Posted on 05/10/2023 1:12:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Police raised concerns, so lawmakers moved forward with a less-restrictive proposal — and now that version of the bill is likely to be defeated CONCORD, N.H. — An effort to restrict the use of no-knock warrants in New Hampshire is likely to fail this week, after a committee advised the full Senate to reject the proposal despite its bipartisan popularity in the House.
The original version of House Bill 135 had called for a complete ban on no-knock warrants, which allow police to enter a property without knocking and announcing their presence in advance. But lawmakers watered down their proposal in response to pushback from police leaders, who said the warrants are an important tool that’s used sparingly and responsibly in New Hampshire.
Policy debates over no-knock warrants have been part of a national spotlight on racial justice and law enforcement since police in Louisville killed Breonna Taylor in a botched raid in 2020 and police in Minneapolis killed Amir Locke while executing a warrant in 2022. At least 14 states, including Maine and Massachusetts, have passed laws to tighten rules around such warrants, and four states have banned them altogether.
Rather than an outright ban, the amended version of New Hampshire’s HB 135 would establish guardrails governing when and how police may seek permission to execute a no-knock warrant. If an officer reasonably believes that knocking and announcing their presence would “create an imminent threat of physical violence,” for example, then they would have grounds under the proposed legislation to seek permission from their agency and a judge.
Representative Terry Roy, a Republican from Deerfield who chairs the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, advocated for the amendment. He said it respects the role police must play and reflects guidance the Biden administration unveiled last year on the topic.
“We ask the police to carry out and enforce the laws that we write, and in so doing we have to ensure that we give them the tools to do it, while at the same time balancing that with the rights of the public to be safe,” Roy said after introducing the amendment in February. “And I think this bill accomplishes that.”
“This sends a clear message that we frown on no-knock warrants, except in extremely limited circumstances,” he added.
The amended version of HB 135 emerged from the full House on an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 374-9 in March.
At least one member who voted against the bill, Representative Jonah Wheeler, a Democrat from Peterborough, said he did so because it doesn’t go far enough. Unlike the original proposal, the amended bill wouldn’t actually do much to restrain police activity that has fed public mistrust of law enforcement, so enacting it would be a “hollow” exercise in virtue-signaling, Wheeler said.
Frank Knaack, policy director at the ACLU of New Hampshire, said the latest version of HB 135 closely mirrors federal policy and represents “a basic but important step” to rein in a dangerous law enforcement tactic.
“No-knock warrants and raids have severe and potentially deadly consequences for people targeted by this aggressive over-policing,” Knaack said, urging senators to vote in favor of the bill.
Law enforcement leaders contended that no-knock warrants, when used correctly, can improve safety for everyone involved.
“If you rely on surprise, assertiveness, and speed, you’re entering a place before somebody’s perception reaction time can kick in,” Atkinson Police Chief Timothy Crowley told a Senate committee in April. He said he worked previously in Lowell and served on a special SWAT team involved in dozens of no-knock entries for drug-related enforcement. He said HB 135 tries to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
Despite its overwhelming bipartisan popularity in the House, the bill failed to win support in April from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. With a 3-2 vote along party lines, the committee concluded the bill is inexpedient to legislate. So when it comes before the full Senate on Thursday, the Republican-controlled chamber will decide whether to accept the committee’s recommendation to kill the bill.
The two Democratic senators on the committee, Becky Whitley of Hopkinton and Shannon Chandley of Amherst, expressed disappointment in the outcome.
“No-knock warrants are used in New Hampshire, often without any formal written policies concerning their use,” Whitley and Chandley said in a joint statement. “This bill was a vital step to acknowledge and address the areas of our policing that can, and should, be reformed, such as setting important standards for the use of no-knock warrants.”
Knaack said the committee’s vote on this bill is the latest example in a harmful trend.
“Unfortunately, from marijuana legalization, to notice around immigration checkpoints, to parole reform, we have seen the Senate consistently ignore data and facts and oppose bipartisan, commonsense legislation designed to strengthen community safety and rein in abusive policing practices and draconian sentencing policies,” he said.
Committee chair Senator Sharon Carson, a Republican from Londonderry, said during a committee meeting late last month that HB 135 needs “a lot more work” before it can become law.
Carson claimed that the testimony from law enforcement hadn’t clearly established whether no-knock warrants are even used in New Hampshire; however, a witness speaking on behalf of the Manchester Police Department told the committee that his department regularly executes such warrants.
In an interview, Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg told the Globe that his department participated in the execution of 17 such warrants in 2020, nine in 2021, and 13 in 2022. In each case, officers do their homework to determine the best and safest time and way to execute the warrant, he said.
“Any time we apply for a search warrant on a home, there’s usually about a two-week period prior to the execution of that search warrant where we’re conducting intelligence, we’re conducting surveillance, we’re establishing pattern of life,” Aldenberg said, noting that officers sometimes delay or call off a warrant execution to minimize risk.
When police in Manchester use a no-knock warrant, they typically employ a “breach and hold” strategy, breaking in a door or window to get a direct line of sight and reduce the likelihood of a subject barricading, taking hostages, or opening fire, Aldenberg said.
“It’s all based on the threat that the person presents,” he said.
Witnesses from other law enforcement agencies, including the New Hampshire State Police, testified that their departments typically handle few, if any, no-knock warrants.
Senator Daryl Abbas, a Republican from Salem, raised concerns about how the bill would impact the admission of evidence in court. If police use a no-knock warrant in good faith but the warrant is later challenged and tossed out, then the bill would require all of that evidence to be excluded at trial, he said.
“This goes too far in that regard,” he said.
Although concerns have been raised about deadly incidents elsewhere, Abbas said he hasn’t heard of any incidents involving the misuse of a no-knock warrant in this state.
“I don’t see a need for a change in the state based on what’s going on in New Hampshire,” he said.
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The *only* possible justification for a ‘no-knock’ entry is if a hostage is actually present.
Yeah, safe, legal, and rare.
ping
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