SWAT raid on Missouri Family

[N.Bailey]

ITA. Was what the police did in this situation over the top? Of course, however it's still on the shoulders of the parents who would have drugs around and in the same house as their child. The police, I'm sure made bad judgment calls in this situation, however the parents made bad life choices which resulted in the bad judgment in this situation.

If the parents would've been completely innocent in this, I'd feel VERY VERY different, however they aren't, and yes of course they should be charged with child endangerment...ummmm they're breaking the law and endangering their child because of their very poor choices

They found no drugs. They invaded that man's house based on an anonymous tip without doing any sort of investigation on their own.

I bet if your neighbor were to call and report you as a dealer and they'd break down your front door at 3 AM, kill your pets in front of your children, then have you lying face down on the ground while your children looked on, you'd not be so in favor of the actions committed here.

This was an abuse of power. Nothing more, nothing less.

So, the man may smoke a joint once in awhile. Since they found nothing, I have to assume, there are times when he's not smoking anything, too. Heck, he may have smoked for years and gave it up too. There is NO way of knowing. Cite him for that, WHEN YOU CONDUCT YOUR OWN INVESTIGATION AND CAN PROVE IT, but to invade? I think not! And to invade based on an anonymous tip and nothing more? Absolutely ludicrous and immoral.

I can understand why this dept is getting death threats from all over the world.

 

[CathrynRose]

I need to let my girlfriend, who has a registered gun, a couple large dogs and a teenage son with a snake, she needs to get into drug dealing though. I don't think she has any idea what she is supposed to be doing, since she has the gun, the dogs and the snake!

I only have the dogs. Darnit.

 

[Syrreal]

Article from today's Columbia Missourian-->

SWAT raid prompts police review of policy
Thursday, May 6, 2010 | 1:59 p.m. CDT
BY Matt Pearce

COLUMBIA — The fatal shooting of a dog during a Columbia Police SWAT team raid in February has prompted the department to review its policies, Chief Ken Burton said at a news conference Thursday.

SWAT officers raided the home of Jonathan Whitworth, the dog's owner, eight days after securing the search warrant on suspicion that Whitworth was dealing marijuana, Burton said. The officers encountered a pit bull and a Welsh corgi when they burst through the door of Whitworth's home at 1501 Kinloch Court in southwest Columbia. They fatally shot the pit bull and wounded the corgi. Whitworth's wife and child were also in the home when the police executed the raid, according to a report in the Columbia Tribune.

Whitworth pleaded guilty on April 20 to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and was fined $300.

As Mayor Bob McDavid stood next to him, Burton said that the warrant to search Whitworth's home was "stale" and that he has changed department policy to conduct raids immediately after a search warrant is obtained. Burton said the department moved slowly in Whitworth's case because the SWAT team is made up of part-time members who hold other jobs within the department.

Though an internal department review is ongoing, Burton said the pit bull was acting aggressively. He guardedly defended the actions of the officers involved, whom he declined to name.

"We're getting death threats from literally all over the world," Burton said.

A video of the incident (seen above) had received about 168,000 views on YouTube as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Information contained in the caption of the video has not been verified by the Missourian.

 

[N.Bailey]

What a horrible abuse of power. And a huge waste of taxpayer dollars.

Another example of how dumb our marijuana laws in this country. We're keeping people in prison at the cost of a teachers annual salary, while laying off teachers. That's not even taking into account the court costs. And the more more destructive drug, alcohol, continues to be legal.

No, we're keeping people in prison on marijuana (drug charges), at the cost of letting pedophiles, rapists, and other violent offenders out because we don't have the space or the funds to house them all.

Do you want your taxes to pay to keep someone who smokes pot locked up, or someone who rapes our children? We don't have the cells to keep them all locked up. Hard choices have to be made.

I know many say we can do both and they won't concede. They are part of the problem because we CANNOT do both. When everyone truly understands this, maybe we'll make some progress.

 

[N.Bailey]

I'm pretty sure that's exactly the point that poster is trying to make. That the police assumed all this stuff about the guy being a big time drug dealer when they had no evidence of that.

Thank You. I do apologize, MzDiz. Boy, was I way off or what!

 

[N.Bailey]

I don't think so.

See:





Side note: I need to let my girlfriend, who has a registered gun, a couple large dogs and a teenage son with a snake, she needs to get into drug dealing though. I don't think she has any idea what she is supposed to be doing, since she has the gun, the dogs and the snake!

I only have the dogs. Darnit.

I have a Lab and a gun, does that get me anything?

 

[CathrynRose]

I have a Lab and a gun, does that get me anything?

Maybe not drug dealing... I'm sure there is some sort of hoodlum you could hang out with, though.

 

[Syrreal]

Another article. This one goes into further research brought on by the Calvo case. It's long so I won't post the whole thing, just some excerpts- The link to the whole article is here for whoever wants to read the whole thing-->
http://reason.com/archives/2009/07/13/swat-gone-wild-in-maryland

Prince George's police originally obtained a warrant to search Calvo's home after intercepting a package of marijuana sent to the mayor's address. Calvo and his family were innocent—the package was intended to be picked up by a drug dealer. But instead of first investigating who lived at the residence, or even notifying the Berwyn Heights police chief, the county police department immediately sent in the SWAT team. In addition to having his two dogs killed, Calvo and his mother-in-law were handcuffed for several hours, and questioned at gunpoint.

