Sheriff's police apologize for raiding elderly couple's home

[n2doc]

Anna and Andrij Jakymec were terrified when two dozen Cook County sheriff's police broke into their Southwest Side home in a mistaken drug raid, said their son, Andrew. (E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune / October 8, 2010)


by Matthew Walberg, Tribune reporter
9:07 p.m. CDT, October 8, 2010



The Cook County sheriff's police apologized Friday to an elderly couple hours after some two dozen gun-toting officers burst into their Southwest Side home late at night in a mistaken search for drugs and guns.

Anna Jakymec, 84, was just going to bed at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when the heavily armed officers broke through the back and front doors at their modest yellow-brick bungalow a few blocks east of Midway Airport. Her ailing husband, Andrij, 89, had already been in bed for hours.

Their son, Andrew, said they were terrified by what they thought was a home invasion.

The errant raid was a public relations embarrassment for Sheriff Tom Dart, who is mulling a run for mayor of Chicago.

more

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-sheriff-raids-wrong-house-20101008,0,6808957.story

[ixion]

1. End the so-called 'war' on (some) drugs, and stop the madness.

[WhiteTara]

2. since when did the sheriff get police?

do they mean deputies?

[Historic NY]

4. Cook County does have a sheriff's police...it is different like a county police.

http://www.cookcountysheriff.org/sheriffs_police/ccspd_main.html

[Fumesucker]

3. Err.. It *was* a home invasion..

The deputies were most likely wearing black ninja style outfits, they were most certainly brandishing weapons and acting in a threatening manner.

[littlewolf]

5. Have they called lawyers yet... they need to

It WAS a home invasion ....

[ThomCat]

6. If he wasn't running for mayor, would he have apologized?

Call me cynical (I already know I am) but this looks politically self-serving to me.

The real test of that apology is:
Is anything really being done within the police department to shake them up over this? Are the fools who did this losing their jobs or being demoted, or being sent for more training so that this shit can't happen again? Is anyone getting anything more than a token slap on the wrist? Are any policies being changed?

An apology is a rare enough thing that it's a good thing, but it's not enough. An apology doesn't do anything to fix the harm that was done, reprimand the people who did that harm, or prevent it from happening again.