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Garion_55

(1,914 posts)
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:01 AM Jun 2014

A SWAT Team Blew a Hole in My 2-Year-Old Son (UPDATE...)

Last edited Thu Jun 26, 2014, 08:51 AM - Edit history (2)


Update: As of the afternoon of 6/24/2014, Baby Bou Bou has been taken out of the medically induced coma and transferred to a new hospital to begin rehabilitation. The hole in his chest has yet to heal, and doctors are still not able to fully assess lasting brain damage.






http://www.alternet.org/swat-team-blew-hole-my-2-year-old-son


'After the SWAT team broke down the door, they threw a flashbang grenade inside. It landed in my son’s crib.

Flashbang grenades were created for soldiers to use during battle. When they explode, the noise is so loud and the flash is so bright that anyone close by is temporarily blinded and deafened. It’s been three weeks since the flashbang exploded next to my sleeping baby, and he’s still covered in burns.

There’s still a hole in his chest that exposes his ribs. At least that’s what I’ve been told; I’m afraid to look.

My husband’s nephew, the one they were looking for, wasn’t there. He doesn’t even live in that house. After breaking down the door, throwing my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children, the officers – armed with M16s – filed through the house like they were playing war. They searched for drugs and never found any.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2643344/Horror-SWAT-team-throw-stun-grenade-toddlers-CRIB-drugs-raid-leaving-coma-severe-burns.html
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A SWAT Team Blew a Hole in My 2-Year-Old Son (UPDATE...) (Original Post) Garion_55 Jun 2014 OP
OMG. No Words. Just OMG. 2banon Jun 2014 #1
It was all over DU at the time riderinthestorm Jun 2014 #3
Oh, looking at the date, I was away, missed it. thanks. 2banon Jun 2014 #46
nephew must have been Niceguy1 Jun 2014 #2
They did swat raid harmless users...just read the article. Rex Jun 2014 #4
Seems to me that they swat raided harmless non-users, They_Live Jun 2014 #11
It wasn't the cousin's house...why can't cops do a simple recon mission first? Rex Jun 2014 #12
apparently Niceguy1 Jun 2014 #18
Why not do some simple recon to see if that was his place or if he was just a transient? Rex Jun 2014 #20
The presence of a flushable toilet effectively nullifies the 4th amendment. arcane1 Jun 2014 #37
Didn't think about that one, but yes you are so right. Rex Jun 2014 #45
Or so they say... 1monster Jun 2014 #40
90 year old granny Steviehh Jun 2014 #23
Yes. "Tragic accidents" that happen over, and over, and over, and over, and over... [n/t] Maedhros Jun 2014 #82
apparently, onethatcares Jun 2014 #5
sort of but not really Garion_55 Jun 2014 #7
police createdumbass 'stings' then home invasion.Why not a 2nd 'sting' & grab the drug seller then? Sunlei Jun 2014 #19
yessss! bbgrunt Jun 2014 #24
This is also why we'll have 'ticket season' on certain highways at regular intervals... navarth Jun 2014 #35
They didn't really need to do any surveillence to know that kids lived there A Little Weird Jun 2014 #36
Fucking assholes hueymahl Jun 2014 #51
They relied pecwae Jun 2014 #83
a news article would be nice Niceguy1 Jun 2014 #8
No, we have plenty of information jeff47 Jun 2014 #25
I don't care if an entire meth lab was in the apartment. Maedhros Jun 2014 #81
he was but he didnt live at that address Garion_55 Jun 2014 #9
LOLWUT? MynameisBlarney Jun 2014 #28
FFS malaise Jun 2014 #29
They do this all the time all over the country. iscooterliberally Jun 2014 #38
Excellent post. CrispyQ Jun 2014 #43
One of the stories happened less than a mile from my former home. iscooterliberally Jun 2014 #44
They swat raid to execute bench warrants on unpaid traffic tickets TransitJohn Jun 2014 #47
in this case he sold drugs to a uc cop Niceguy1 Jun 2014 #49
Oh okay, blow up babies then TransitJohn Jun 2014 #57
no Niceguy1 Jun 2014 #59
The point is that the response was completely disproportionate, for an apparently small-time dealer. nomorenomore08 Jun 2014 #60
That's the part I don't get. The guy was a non-violent, small time dealer. bluesbassman Jun 2014 #63
Exactly! ctsnowman Jun 2014 #69
Well, the force has got all this paramilitary, boner-causing SWAT equipment, right? Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #87
We are a nation full of idiots who think "Death Wish" was a documentary series. nomorenomore08 Jun 2014 #88
There's not 2 sides, there's the truth TransitJohn Jun 2014 #71
Yes, the nephew pecwae Jun 2014 #84
And yet they were able to approach him without a swat team to do an undercover buy, right? Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #89
The nephew had sold $50 worth of drugs. There were tblue37 Jun 2014 #52
I soda-spewed on: "they dont swat raid harmless users" Pholus Jun 2014 #55
Right. Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #58
Is this a real ad? Brigid Jun 2014 #67
Yep. Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #73
Absolutely horrible. democrank Jun 2014 #6
How freaking horrible! Don't these people have any recourse to sue the arthritisR_US Jun 2014 #10
This kind of swat actions, use of home-invasions, Flashbang/shock use has got to stop in America. Sunlei Jun 2014 #13
I agree with the first part quakerboy Jun 2014 #61
Thugs with badges. blackspade Jun 2014 #14
fuck tha police frylock Jun 2014 #15
The boy's condition is still being covered RebelOne Jun 2014 #16
i heard the cops got death threats. called baby killers Garion_55 Jun 2014 #17
The coppers in question ARE baby killers. Dawson Leery Jun 2014 #26
Normally I would be horrified to think of anyone being subjected to such tblue37 Jun 2014 #53
"US police departments are increasingly militarised, finds report" deurbano Jun 2014 #21
Fuck all narcs theaocp Jun 2014 #22
Why don't they just knock on the door or yell "Come out with your hands up!"? Comrade Grumpy Jun 2014 #27
The SWATgasm is much more satisfying. SwankyXomb Jun 2014 #30
War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing (ACLU) A Little Weird Jun 2014 #33
When they do that ManiacJoe Jun 2014 #75
A swat raid wasn't needed to apprehend the suspect A Little Weird Jun 2014 #31
crazy right? how many other peoples lives could have been saved Garion_55 Jun 2014 #41
And another... Police Shoot 95-Year-Old WWII Vet to Death for Refusing to Go to Hospital SaveOurDemocracy Jun 2014 #32
We need to get the assholes at the top. davidthegnome Jun 2014 #34
Brainless cops lexx21 Jun 2014 #39
Kick, kick, kick. CrispyQ Jun 2014 #42
FIRED?!?!? A HERETIC I AM Jun 2014 #56
We can't expect to train an abusive international police force...... DeSwiss Jun 2014 #48
I understand why someone would set up a fund... BobTheSubgenius Jun 2014 #50
Did some investingating- kim06 Jun 2014 #90
Disgusting. nt ecstatic Jun 2014 #54
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #62
I hope the locals are knocking down the doors of politicians around there, struggle4progress Jun 2014 #64
A few protests locally pecwae Jun 2014 #85
This grieves me so... ReRe Jun 2014 #65
they blew a hole in him to where they could see his ribs Garion_55 Jun 2014 #66
Police State ReRe Jun 2014 #72
Murderous Thugs Blew a Hole in My 2-Year-Old Son PowerToThePeople Jun 2014 #68
Stop ctsnowman Jun 2014 #70
I find it interesting that the orginal story from last month ManiacJoe Jun 2014 #74
Probably because the long-term damage to the poor little guy wasn't as apparent yet. Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #77
In the first few pecwae Jun 2014 #86
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #76
Why don't the cops... Takket Jun 2014 #78
yes you are..... Garion_55 Jun 2014 #79
so, give them a warrant to search the home after the arrest. what is the big deal? Takket Jun 2014 #80
 

