Posted on 02/08/2014 5:31:31 AM PST by marktwain
“A Burleson County Grand Jury declined to indict the man who shot and killed Burleson County Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Sowders who was serving a search warrant in December,” kbtx.com reports. “Investigators were executing a search warrant at Henry McGee’s mobile home near Snook when the shooting happened.” The shooting didn’t just “happen.” “Henry McGee admitted to shooting Deputy Sowders before sunrise on December 19th while the deputy and other investigators were serving a no knock search warrant for drugs at McGee’s mobile home near Snook. Magee’s Defense Attorney Dick DeGuerin says his client thought someone was breaking into his home and fired to protect his pregnant girlfriend and himself.” Will Texas follow Indiana’s lead and . . .
pass a law specifically allowing force against officers who enter a home without the owner’s consent? No. But you can bet TX SWAT teams will think twice before executing their next all-flash-bangs-banging raid on a low-level dope dealer – hopefully thinking about it in a good way. Then again, culture eats jurisprudence for lunch:
The District Attorney’s office released a statement saying,
“The Burleson County Sheriff’s Office would not have been there that day if Mr. Magee had not decided to live a lifestyle of doing and producing illegal drugs in his home. Therefore, we will fully prosecute the drug charges against him.”
If I were McGee I’d make sure my tail lamps were fully functional before I went for a drive, if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, for those who hope that this case signals the beginning of the end of rubber-stamped no-knock raids and the nadir of America’s militarized police, note that Happy Days continued for seven years after Fonzie jumped the shark.
My thought as well. The response that will seem most logical in the mind of the jack boots will be that they’re just not violent enough.
After 42 years, can we declare the War on Drugs over and go home?
Let me again point out that there is a pressing need for individual states to pass laws that “demilitarize” paramilitary police departments.
There should be no lower, or higher, for that matter, use of SWAT teams than at the county level, based on a written warrant, under very clear state rules.
Arizona is proposing a new addition to this, to get a handle on illegal government surveillance and abuse, with a new law that would make evidence gathered through such activities as unwarranted surveillance inadmissible in state courts.
First, police departments should be stripped of paramilitary equipment, such as armored vehicles, concussion or fragmentary explosives, fully automatic weapons, weapons greater than a particular caliber, etc.
Since there is so much equipment that can be forbidden, police departments should be issued lists of *permitted* equipment, including communications gear and electronics systems. Since some police departments need special gear, this should be allowed on a case by case basis. In effect, creating a state Table of Organization and Equipment, such as is used by military units.
Unauthorized equipment shall be turned over to their county Sheriff, stored and used only by his department.
Next would be a state review of police academy curricula, to insure that officers are trained so as to be effective, not offensively aggressive to citizens.
Some day these clowns will do a no-knock and the guy behind the door wil have an M60 or something similar.When a whole SWAT team gets shreaded then maybe they will reconsider these raids.
“When a whole SWAT team gets shreaded then maybe they will reconsider these raids.”
The next phase will be to use the microwave pain cannon they developed for Iraq but could not deploy because of the “optics” it would cause. Everybody will run out of the house like their pants are on fire, as indeed that’s what it will feel like.
No matter what some lackey federal judge says, no knock warrants are a violation of the Constitution, and any LEO killed in the process of breaking into someone’s home while exercising a “no knock” should expect to be shot at and possibly killed without any blame going to the homeowner.
In drug cases I see nothing wrong with the police sitting there ringing the doorbell or pounding on the door while the dirt bags flush their investment capital down the commode. The drugs are off the street, there is no booking paperwork to do, no court costs, nobody gets hauled in for jury duty and no incarceration expense. Seems like a win/win to me.
It's obvious you don't live in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, or California.
Just a plain old firecracker would probably lead to a circular firing squad with these clowns.
Well, I understand what you are saying, but the logic doesn’t follow.
In a world where there are high-paying jobs (supply), people will want to have such a job (demand). In that case, the demand being higher, should allow suppliers to require higher qualifications for them. To that end, it is up to the local/state/Fed to be MORE selective on hiring, so that those who are lazy or not motivated are screened out from the large pool of candidates, and select the individuals who meet your needs. If you need highly-motivated people, there are test and modern methods to screen for them.
I would think you’d want to avoid hiring people with sociopathic tendencies, steroid abuse, etc, as a matter of liability. Again, if the job pays so well, then you’ll have more applications to look through, but you need to scientifically and carefully screen all candidates before hiring, and then have a very good evaluation system that ensures your measurements were accurate, with a probationary period where you could release any hires who do not meet the evaluation review.
Beyond that, you need a separate, responsible internal affairs structure and the ability to fire for cause, even a long serving employee. Allowing police unions to butt in on this process is probably the single biggest reason we have bad cops to begin with.
Sounds like we need to ban Pomeranians to protect the police. /sarc
Out of control -disconnected from community...
McMinn County War, or Battle of Athens...(Tenn)...
1946. PERIOD
Everyone in America needs to know the story.
Check wikipedia
GIs home from World War II, knew how to solve a tyranny
problem...All the rifles were cleaned(fingerprints esp.( ; ) and put back into the National Guard Armory by sunrise... The rifles and men made for a TRUE Vote.
Even Eleanor Roosevelt said “THE people will get what they want”
my paraphrase.Best account believe it or not was by Theodore H. White- Harper’s Magazine 1947...fee worth the read(White created the Camelot Myth about JFK-wikipedia ...FYI).
Note to contractor: Metal sheathing in exterior walls.
It is a constitutional issue. A search warrant has to be served, which means that before they can begin the search, they must make every attempt to hand the warrant to the property owner.
A no knock search is a clear violation of the forth amendment.
I am a former Texas peace officer (I refuse to use the obnoxious term LEO) and I applaud the Grand Jury. The man is innocent.
“They get extra pay for no-knocks?! This behavior is incentivized!?”
Let’s pretend you’re a uniformed, union code enforcement collector (sometimes known as police or deputy.) Now, your boss says, “Fluffy, I want you to volunteer for unpaid overtime, extra training and hazardous duty.” (Are you laughing yet?) Yes, my understanding is they get overtime, hazard pay and other incentives, depending on the department and their bargaining arrangements. This is, in opinion, why there are so many unnecessary no-knock raids.
My uncle, once a town official, said, “When you see two cops sitting nose to tail they’re discussing how to get more premium pay hours.” I suspect he’s riht.
In time, our side is going to need them. At least they will be close by and, I'd hazard, easily obtainable.
expect to be shot at and possibly killed without any blame going to the homeowner.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.
A ‘No-Knock’ warrant is essentially a Home Invasion.
ALL home owners need to keep a shotgun at the ready.
“Your Honor, all I know, is that someone dressed in a cop’s uniform smashed down my door and threatened me and my family...”
We know from Waco, that the ‘Imminent Danger’ crap is just an invention for justification to subvert the Constitution. LE will outright LIE in order to rationalize their criminal behavior.
You are 100% correct on each point.
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