Comments on: Two More Isolated Incidents

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:04:17 +0000

“Reform” will not stop this. “Working within the system” will not stop this. “Internal Afffairse” disciplinary action will not stop this. Lawsuits will not stop this.

The only thing that will stop this is if 50% or more of the raiding cops don’t go home (or even to the hospital) after one of these gestapo show raids. Then you file a restraining order to prevent the hero’s funeral on the basis that the cops died in the commission of multiple felonies.

This country needs peace officers, not death squads. If you want to go kill something, either get a hunting license, or join the Marines and go play in Iraq, we don’t need your kind carrying badges here in the USA.

“If cops continue to play at being an army of occupation, they should expect the subjects to play their role in return. Vive la resistance.” – J. D. Tuccille

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:55:37 +0000

I recently visited a law enforcement online forum. It shouldn’t be surprising that many of the officers I chatted with firmly believe that since illicit drugs are supposedly “destructive” to society officers who engage in raids are doing the right thing. In other words, they are embracing a classic “the ends justify the means” philosophical position. The common perception was that if illicit drugs were legalized more individuals would end up using them. The end result (according to their mistaken beliefs)would be more drug related violence in society. When I attempted to explain to them that the violence is clearly a result of the illegal drug trade market (created by our system of horrible laws), very few were interested in further discussing the issue. They were all about imposing their world view on the citizens of this country. When stories would appear on the forum about officers raiding homes and recovering illicit substances, the most common type of response was: “Way to go officer! Good arrest.” It stems from a belief that because the officer took a certain amount of drugs off the street the world was a little better as a result. There was a complete lack of willingness to look at the big picture. Some officers are open to further examining this issue. But most are unfortunately not.

By: Michael Chaney

Michael Chaney — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:53:30 +0000

Okay, seems like part of the continuum to me. I posted this story in the comments during your hiatus, so was familiar with it. I’m amazed that their door apparently didn’t get fixed, I mean, just the simple ethical stuff that anybody with a conscience would do.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:16:12 +0000

“Michael Chaney –

They then raided the “correct” apartment, and didn’t find anything there, either.”

/sarcasm on.

That makes sense… Why raid the correct apartment first? You have to stop right away, then! It’s like looking for your keys… as long as you haven’t found them you can keep tearing the house apart.

But if you raid all the apartments AROUND the one you have a warrant for FIRST, you have a substantially greater chance of finding random contraband or getting to kill someone. It’s just good police tactics!

/sarcasm off.

I mean, it’s not like any actual police work went into selecting the apartment they DID have a warrant for. I’m starting to think they just pull addresses out of a drum.

By: Radley Balko

Radley Balko — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:52:31 +0000

Michael Chaney –

They then raided the “correct” apartment, and didn’t find anything there, either.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:19:54 +0000

So, these guys do 1100 raids like this a year? It must be tough to keep the quota up. “Come on, guys! Get more warrants! We have to justify our SWAT gear!”

We need to start targeting the incompetent detectives and Judges that request and issue these warrants.

We also need MUCH more transparancy. When some ‘police spokesman’ comes out and says “We did 1100 raids last year!” We need to counter with “Then why the horrible results? Only X arrests and only Y of the raids yielded enough drugs for a trafficking violation. Are these well investigated raids or FISHING EXPEDITIONS?”

As an aside… Have you noticed that whenever a “Police Spokesman” comes out they just say whatever stupid crap they want? There is no effort to be factual or honest, just to say whatever sounds good to cover the department’s ass.

By: Michael Chaney

Michael Chaney — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:14:34 +0000

Radley, the headline says two stories, did I miss something?

By: J.E. Andreasen

J.E. Andreasen — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:02:05 +0000

We have all watched this grow. Every “work within the system” effort to stop this outrage has been laughed/shrugged off. Regardless the personal tragedy involved, we all know that the only thing that will stop them is violence in response. Only when the average SWAT cop knows that HE is at substantial physical risk, will HE refuse to prop up this vicious beast. All the pin-striped suits in the world cannot make a tyranny without dutiful drones.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:06:57 +0000

proceeded to strike her epileptic husband in the head with the butt end of a shotgun

Is it just me, or do 90% of these stories seem contain some element like this? It’s just weird. Does anyone know what I’m talking about, or am I imagining this?