2banon

(7,321 posts)
1. OMG. No Words. Just OMG.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:14 AM
Jun 2014

The article doesn't mention when this happened, but I have not heard this reported on PBS or NPR. Has anyone else? Maybe I missed it. But this is beyond... BEYOND outrageous.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
4. They did swat raid harmless users...just read the article.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:26 AM
Jun 2014

Cops have to just fess up when they are wrong and stop pretending they never make mistakes.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
12. It wasn't the cousin's house...why can't cops do a simple recon mission first?
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:39 AM
Jun 2014

I guess it is too much to ask them to please try not to kill innocent civilians while guessing on which house to nuke.

Niceguy1

(2,467 posts)
18. apparently
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:55 AM
Jun 2014

The nephew sold undercover police meth from the door next to the crib....the door they entered on the raid.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
20. Why not do some simple recon to see if that was his place or if he was just a transient?
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:58 AM
Jun 2014

A babies life would make it worth the knowledge and I know they have the ability. IMO, just more insanity in this War on Drugs.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
45. Didn't think about that one, but yes you are so right.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 04:15 PM
Jun 2014

Can flush away the evidence...bye bye 4th.

1monster

(11,012 posts)
40. Or so they say...
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 02:14 PM
Jun 2014

The credibility of LEO ain't what it used to be...

I just read about a settlement in a lawsuit against the police the other day, where a woman heard the commotion of a SWAT (not knowing it was the police) breaking into the duplex below hers. Terrified when she heard these people running up the outside stairs to her unit and breaking in, she hid in the closet and was subsequently shot. The bullet ented into her shoulder, chest and thigh.

