“Might have something to do with not giving every potential armed criminal on the premises the chance to train their weapons on the front door!”
That’s real flimsy. Drug dealers don’t get into shootouts with cops. They can get a better deal going down, and be back out on the street by breakfast.
Professional dealers usually shoot other dealers.
You forget. The original justification for “no knock” was so the dealers couldn’t “flush” the evidence.
So true. To expand on your thought, these "no knock" raids enshrine a policy that puts getting hold of the contraband as more important than the safety of the citizens whose homes are being invaded as well as the officers that execute these invasions.