Posted on 08/07/2008 6:50:55 PM PDT by neverdem
THE DRUG raid by Prince George's County law officers on the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo last week was a Keystone Kops operation from start to finish.
Acting on a tip that a 32-pound package of marijuana had been sent by Federal Express from Arizona to Mr. Calvo's home (addressed to his wife, Trinity Tomsic), Prince George's police swung into action. Which is to say they got on the phone, calling law enforcement agencies to see who might have a SWAT team available to bust the unsuspecting Calvo family. (It seems the police department's own team was tied up.) After being turned down at least once, they finally struck a deal with the Prince George's Sheriff's Office, whose track record with domestic disputes is extensive but whose experience with drug busts is slight. And it showed.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
When the FBI gets involved, it isn’t to assign blame to law enforcement - it is to help cover the tracks.
Local LEO’s do a shabby job of destroying or altering evidence.
The FBI are professionals.
@ Rad1 :
GESTAPO
That’s right. Or Stasi or whatever name this group of people deserves. The “protect and serve” element in this action gone wrong is ....well, it’s not there. It has nothing to do with enforcing the law. The law should be upheld, of course, but law is what gives a nation a degree of civilization and should be the guideline to both citizens AND law enforcement agencies.
The one that issued the warrant should have known better that to throw a SWAT unit at a soft target. Bad show, and I do hope that someone will be held accountable.
Some people think these kind of measures are necessary if we are to win the War on Drugs.
Some people think these kind of measures are necessary if we are to win the War on Dogs.
“Those two look like a couple of happy puppies.”
My border collie just loves labs (he wrestles with them and gets “labbed” thus needing a bath). I can’t remember ever meeting an aggressive lab.
What is it Standard Operating Procedure to kill all dogs in a drug raid? You keep hearing about it (for example dogs of uninvolved owners killed when LEOs cut across yards during a bust).
In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled Shoot First, Ask Later - In Prince George’s, a drug bust goes awry., Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus wrote:
Too many police think they are military engaging the enemy. They need to be re-educated with hefty damages, firings, and loss of pensions.
I’m thinking the best re-education might involve a dead cop or two.
Just sayin’
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This crap will not stop until one good example of a city being bankrupted is made, and the officers involved are placed in financial servitude for the rest of their lives. They can’t work for the injured parties if they are dead.
This is _no different_ than the “we were following orders” argument at Nuremberg. In our (or most) armed services, following an order that is illegal puts YOU at fault also. Why is that not true in any of these cases?
If you look at your auto/health insurance, you will probably find a clause that voids any coverage if the claim involves damage/injury incurred during the commission of a crime. Municipal liability carriers need to start writing such a clause into their policies.
Research "Lamplugh", a firearms case in Pennsylvania a decade and a half ago. The lamplugh's kitten was stomped to death by a female BATF agent...
the infowarrior
I think the war on drugs is a lot like prohibition. No amount of law enforcement in the world is going to win it.
They didn’t know this was the Mayor’s house when they were shooting the dogs?
At his press conference yesterday, the mayor said practically the same thing. He said that it seemed to him that the police shot the dogs for sport.
I dunno...
This is PG County we're talking about, after all.
"Sheriff Jackson said yesterday that his deputies were "engaged" by our dogs. This is simply false. The deputies opened fire and executed our dogs the very second they broke down our front door. The thoughtless execution of Payton and Chase was premeditated, without provocation, and appears to have been done for sport.
The officers were aware of the presence of our dogs before they broke down our front door. They had seen Payton earlier when the undercover officer delivered the package to our house. They had seen me walk both dogs through the neighborhood moments before they invaded our home. In fact, I waved to them.
http://cfc.wjla.com/external.cfm?p=calvo080708
No problemo, Lurker. ;^)
“And what do you think would happen if US Marines pulled a similar raid on the home of an Iraqi mayor?”
If they ever pulled a stunt like that at my house, they would *think* they were in Iraq.
Oh no, not marijuana! Drug dealers everywhere love the War on Drugs. How else can they ensure 1,000% profit margins?
That is the most infuriating thing I have ever read.
Do you support the War on Drugs?
“I take it you haven’t Googled a picture of the Sheriff.”
Yeah, if it was the *other* Michael Jackson he might be in trouble.
Hadn't heard that one before.
Were there any consequences?
Wayne LaPierre called the cop who did it a "jack booted thug"
President George Herbert Walker Bush was so offended by LaPierre traducing a LEO he resigned from the NRA in protest.
Shooting the dogs is done simply to terrorize the victims..uh, I means, suspects. Simple as that. Hell, they get away with shooting unarmed women who have are holding infants. Dogs are just a gimme.
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