"The Militarization Of American Police"-The Day the SWAT Team Came Crashing Through My Door

[kpete]

The Day the SWAT Team Came Crashing Through My Door

By Cheye M. Calvo
Berwyn Heights
Sunday, September 20, 2009

I remember thinking, as I kneeled at gunpoint with my hands bound on my living room floor, that there had been a terrible, terrible mistake.

An errant Prince George's County SWAT team had just forced its way into our home, shot dead our two black Labradors, Payton and Chase, and started ransacking our belongings as part of what would become a four-hour ordeal.

The police found nothing, of course, to connect my family and me to a box of drugs that they had been tracking and had delivered to our front door. The community -- of which I am mayor -- rallied to our side. A FedEx driver and accomplice were arrested in a drug trafficking scheme. Ultimately, we were cleared of any wrongdoing, but not before the incident drew international outrage.

This was 14 months ago. We have since filed suit, and I am confident that we will find justice more quickly than most.

more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091701680.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
via:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091701680.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[derby378]

1. The inside of that SWAT team leader's head...

[daedalus_dude]

2. I think if cops come into a house and shoot dogs

they should be treated as if they had come into a house and shot humans. if they cannot prove the invasion was justified, murder charges. would teach them to respect the 4th ammendment.

[provis99]

3. if police dogs are treated as members of the police force,

then I should be able to treat my dogs as members of the family, and defend them as such. frankly, in the South, dogs pretty much are members of the family. Anybody taking a shot at my dog in my house is asking to get their head blown off under the castle doctrine.

[hootinholler]

16. Interesting point. n/t

[leveymg]

4. Isn't that what pepper spray is for?

I can't imagine why they HAD to shoot first and say, "Down boy" later. Not like a dog presents much danger to someone in full body armour.

[Blue_Tires]

5. yeah, anyone who has lived there and got to know them up close

knows that P.G. Police are horribly corrupt, indifferent and inept...there is also a documented history of people 'accidentally' dying in their custody

[jody]

6. Related report “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America”

Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America

Executive Summary

Americans have long maintained that a man's home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing. Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.

These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they're sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers. These raids bring unnecessary violence and provocation to nonviolent drug offenders, many of whom were guilty of only misdemeanors. The raids terrorize innocents when police mistakenly target the wrong residence. And they have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries, not only of drug offenders, but also of police officers, children, bystanders, and innocent suspects.

This paper presents a history and overview of the issue of paramilitary drug raids, provides an extensive catalogue of abuses and mistaken raids, and offers recommendations for reform.

Botched Paramilitary Police Raids: An Interactive Map

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Cato, eh? Libertarians do have their uses after all.

[jody]

8. Truth is truth no matter who reports and publicizes it. n/t

[Gman2]

13. They're missing at least three botched swat raids in San Diego.

[Echo In Light]

9. "We have since filed suit." Good news.

Rec

[Fumesucker]

10. I wonder if the mayor still thinks the drug war is a good idea?

Because as long as the drug war continues so will these mistaken raids.

[TxRider]

11. Yup and now with new and improved no knock warrants!

This the direct result of the war our government declared on it's own citizens... err inanimate objects they call drugs...

Gotta fill those hundreds of Wall street built run for profit prisons.. Chop chop!!

[Gman2]

12. I'm on two swat team house swarms, one swat team holding outside.

Tehy said they heard a crying woman. I was asleep. They said they had a report from neighbor. No warrants. Lies substitute. Tricks, to gain further search. Scams, lies, corruption. This last episode, following on getting the AG to ream a crooked Judge/cop team. You have NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fourth amendment right to privacy. Only some protection against illegal prosecution, maybe. Had I gotten uppity with any swat, I am not sure they woulnt plant a throwdown, and kill me. Mo, I'm not black.

[ensho]

14. YES they have become militarized. and they love the tazer.

and none of it is necessary.

if you watch the cop reality shows you can see how violent/bully people are drawn to being a cop.

they are constantly saying on those shows, how much they like and get a charge out of chasing down and arresting people.

the ones on drug patrol really like violently busting people. get all charged up and do high fives, etc.

seems like the only sane and nice cops are the ones that work homicides. and the traffic cops. these two departments seem to have the decent people.

[TexasObserver]

15. Recommend