ich weiss nicht.

[TalonDJ]

i myself have questioned the tactics used. but i do not question the raid itself.

Depends on what you call the tactics and what you call the raid. Certainly if they found some pot in the mail they need to follow up and track the sender and receiver down. Swat teams and deadly force however were not justified.

[commonguymd]

touche