Within a few weeks of the raid, other victims of botched search warrants in Maryland began contacting Calvo. One couple was raided after their teenage son was found with a small amount of marijuana during a traffic stop. Another elderly couple had their dog shot and killed by Prince George's officers in a mistaken raid. And in Howard County, police broke down a door in front of a 12-year-old girl, battered a man with a police shield, then shot and killed the man's Australian cattle dog. They were looking for someone suspected of stealing a rifle from a police car. The suspect didn't live at the residence.

There were more:

• Eleven days before the raid on Calvo's home, Prince George's police raided the home of a Secret Service agent after receiving a tip that he was distributing steroids. They found no drugs or incriminating evidence.

• In August 2007 police raided the home of a Prince George's County couple to serve an outstanding arrest warrant for their son. The parents were handcuffed at gunpoint. Police later learned that the couple's son had already been in police custody for 12 days.

• In November 2007 Prince George's police raided the wrong home of a couple in Accokeek. Though the couple presented the police with evidence that they were at the wrong address, the police still detained them at gunpoint, refusing even to let them go to the bathroom. The couple asked the police if they could bring their pet boxer in from the backyard. The police refused. Moments later, the police shot and killed the dog.

• In June 2007 police in Annapolis deployed a flash grenade, broke open an apartment door, and kicked a man in the groin during a mistaken drug raid. When they later served the warrant on the correct address, they found no drugs.

Most victims of these mistaken raids experienced the same callousness and indifference from public officials that Calvo did. When police in Montgomery County conducted a mistaken 4 a.m. raid on a Kenyan immigrant and her teenage daughters in 2005, the county offered free movie passes as compensation. When police in Baltimore mistakenly raided the home of 33-year-old Andrew Leonard last May, the city refused to pay for Leonard's door, which was destroyed during the break-in. When Leonard called the city's bulk trash pick-up to come get the door, no one came.

Days later, city code inspectors fined Leonard $50 for storing the broken door in his backyard.Just last month, Baltimore's ABC affiliate reported on another mistaken raid, and noted that city officials generally make no effort to compensate homeowners when police trash their houses in search of contraband that doesn't turn up. "If you're searching for drugs or unlawful firearms, these things are not left out in plain view on the living room table," City Solicitor George Nilson explained. "You often will have to do some damage to the premises and...the police department doesn't and we don't pay for those kinds of damages." Even if the police find nothing, Nilson said, the city has no obligation to pay, because, "it may have been the stuff that you're looking for was there three hours earlier, but somebody got it out of harm's way."

At least none of these raids ended with the loss of human life. In January 2005, police in Baltimore County conducted a 4:50 a.m. raid on the home of Cheryl Lynn and Charles Noel after finding marijuana seeds and cocaine residue in the family's trash. After taking down the front door and deploying a flash grenade, SWAT officers stormed up the steps and broke open the door to the Noels' bedroom. Because their daughter had been murdered several years earlier, the couple kept a gun near the bed. When the police entered the bedroom, 44-year-old Cheryl Lynn Noel stood with the gun, clad in her nightgown. She was shot and killed by an armor-wearing SWAT officer, who fired from behind a ballistics shield. Police found only a misdemeanor amount of illicit drugs in the home. Shortly after the family filed a civil rights lawsuit in 2006, Baltimore County gave the officer who shot Noel an award for "valor, courage, honor, and bravery."

Maryland is hardly unusual. The last 30 years have seen a massive increase in the use of SWAT and paramilitary police tactics. High-profile botched raids like the Calvo incident occur all over the country. They inevitably get reporters digging and activists looking—and generally finding—other victims who were too frightened or embarrassed to come forward earlier. That's usually followed by promises for reform...then a return to business as usual once the attention dies down.

 

[N.Bailey]

Maybe not drug dealing... I'm sure there is some sort of hoodlum you could hang out with, though.

 

[Syrreal]

I have a Lab and a gun, does that get me anything?

Add a snake and you too can be a drug dealing pimp daddy.

 

[bluesaturn]

Another article. This one goes into further research brought on by the Calvo case. It's long so I won't post the whole thing, just some excerpts- The link to the whole article is here for whoever wants to read the whole thing-->
http://reason.com/archives/2009/07/13/swat-gone-wild-in-maryland

I didn't know all those details and they are frightening. And I'm generally very supportive of military, police, etc.

Like I said, the ironic thing is a lot of those areas of Maryland have a very real crime problem. Especially PG county and Baltimore. Perhaps that's why the police are so callous in some cases? But it's frustrating to see the waste of resources that occurs when a situation is not properly researched. Yeah, there are multiple on campus muggings that went unsolved, but at least the police broke up a frat party and arrested that kid smoking pot in his apartment.

