TheAgitator.com
On Announcement
Monday, December 12th, 2005Here’s a pretty straightforward question:
If the narcotics task force that raided Maye’s home really did set out to knock, announce themselves, then give Maye a reasonable time to answer the door, why would they serve the warrant at 11:30 at night?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to serve the warrant at 7 or 8, when Maye would be less likely to be sleeping, and more likely to hear the police announce themselves, come to the door, and answer? Isn’t a late-night raid more likely to inspire fear and apprehension?
Unfortunately, this is a pretty common practice, particularly in jurisdictions where no-knock raids have been outlawed or severely restricted. Police get around it by conducting “knock-and-announce” raids at hours when a normal person would be least likely to hear the announcement.
In 1999, for example, cops in El Monte, California raided the home of 64-year-old Mario Paz. Paz thought he was being invaded, and reached for a gun to defend himself (actually, police first say Paz was holding a gun, then they said he was reaching for a gun, then they said he was reaching for a drawer where a gun was stored). Police shot Paz twice in the back, killing him. They found no drugs in Paz’s home.
I bring up the Paz case because of what El Monte assistant police cheif Bill Ankeny told the L.A. Times after the shooting:
“We do bang on the door and make an announcement–’It’s the police’–but it kind of runs together. If you’re sitting on the couch, it would be difficult to get to the door before they knock it down.”
And if you’re sleeping, you probably wouldn’t hear the announcement at all.
An announcement just as you’re opening the door, or after you’ve already opened, is akin to no announcement at all, particularly if it’s done at odd hours.
(Thanks to Joel Miller, who documents the Paz case in his book Bad Trip: How the War Against Drugs Is Destroying America.)
