Sheriff Apologizes For Raid On Wrong House

Knoxville News-Sentinel ^ | July 18, 2002 | Jim Balloch

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, on a positive note, at least no innocents were killed...

[AppyPappy]

Shoffner said he followed his deputies to the scene, "and the minute I walked in the door and saw Mrs. Smith in handcuffs, I recognized her because I had seen her before at a 'Walk for Christ' event, and I knew right then we had the wrong place. But I slugged her in the mouth just in case."

[Wolfie]

Well, nothing beats a "Walk for Christ" event for ID'ing a residence. Certainly more reliable then Postal records, leases, mortgages, vehicle registrations, deeds, or any of the other things the department could have checked before kicking in the door.

[DoughtyOne]

There are way too many swat teams out there for public safety to be optimal. Every little podunk berg thinks they've got to have a military assault team available at a moment's notice. Well, this is what happens when you do.

Accept in hostage situations or in bank holdups or other similar situations, should a swat team be necessary. I refuse to endorse no-knock raids even though I am in favor of the war on drugs. (No I'm not going to debate that issue on this thread.)

I would recommend a six month prison sentence for every law enforcement officer that participates in wrong door raids. Yes I know boys, mistakes will happen. Yep and those mistakes are costing innocent people their lives across this nation. Then the departments go, "Oops, our bad." On the second offense I'd recommend a two year sentence and a ban on any future employment as a law enforcement officer.

Sorry, that doesn't cut it. The police deserve our support. However the public deserves theirs as well. This police state bull s-it has to stop.

[DoughtyOne]

Yeah this time.

[AppyPappy]

If she hadn't been on that walk, she'd probably be wearing Eu De PepperSpray. And they'd be dribbling that kid down the driveway.

Sometimes you have to show these surburbanites who is boss.

[Mark was here]

I was thinking the same thing.
No mention of a warrant, so much for the 4th Amendment

[WyldKard]

Socialism in action. I'm surprised they actually apologized. Oh well, better than shooting their kid dead, which police SWAT teams have done on mistaken raids in the past.

And to think we have people on FR who actually SUPPORT this crap...

[TooBusy]

"My son was sitting there, curled up into a little ball and just shaking," he said.

"Shoffner said information that drugs and guns were at that house had been provided by an informant who has previously provided 27 accurate leads resulting in arrests"

It is absolutely amazing that the informant's lead would not be corroborated before engaging in a raid like this.

[Wonder Warthog]

""We definitely raided the wrong house, and I have apologized to the family, privately and publicly," Shoffner said Wednesday."

Whoooeeee!!! Wow!! He APOLOGIZED!!!! That and some small change will get a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

When does this incompetent bastard resign or get fired??

[Dick Bachert]

Yup!

Good thing these folks DID NOT have a large dog.

The first thing these cowboys do is off the dog for target practice.

Time to knock off the para-military cop crap -- while we still have a few of our rights remaining.

I hope the Smith family SUES THE SHERIFF'S ASS OFF and collects a few mil from the tax-slaves of the county. When the tax-slaves within a jurisdiction get tired of coughing up $$$$$ for these screw-ups is when it'll stop!

And END THE WAR ON DRUGS. If these morons who shove this crap into their bodies want to die, let 'em. Just don't waste any of MY $$$$ on them if they show up at the local ER.

[Boner1]

Shoffner said the information his department received was that criminals were using the house and felt it was safe "because a good family had lived there for several years and had just recently moved out."

Damm, that pretty hard to check on

[TightSqueeze]

When does this incompetent bastard..

Hey what would you expect it is part of the uniform. Oh, my bad, I thought you wrote incompetent badges.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I hope the Smith family SUES THE SHERIFF'S ASS OFF

Unless there was gross misconduct on the sheriff's part, he's sueproof. And the municipality does not need to expend a dime on restitution to the victims.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I hope the Smith family SUES THE SHERIFF'S ASS OFF

Unless there was gross misconduct on the sheriff's part, he's sueproof. And the municipality does not need [is not legally required I mean... whether it is morally obligated is another story] to expend a dime on restitution to the victims. Why don't we have restitution laws? Britain does.

[Gaston]

Shoffner said information that drugs and guns were at that house had been provided by an informant who has previously provided 27 accurate leads resulting in arrests.

A single witness or informant should not be a "go ahead" for a swat team. If I my research at work was as lazy as theirs I would be out of a job. Do your homework. Get a warrant.

[KS Flyover]

"When does this incompetent bastard resign or get fired??"

The "incompetent bastard" is running for re-election right now.

[Dick Bachert]

I believe the recent decision by the lovely and talented Supremes -- easing the previous stringent "sovereign immunity" interpretations -- opens the door to action against this sort of thing.