Does anyone know how often there a successful raid of a legit drug dealer? Do you think they are trying to hit "easy targets"?

 

[Syrreal]

I'm not sure. A different article I read (I can't find the link now but it was in the Gazeteer, I believe that's the name of the paper, for the city in MD) stated that in the last either quarter or 6 months of 2009 they only made arrests in about 48% of the times where a SWAT team was used and that many of these were for misdemeanors.

I wanted to add that I am not anti police, at all. I think they provide a needed service and I would definitely want them there is anything were to ever happen. I just don't like the idea that they should be held to a different version of the law just because they are the police. They should be held accountable for their misdeed and abuse of power just as I would be held accountable. If I were to storm into a house at any time and yell and point guns at whoever is in the house and point guns at their kids, etc, I would be prosecuted and found guilty of multiple crimes, whether or not I had a "reason" for doing it. Yet, not only are the departments in these cases unapologetic, but they decree that there was no wrongdoing. Who's policing the police?

 

[Planogirl]

I was wondering who filmed this and why the police didn't hush it up. I'm surprised that the video is out there.

Sad all around. Shooting caged animals including a Welsh Corgi? Please!

 

[Syrreal]

It looks like it is a video taken by the swat team itself. Maybe some kind of helmet cam or something. I want to say that it came up during discovery for the trial but am not sure.

 

[Footnotegirl]

The police don't know the level of threat going in. Most drug users have guns, large dogs, and interestingly snakes. Strange. When you fool with drugs, your hanging out with criminals. It's too bad he choose drugs as a way of life. There is a very good chance that this guy is up to no good and got away with it this time.

Wait.. what? Most drug users have guns and large dogs and snakes? What kind of world are you living in? Considering this guy was charged with nothing more than paraphernalia, and was at most accused of being a marijuana dealer, that's just insane. The vast majority of marijuana users are people just like anyone else you'd meet on the street. They're not crazy uber violent gang members.

 

[CathrynRose]

I can't believe all the blog entries about this, today. Good.

Most of them seem to be coming from Pro-Marijuana activists - and frankly, I can't say I blame them.

If this is the lengths the police are going to start going to, for a bowl with some residue, I'm on the Pro-Marijuana folks side.

 

[mkel34]

I'm the last person to defend a pitbull but the thing was in a cage and the other dog that was shot was a corgi, has anyone been scared of a corgi? I hope we see some people lose their jobs over this, obviously the family is going to receive a large sum of cash but I can only imagine the mental damage done to the 7yr old who will never be able to trust the police ever again.

 

[NotUrsula]

Here ya go:

Missouri has some of the harshest marijuana laws in the country. Possession of any amount of marijuana — even as little as a gram — can be punished by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Possession of over 35 grams — about 1.25 ounces — is a felony subject to a seven-year prison sentence and a $5,000 fine. You can read more about the effect of Missouri’s harsh marijuana laws (like the fact that over 91% of marijuana arrests in Missouri are for simple possession) in this 2009 report by Jon Gettman, Ph.D.

http://www.mpp.org/states/missouri/

AND this is Boone County, which prides itself on being the most law-and-order place in the state. Columbia is the home of the University of Missouri, and ever since the 1960's, cops there have had a VERY confrontational attitude about any intimation of drug use. The county is also infamous for speed traps, and getting a ticket in Boone Co. usually nets you about a 50% chance of a vehicle search. They also applied for (and got) a truly enormous Homeland Security grant -- because Columbia, MO is such a likely terrorist target, you know.

Bottom line, doesn't surprise me one bit.

PS: About the dogs, snakes, etc. Yes, in Missouri you do get that as a situation, but it's strongly associated with meth cooks who are fighting over inventory. (Meth labs out in the sticks do tend to be a big problem in the state.) I didn't see where the police had any suspicion that this person was suspected of cooking meth, so expecting that any animals encountered were attack animals seemed pretty far-fetched.

 

[punkin]

This also happened in Maryland. Stormed the house, two dogs murdered. Except the family didn't even have drugs in the house, they got the wrong house.

Wasn't that guy the Mayor of the town? and those yahoos shot two dogs and had the Mayor's MIL facedown on the floor.

 

[agnes!]

Article from today's Columbia Missourian-->

Whitworth pleaded guilty on April 20 to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and was fined $300.

Ok, so let me get this straight...
the accused, the person upon whom the full force of The LAW worthy of a 1st degree felony was brought to bear, pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him, and therefore was found guilty of unlawful use of drug PARAPHERNALIA, not use of drugs, not dealing drugs, not possessing said drugs but instead was found guilty of unlawfully using drug paraphernalia... which is a misdemeanor right? So what constitutes *lawful* use of drug paraphernalia? If you are a child of the '60s and you happen to have an old hookah or bong pipe from those days around is that lawful? Or is it illegal just to possess these items?


punkin -
Yes, and they held the family - Mayor, wife, MIL - for quite a while, would not let the Mayor call his own police department, held him in a semi-clothed state (in his underwear)...I think they even had him restrained/in handcuffs.

agnes!