Another One (two days in a row)
A 61-year-old man was shot to death by police while his wife was handcuffed in another room during a drug raid on the wrong house.
The police state they identified themselves and knocked (pounding was the description given by the new widow) before entering. But the man thought it was a home invasion. Another victim to no knock (or partial knock) warrants.
“We did the best surveillance we could do, and a mistake was made,” Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks said. “It’s a very severe mistake, a costly mistake. It makes us look at our own policies and procedures to make sure this never occurs again.” He said, however, the two policemen were not at fault.
Not at fault? I think that is utter crap. There was a time in this country when serving a warrant required knocking on your door and waiting for you to answer (or, if you failed to answer, announce the entry). But thanks to the war on drugs, courts have ruled that because you can flush your weed down the toilet, judges can issue no-knock warrants.
Update: Neither myself nor Les noticed this article was dated 2000.
September 18th, 2003 at 10:32 am
Apparently “We did the best surveillance we could do” means they did not bother checking to see if the occupants were doing anything illegal.
September 18th, 2003 at 1:04 pm
Uncle: a little mea culpa on my part: I realized this morning that the story is from 2000. Not sure where I ran across it.
One thing that bugs me about this raid, and the other one I posted, is this: why break down the door? Did they even make an attempt to apprehend the guy as he get in or out of his car? That would have been less dangerous to the suspect and the police both.
September 18th, 2003 at 1:07 pm
Wow! 2000, i gotta start reading dates. I tend to think some police become a bit overzealous and impatient.
September 18th, 2003 at 11:06 pm
tell ya what, someone dumb enough to bust down my door without a knock or announcement that they are law enforcement attempting to gain entry is gonna get a whole lotta whupass, mossberg style.