Here’s an update on one of the case studies I included in Overkill. Shay Neace and his brother were attending a party when a local SWAT team raided. Police say an undercover officer bought drugs from a resident of the house (not Neace) earlier in the day. They raided that night, despite the fact that there was a party going on inside. Neace and his brother were on the second floor. When they heard the commotion, they took cover in a bathroom. One SWAT officer forced the door open and stuck his gun inside. Neace, who claims he had no idea the commotion was due to a police raid, grabbed the gun. The officer fired twice, paralyzing Neace from the waist down.

A grand jury cleared the officer of all wrongdoing (justly, in my opinion). A jury later acquitted Neace as well (also justly, in my opinion).

Neace has now apparently settled with the local township. Earlier reports indicate the settlement was around $75,000, which I doubt would be enough to cover Neace’s medical expenses.

Incredulously, all law enforcement agencies involved in the raid maintain they did nothing wrong, including sending a SWAT team to raid a home where a party with innocent people was taking place.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at 9:13 am 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.