Good thing a homeowner didn't react as I would have, and go for a defensive weapon to resist the home invaders. Then, it would have been a massacre, with the SWAT thugs killing every living thing in the place.
Posted on 08/08/2008 6:41:44 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner
The FBI has launched a review of the violent law enforcement raid of the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo in Prince George's County last week that resulted in the deaths of the family's two dogs.
The agency has begun "reviewing the events that occurred at Mr. Calvo's residence," said Richard J. Wolf, spokesman for the FBI in Baltimore, which has jurisdiction over federal civil rights investigations in Maryland.
(snip)
Courts across the country in recent years have ruled that it is almost always unacceptable for police to kill pets in the course of searching a home. Cases in three federal circuits have found that killing pets amounts to unreasonable seizure.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The "innocuous" operative term is "dynamic entry", which can be either "knock" or "no knock". If they do "knock", the time interval between the "knock" and them tearing the door down is a couple of seconds.
The ONLY time I think something like this should be acceptable is in an active hostage situation. Drug busts simply don't qualify as sufficiently important for even ONE mistake to be allowed to happen.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
I'm pretty sure the Founders had that included in the Bill of Rights, but it didn't make the final cut...
{snip}Calvo's lawyer also maintains that the county did not have the proper "no-knock" warrant needed to enter the home without warning. The state legislature provided for such warrants in 2005, and county police initially said they had a no-knock warrant. The department has since said it did not have such a warrant and does not believe they exist.
So, in other words, they F'ing lied... Either you have a warrant or you don't.
Here's a jackboot 'splaining wha happen...
{snip}The SWAT team had planned to gather at the front door and demand entry to the home and would have forcefully entered only if those inside the home refused entry, he said.
Hmmm... No warrant, but, we're demanding entry !
{snip}Jackson reiterated his explanation that it was a scream by Calvo's mother-in-law, Georgia Porter, who saw officers running toward the house, that changed the calculation of officers conducting the raid.
Yep, seeing a gang heavily armed a-holes storming your house, the elderly woman screamed. Obviously, she didn't recognized these brave cops as the protectors of society. She'll need to be taught a lesson.
{snip}"At that point, they see you, you don't see them, and you don't know where they are. . . . That's dangerous," Jackson said. "You really don't have time to deal with that dog, you really don't have time to deal with that person. You have to secure and go.
Cops bust in, shoot up the place. Job well done men, let's debrief and go out for pizza and beer. Hey lady, you 'll have to call Animal Control to dispose of those bodies.
No wonder the poor old lady screamed when they showed up on her door step.
I see that back in November 2007, the same agency raided the wrong address and killed the homeowner's dog.
Deputies Raid Wrong Address, Kill Couple's Dog
Good shoot man. Let's debrief and go for pizza and beer.
Good thing a homeowner didn't react as I would have, and go for a defensive weapon to resist the home invaders. Then, it would have been a massacre, with the SWAT thugs killing every living thing in the place.
WOW! Thanks for pointing that out.
I thought they were garbed in their intimidating black uniforms and shiny jack boots.
Makes sense that the Mother-in-Law screamed at the sight of them storming the house.
It's crazy. No warrant, busting in, shooting up the place. In the other case, oops, wrong house, shoot the dog anyways.
Insane mindset and policy.
I thought they were garbed in their intimidating black uniforms and shiny jack boots.
___________________
This is PG County. If only the clothes were the real difference between them and the crooks.
In the 90s they shot a handcuffed prisoner. Even though he had been frisked and cuffed, somehow a gun was found.
Oh just let take a wild shot here, “We investigated ourselves and found us not guilty”.
Let them flush the stuff. Losing the stash and the money they were supposed to make from selling it is a bigger punishment than they'd probably get from the legal system, especially if they're in debt to somebody higher up the drug-trade food chain.
It'll be happening in the dark, at about 4:00 am, badges will be obscured or not there at all, and it will occur in one of those neighborhoods where home invasions have happened in the recent past.
As our imaginary citizen and his family reload their weapons they'll be thinking that they waxed some criminal gang.
Chances are the 'cops' won't even be in actual possession of anything so trivial as a copy of the Warrant (that was the case here) so they'll assume, correctly in my view, that they were completely justified in their actions.
It'll only be when they're surrounded by uniformed officers in marked police cars that they realize they're in some really, really deep sh**.
Personally, and I know I shouldn't say this, I won't be one single bit sorry when, not if, that happens.
L
The litany of supporters for this type of behavior here is breathtaking to me. Some spend an inordinate amount of time promoting the militarization of police forces and stomping on freedoms and the constitution. Odd and peculiar to me, considering this is a conservative website.
Interesting thing on these threads is that some of the same supporters of the unconstitutional children grab in Texas are supporting this action too.
An excellent point. And the "punishment" will probably be far more severe than any court could impose.
Woodrow Wilson tried essentially the same thing, drawing his muscle from the American Legion. Obama will fill his ranks from the Nation of Islam.
Also, modern forensics could find the evidence anyway even if it is flushed.
Why not? A lot of jurisdictions have police, sheriff's deputies, and marshals. There's a lot of redundancy there, and more little fiefdoms for petty appointed or elected officials to protect.
My county was seriously looking at dissolving the office of sheriff after the sheriff-elect was assassinated -- by the outgoing sheriff, no less. The sheriff's duties could have been divided between the marshals (who would have taken on the duties of running the jail and executing warrants) and police.
Fortunately, the new sheriff in town appears to be a straight arrow. It's a nice change of pace -- every sheriff in my county in my lifetime has ended his career in prison, except one who was acquitted of homicide.
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