The use of SWAT team tactics to execute search warrants, a growing phenomenon decried in this editorial, can lead to tragic results. The death of Kathryn Johnston, an elderly woman who was killed when police forced their way, unannounced, into her home, is one example. This story provides another example. Here’s another:
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[Gilbert, AZ police officers]say they were [at Salvador Celaya’s residence] to execute a search warrant for evidence they assumed to be on the premises. They hoped to find some stolen goods because they thought a truck a crook had used was registered to that address.
The details will take a long time to sort out, but the bottom line is, by the time the cops were done, they had burned the Celayas' house down. The instrument of destruction was a flash-bang diversionary grenade the cops now admit they tossed into the house before they found an armed Salvador Celaya trying to defend his property from intruders. The grenade, which is not supposed to be deployed near anything flammable, landed on a bed.
So long, house.
The details will take a long time to sort out, but the bottom line is, by the time the cops were done, they had burned the Celayas' house down. The instrument of destruction was a flash-bang diversionary grenade the cops now admit they tossed into the house before they found an armed Salvador Celaya trying to defend his property from intruders. The grenade, which is not supposed to be deployed near anything flammable, landed on a bed.
So long, house.
And here's still another:
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On June 28, officers from Fort Worth and other jurisdictions stormed Steven Blackman's house in the 3600 block of Rufus Street after a confidential informant said a suspect in a major drug operation was inside. Officers surrounded the house, slit the tires on Blackman's truck, fired canisters of tear gas inside and broke down the door.
They found an empty house with no sign of drug activity.
What's wrong with knocking on the door and waiting for a response? Police officers who prefer SWAT tactics claim to fear the destruction of evidence if they knock, but the occasional loss of evidence is less significant than the needless loss of life that can occur when the police rely (as they commonly do) on bad information to obtain and execute search warrants.They found an empty house with no sign of drug activity.
Speaking of bad information, here's an update on the circumstances that led to Kathryn Johnson's death:
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The Atlanta cops initially said they were looking for drug dealers on a tip from an informant. Later, the informant said he had lied under pressure from butt-covering police. The entire Atlanta narcotics squad was suspended from duty (with pay) while the FBI and other agencies look into Kathryn Johnston's demise.
Other examples of botched raids are discussed in this post.
A writer from the Arizona Republic has a sensible solution:
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Unless cops are in hot pursuit of a violent offender, the front doors of our humble abodes ought to be inviolable. We shouldn't have to be in fear of overzealous - sometimes even mistaken - cops violently invading our homes.