I find this comment interesting. Here on the Canadian Internet lately a lot of people gripe and whine about judges here (who aren’t elected) who “let the guilty party” off by actually requiring evidence etc.

Many of these gripers would like to see Judges getting elected so that they “do the will of the people”, something I always found akin to a “civilized lynching”.

Either way, your comment confirms my suspicion that we’re better off not having our Judges elected.

Outstanding, thank you Spencer Pearson and Holly Henry for your addressing the Council tip top. I am proud of you. you are TRUE AMERICAN’s and thank you for all whom could attend the meeting, I attended via Streaming video, and that is documented on the site via usage logs and IP addresses assessing the media. reason I say this is because this is as Spencer and Holly said “the world is watching” yes we are. and that can be proven. I salute you two for speaking for all of us and being professional in your representing us to Columbia MO. council meeting. Again Thank You for making a stand and requesting accountability. Thanks to all whom stood up literally and were a physical representation of this whole nation that is watching and waiting for answers and change.

sincerely Ricci Scott.

Thomas Quintana
Scott Hedrick
Kyle Lucas
Sergeant Roger Schlude, Team Leader/Breacher
Robert Fox, Pry Tool
Lance Bolinger
Micheal Parsons
Parimeter Team
Richard Horrell
Crystal Clements
Cathy Dodd
Shooters
Roger Schlude
Micheal J Cavender
Tomas Quintana
Warrant Obtained by Ron Hall

Here is where to download the police report

http://rapidshare.com/files/388138469/0512_swat_incident_report.pdf

Great point, Frank!

Why is it that “civilian” dogs are fair game for shooting (and it happens a LOT, just Google “cop shoots dog” and sift through over 4 MILLION hits), yet many States have laws on the books that prosecute a “civilian” for Murder of a Public Servant if he/she shoots a police working dog?

“Seems like this particular problem is a legislative one not a judicial one. We really need a law saying SWAT or any forced entry is only allowed for X. As a start holding the state accountable for all damages incurred in the raid (even when the suspect is guilty) also seems reasonable. I wouldn’t be surprised if police captains changed their response if they knew every raid will effect their budget.”

I think this may be the best proposed solution I’ve heard yet.

“Matt D has it right.

The military cares much more about what civilians think than police officers do.”

This may have something to do with the fact that the military fellows get shot at with a whole lot more regularity and the folks doing the shooting are a whole lot less random. So they seem to be better at figuring out who the enemy really is rather than just thinking that everyone out there is the enemy.

However, as unhappy as I am about this kind of thing, I still think we are doing the average cop a disservice. It must really screw them up doing a couple of years of counter-narcotics.

-Bubba Man.

As someone wrote on another blog (I think it was Power and Control blog), police use these “dynaminc” entry tactics in drug cases because getting their hands on the contraband evidence is more important than the safety and well-being of both the officers serving warrants and that of the occupants inside the home.

You’re right that they’ve mostly quit trying to claim “officer safety” except as boilerplate that no one really believes. This also puts the lie to the claim that they want to “get drugs off the streets”, and here’s why: if they set up a cordon and sent one uniformed officer up to knock on the door and announce with a bullhorn that they have a warrant to search for drugs, then repeated every five minutes until someone opens the door, you can bet that house would be 100% drug free by the time they executed the warrant.

And isn’t that the supposed goal?