For the war on drugs, burn a baby
So, the police in GA went and got their no knock raid on against a drug dealer. Instead of doing the safer thing and going after the guy while he was, say, on his way to work or to run errands. But those safer tactics don’t justify police budgets for ninja gear. The drug dealer wasn’t there and the flashbang from the drug raiders horribly burned a small child. The sheriff then blames the drug dealer.
June 1st, 2014 at 6:04 pm
Responsibility! Who needs it!
June 1st, 2014 at 7:03 pm
Three cheers for officer safety.
June 1st, 2014 at 7:23 pm
I believe the guy they were looking for wasn’t there, and later picked him up while he was out running errands. But I might be mixing up my “last week’s botched SWAT raids.”
June 1st, 2014 at 7:47 pm
wizardpc: Nope, you’re mostly right – he wasn’t there, and was picked up at a different house on a later date. More here.
June 1st, 2014 at 10:02 pm
I’m of two minds on this, the five-oh are definitely guilty of too much Ninjaification–but if you want your kids safe and healthy, laying off the dope might be a good idea too.
There’s a whole lotta fail going around.
June 1st, 2014 at 11:05 pm
Michael,
Got it, kids of people suspected of trafficking in controlled substances are freebies. Like family dogs?
June 2nd, 2014 at 1:48 am
Baby’s should know better, than to hang out with the criminal element. Same with dogs.
June 2nd, 2014 at 5:13 am
lets hope the threats they received come true,,,maybe then they will take a closer look at no knock warrants ,,,they have too much power and abuse common people,especially when they go to the wrong house.just because he was a drug dealer doesnt mean they can do whatever
June 2nd, 2014 at 9:36 am
@ Michael: Even if you’re right (and you are, but not in any way that would apply to this kind of situation), it doesn’t apply to this specific situation – the suspect wasn’t the child’s father, and there’s no mention of the child’s parents being involved in drugs at all. They were staying with a relative after their house burned down.
This is entirely the cops’ fault. If they had bothered making any effort to find out who was actually in the house before
their home invasionserving the no-knock warrant, this could have been avoided. Also, they might have realized the person they were after wasn’t even there.June 2nd, 2014 at 9:41 am
None of this will go away until qualified immunity becomes a jury-decided fact and not an insurmountable shield to justice.
June 2nd, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Patterico has a post on this, and found this in the comments:
“As a certified user of explosive distraction devices (‘stun grenades’) for more than 20 years, Rule #1 is that you do not deploy a device into a space that you have not personally visually checked for safety! (e.g., you do not just gain access and toss it in, you look for an open space on the floor and deploy it as close to that spot as you can)
I’ve used explosive distraction devices over 100 times in all sorts of high-risk encounters. I’ve NEVER dropped one into a space that I didn’t personally look into first – including using a flashlight to get a quick glimpse – so I know it can be done without exceptionally endangering anyone, ESPECIALLY a suited-up Tac-officer with the element of surprise on their side. The only person I’ve every hurt was myself when I picked-up a deployed device too soon and it was still blistering hot. It didn’t take long for me to realize that was a mistake, but it did take care of that nasty fingerprint problem on my right-hand for a while.
To do anything different is deliberate indifference, arguably approaching criminal misconduct, and there is simply no excuse for dropping a potentially deadly explosive device into a child’s crib!”
http://patterico.com/2014/05/30/swat-teams-stun-grenade-burns-child-leaves-him-in-coma/#comments
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:31 pm
We are being conditioned to live in a police state. The Elite ruling powers never waste an opportunity. Look at what people allowed cops and soldiers to get a way with after the Boston Bombing. Cowards were too weak and ignorant to stand up for themselves against the legal invading tyrants.
http://assaultriflebrotherhood.com/2014/02/13/oath-breakers-gun-takers/
June 4th, 2014 at 11:29 am
“Rule #1 is that you do not deploy a device into a space that you have not personally visually checked for safety! (e.g., you do not just gain access and toss it in . . .”
Unless you’re in a counter-terrorist op, clearing buildings.
I think that the increased number of combat vets hired as police is PART of the problem. Not the root cause; that appears to be corrupt management at upper levels, along with an inculcated attitude that police officers are above the citizens they work for.
Note I am not knocking police in ignorance. I’ve been there admin done that, both the military and the civilian side. Though back then there were real penalties for acting like a criminal.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:42 pm
In a dark, fiery realm somewhere, demons are sharpening their pitchforks, eagerly awaiting the day these bastards are delivered into their talons. And they will deserve it.