The Day the SWAT Team Came Crashing Through My Door
What confounds me is the unmitigated refusal of county leaders to challenge law enforcement and to demand better — as if civil rights are somehow rendered secondary by the war on drugs.
Well, today, they are. That should be changed.
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:06 am
I remember this.
They would have to kill me when they killed my dogs!
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
He doesn’t know how fortunate he is. In many jurisdictions they would confiscate his home, his cars, and his bank accounts to ensure he couldn’t put on a defense.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Well, he is the mayor.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Welcome to our world, Mayor Calvo. I assure you that since the statute of limitations has run out, this is already a non-issue in the minds of the police. Next time, they MIGHT hesitate enough to make sure that the victim doesn’t have any media/government resources to fall back on, but that’s about it.
And as knot comments above, ‘civil forfeiture’ laws will take care of that.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I have corresponded with Mr. Calvo several times and have pointed out how so many live in a Wonderland, as he did, until this happened to him. I wish him the best, but I couldn’t help but point out how his prior attitude and that of many many others contributed to the prevalence of this type of behavior by the cops.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I love my dogs and I go back and read “Battle of Jakes” every time I think about how these thugs murdered these poor innocent dogs for no reason.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I read the whole story, but I don’t attribute the loss of civil rights to the War on Drugs as much as I do to the Patriot Act. It appears almost anything goes in the War on Terror and that the Patriot Act opened the door for the government to do almost anything without worrying about the consequences.
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
The PA was a law enforcement wish list. it’s used far more in the war on drugs than terror.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Well, they’ve managed to tie the “War on Drugs” to the “War on Terror” by linking the drug cartels to the terrorists. There is a connection if you think about the opium poppies, but not so much of a connection if you are talking about cocaine.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I really should do a post on this. The incredibly fucked up part about all this is that we here in Ward 9 have two police forces. There’s an elected Sheriff (Michael Jackson) and then there’s a chief of police (Roberto L. Hylton) In theory the elected Jackson guy is the head law enforcement guy for the whole county, but well, I can’t really tell you how it works. I’m pretty sure that Hylton does not report to Jackson, and I’ve heard of squabbles over turf and cash. I was totally surprised by the raid because at one point at least, the Sheriff’s office only served warrants and transported prisoners.
The very best part of an elected sheriff over an appointed chief is that you can vote the bastard out. This being “ward 9” however, I don’t see any viable candidates out there.