Reader Matt Widmer writes:

“Besides cracking down on street-level drugs, police said the raids were designed as a means to interview the suspects about recent homicides or shootings.

“This is not just about drugs,” Narcotics Lt. Thomas R. Lyon said. “A lot of drug dealers have knowledge about violent crimes. Either they’ve heard who committed a shooting, or they were part of it, or they have heard rumors about who did the shooting.” ”

What do you think are the chances of Buffalo police getting these alleged dealers to roll on people in homicide cases in exchange for reduced drug charges? The only thing more unreliable than eyewitness testimony is informant testimony in exchange for favor from the DAs. That doesn’t stop convictions, however. I feel very safe knowing that the police are now using SWAT to round up informants and witnesses, and using the pretext of drugs to do it. How long before police use SWAT for everything? I can’t wait for the day when SWAT teams start issuing parking tickets.

I do know of a couple of cases where SWAT teams have arrested someone for outstanding traffic violations, though only after they failed to find any other incriminating evidence.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 21st, 2006 at 6:26 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Police Militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.