This week, Virginia’s House of Delegates indefinitely tabled a bill that would have broadened the circumstances under which a homeowner can use lethal force to defend himself.  Even though the bill is done, it’s sponsor still felt the need to clarify, in light of recent events:

Del. W.R. “Bill” Janis, R-Henrico, said his HB710 would apply to homeowners and renters who defend themselves against a person who unlawfully enters a residence.

It would not apply in the case of Ryan Frederick, the man who shot and killed Chesapeake detective Jarrod Shivers on Jan. 17 as Shivers tried to execute a drug search warrant and enter Frederick’s home, said Janis, because the police attempted to enter lawfully.

Good to know that Del. Janis knows all the particulars of this case to make such a definitive statement.  I guess he’s aware of the identity of the informant.  And he knows why the police broke into Frederick’s home, even though the alleged grow operation was in the garage.  And he knows exactly why said grow operation was never found.  He also knows for certain that the police gave the appropriate warning, and waited an appropriate amount time before entering.

I support generous home defense bills.  But their sponsors need to understand that unless they also reign in the use of forcible home entry to serve drug warrants, these bills are going to lead to more dead cops and more dead citizens.

When we were in Mississippi last December, Melissa Longino (the mother of T’Corianna, or Cory Maye’s would-have-been mother-in-law) said something I thought was pretty powerful.  She said…

“When someone busts in on you and your kids, it ain’t no five-minute world no more.  It’s a ‘now’ world.”

One thing I’ve learned from covering these tragedies:  If Ryan Frederick had held his fire and waited to see if the men breaking into his home were cops or criminals, he’d most likely be dead today.  And we wouldn’t be talking about trials or what set of charges are appropriate.  We’d be talking about the commendation given to the cop that killed him

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 5:06 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Police Militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.