Posted on 01/16/2011 7:34:15 AM PST by WaterBoard
My synopsis of the story:
1) The local Spring Valley, New York police and DEA raid the home of David McKay.
2) The raid resulted in the family being literally dragged out of bed and officers threatened they would kill the family dog.
3) David McKay was dragged out in the snow in his underwear and questioned about the whereabouts of the man they were looking for.
4) The DEA warrant was for a man who lived several houses a way.
5) The family's 8th grade daughter was removed from bed, dragged down the staircase, and held at gun point which resulted in her having an asthmatic attack and being transported to the hospital.
No officer or DEA agent has been suspended, fired, or even reprimanded for the mistake.
more details here: http://www.lohud.com/article/20110114/NEWS03/101140373/-1/newsfront/DEA-apologizes-to-Rockland-family-for-raid
I bet the guy down the street figured it out and left toot sweet!
It’s not a mistake. It’s “shock trooping.”
What is it about cops and family dogs?
All of the officers should be summarily Fired no exceptions, No Retirement, no benefits.
There has got to be a lawyer out there who will sue the DEA and NY for as much money as can be had. If the agencies involved get sued enough times, and the individuals in these raids sued personally enough times, they will be much more careful in their stormtrooping, shock and awe raids.
This kind of stuff needs to be investigated.
Until cops start having their pay docked for stupidity....will this type of accident stop. All the cops on this episode should see half their paycheck for three months docked. Personally...I’d like to see a judge now assigned to each invasion of privacy and forced to barge in with the cops....and maybe put his re-election to his county or state judge position up for notice if he screwed up.
The worst part of this story is that the DEA states that no guns were drawn and that it was a ‘knock and talk’ raid.
(DEA Spokesman) Mulvey confirmed that officers went to McKay’s home at 36 Sharon Drive but said it was a “knock and talk. She could not fully explain why they would go to 36 Sharon Drive if they knew the person they were looking for was at a different address.
David McKay said the DEA’s version of events is “baloney.”
“They just don’t want to admit that they made a mistake,” he said.”
The saddest part is the you can’t even trust the officers to be honest after the fact.
Notice how the DEA Agent in Charge avoids the issue with this ‘apology’.
“We sincerely regret that while attempting to execute an arrest warrant for a member of this drug trafficking organization, the innocent McKay family was inadvertently affected by this enforcement operation,” Gilbride said.
The only thing that talks is money. Sue the town into bankruptcy, and other towns will take notice. So sad that the Constitutional liberties so many fought and died for are carelessly trampled on.
Perhaps this is an emotional reaction, but the frequency and savagery of these stories is making me consider arguments legalizing drugs. I wonder if the “cure” is becoming worse than the disease.
Meanwhile illegals, drugs, and weapons flow freely over our borders. But I guess the DEA would rather focus on terrorizing an 8 year old and a family. (Exactly how long did it take before it dawned on these jackboot dim bulbs they were at the wrong house?)
I hope David McKay keeps after these people until they are held accountable for their atrocious and unacceptable actions.
The people have got to start fighting back against these incidents and sending the message that we're not going to tolerate these unconstitutional intrusions anymore.
In the "he said/she said" talk between McKay and the DEA, I have no doubt that Mckay is the one telling the truth.
This is just a preview of the police state to come.
Close enough for government work.
To come? It’s already here.
Especially so perhaps because the “cure” doesn’t work. We have had nearly 50 years of the WOD and people are still getting high.
There are many ways to verify addresses. There don’t seem to be any excuses for mistakes of this sort.
Sorry, but this isn't the answer. Those in charge and even many voters have the attitude that "insurance will pay," and don't make the connection between insurance payouts and the premium levels rising.
The only way this will stop is when liability is assigned personally to those responsible. I don't want public employees afraid to do their job, but if there's negligence, it has to go onto the negligent, not the municipality in general. IMO.
This is why there is so much of a push for limiting ammo, clip size, and caliber for private weapons. The term "Cop-killer" bullets was designed to encourage support of outlawing body armor-piercing ammo from law-abiding citizens. I mean, my heavens, we don't want 'cops' to be killed, right? Right.
I suppose the police don’t have GPS? I know it is a new fangled thing and you could hardly expect the police / DEA to PLAN a raid before they execute it, you know, using accurate maps (Google Earth comes to mind) and all the things that all the rest of us do as a matter of routine in executing the weekly shopping list. Noooo! They are too professional for any of that.
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