By: Windypundit

Windypundit — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:25:58 +0000

At least they didn’t kill her dog.

Which tells me she doesn’t have a dog.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:00:37 +0000

The cops are correct in thinking that they can do what they want, especially to poor people. Nobody is going to do anything about that wrong door raid besides kvetch online.

The DA is not going to prosecute the cops for the raid, the cops will not be disciplined, a no judge will allow a civil suit to proceed. With civil forfeiture, the cops have become legalized bandits, protected by the judges and the law and really answerable to nobody.

Your only defense is not to be targeted by them. It is important not to appear to be someone they can abuse with impunity, which means avoid appearing impoverished, and avoid living in poor neighborhoods if at all possible. It is also best not to be a minority, of course.

“All are equal before the majesty of the law. Rich as well as poor are prohibited from stealing bread, begging for change, and sleeping under bridges.” –Voltaire

By: Coffee!

Coffee! — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:50:55 +0000

And if a doctor cuts off the wrong leg, takes out the wrong kidney or a nurse injects the wrong drug? Hey, no big! Mistakes happen. Doctors do thousands of procedures a year (for totals reaching into the hundreds-of-thousands per year per hospital) so what is all the fuss about one little procedure being done incorrectly out of millions that are done correctly? What is one tiny incorrect drug or dose given out of the tens-of-millions of doses nurses correctly give out per year? Heck, if using their numbers, 1 botched raid out of 1100 (less than 0.1%) is such a small, trifling little thing then people certainly shouldn’t be suing doctors, nurses or hospitals for malpractice when their numbers are statistically much less likely to happen

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:09:50 +0000

I work as a licensed social worker. If I were to strike a client or verbally abuse him or her, I would be fired and most likely lose my license to practice …..as should happen.

But why do police officers often receive little or no punishment when they participate in criminal acts?
Are they our modern day crusaders who fight for a holy cause – and receive morality passes for their journey (which never seems to end)?

I hear a lot of pro law enforcement types describe themselves as being the “wolf dogs” of society. A wolf dog traditionally protects the sheep from the terrible wolves of the world. Furthermore, according to this analogy, citizens who are philosophically anti war are the poor, defenseless (even more so nowadays with the expansion of gun ownership regulations) sheep. The problem is that I am having difficulty telling the difference between the sheep dogs and the wolves. It often seems that the sheep dogs are actually the real wolves of our world.
Radley, thanks for your great site. It is the first blog I read everyday.
Peace…

By: claude

claude — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:40:48 +0000

“She says officers told her they had “raided the house before” and she believes they felt entitled to do it again — warrant or not.”

They probably all start to look a like after a while, huh?

By: The_Chef

The_Chef — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:34:36 +0000

Awwww no HTML image coding. :(

Link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/AnonymousOne/billofrightstornup.jpg

By: The_Chef

The_Chef — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:33:54 +0000

By: Nick T

Nick T — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:52:39 +0000

Asking police to learn from a violent raid that didn’t turn up much in terms of drugs or criminals is like asking a crack head to learn from how bad it feels to come down.

This is an addicition for police at this point. Rational decisions and self-analysis have no chance here.

By: great unknown

great unknown — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:48:33 +0000

Sure they learned a lot from that experience. They learned that it’s fun; that they could get away with it; and that there’s not a damn thing they will lose thereby.

By: Jonathan Hohensee

Jonathan Hohensee — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:44:45 +0000

Thanks to you, Balko, when I moved into my new house earlier this year I was terrified that cops where going to bust through my door looking for the imaginary drug dealer who may/may not have been the old tenants of my apartment.

Luckily, I don’t think I would had got shot at defending myself with my self-defense golf club.