The police report said both that the woman was holding the closet door shut which caused the LEO to fall and his gun went off and that she jumped out of the closet startling the officer who then fired... The SAME police report.

This was another no-knock warrant and it was for the lower duplex, not the upper one...

Steviehh

(115 posts)
23. 90 year old granny
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:19 PM
Jun 2014

pulled a pistol when they broke down her door by mistake. Tragic accident, like this one. Google it

onethatcares

(16,119 posts)
5. apparently,
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:27 AM
Jun 2014

they got the wrong address, things like that happen in the heat of battle and all that ya know. Hell, maybe their GPS was reading the wrong satellites.

the militarisation of the police began the same time the war on drugs was declared. There was one sheriff in Montana that was amazed and confounded that someone ordered 40 silencers for his police squad of 8. Why do the police need silencers? Why do they need MRAPS and tanks?

Garion_55

(1,914 posts)
7. sort of but not really
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:32 AM
Jun 2014

it was the right house in the sense that a nephew who doesnt live there did conduct a drug sell earlier in the day. a 50 dollar meth buy to an undercover.

the nephew then left the house and went home. SWAT came back a few hours later thinking he lived there and didnt do any kind of surveilience to see that there were kids living there. 2 screw ups. suspect didnt live there, kids did.

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
19. police createdumbass 'stings' then home invasion.Why not a 2nd 'sting' & grab the drug seller then?
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:57 AM
Jun 2014

Last edited Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:59 PM - Edit history (1)

police main focus is to seize a huge pile of cash (the police get to keep all the cash) probably plenty of crooked cops steal a lot of this kind of cash.

The current police focus on the CASH-GRAB ONLY. The police search for CASH & LOOT- effects & disrupts our society & innocent persons in a major way.

There should be New Federal Law where local police or Federal police are no longer able to keep any cash/assets they seize in drug busts/loot from 'drug searches'.

That cash, the assets should go to a national pool (never local or state)

navarth

(5,927 posts)
35. This is also why we'll have 'ticket season' on certain highways at regular intervals...
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:33 PM
Jun 2014

...because nobody wants to pay any taxes, the cops have to become, in effect, road agents.

And now they probably need the money they take from these busts. The good ones don't like doing it, the bad ones are.....the bad ones.

A Little Weird

(1,754 posts)
36. They didn't really need to do any surveillence to know that kids lived there
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:45 PM
Jun 2014
The Phonesavanhs’ lawyer, Mawuli Davis, said the Swat team should have known that young children were present in the room they were raiding as there were clear tell-tale signs: a playpen outside the door and a van parked outside with four child seats in it. “We have to address the way that police in this country are armed as if they are invading a foreign land,” Mawuli said. “It’s disturbing, and innocent people are hurting.”

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jun/24/military-us-police-swat-teams-raids-aclu



And the whole swat raid was unnecessary (as they usually are) -

A few hours after the raid took place, police located the suspect they had been seeking at a different house in the neighbourhood. The officers knocked on the door, the suspect opened it, and agreed peacefully to come in for questioning.
(from the same link).


hueymahl

(2,403 posts)
51. Fucking assholes
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 12:01 AM
Jun 2014

Far too many power hungry nutjobs in the police. And the war on drugs has made it ten time worse.

It is racist, but also a rich vs. poor thing going on. LOTS of drugs in rich neighborhoods, but they don't stand for this third-world kind of policing there.

pecwae

(8,021 posts)
83. They relied
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:56 PM
Jun 2014

upon a CI for information about who did or did not live there; pets, children. The CI may have had issues with the family, told the police a lie, the police believed it. Shoddy police work with tragic results. The magistrate who signed the warrant after midnight just resigned from office after decades and was just re-certified 3 months ago. The sheriff needs to follow. FUBAR to the nth degree.

Niceguy1

(2,467 posts)
8. a news article would be nice
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:33 AM
Jun 2014

It wasnt a wrong address. ..it was the nephews parent house. Honestly, we dont have enough information on this story.....just like the kfc from yesterday.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
25. No, we have plenty of information
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:26 PM
Jun 2014

News story at the time:
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/toddler-critically-burned-during-swat-raid/nf9SJ/

The police failed to do any reconnaissance before their raid. Thus they threw a grenade into a baby's crib.

In their attempt to capture a suspect that had no known weapon, nor any known propensity towards violence.

 

Maedhros

(10,007 posts)
81. I don't care if an entire meth lab was in the apartment.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:49 PM
Jun 2014

KILLING INFANT CHILDREN IS NOT ACCEPTABLE, even if the police do it.

It's basic humanity. Sad that so many Americans seem to lack it.

Garion_55

(1,914 posts)
9. he was but he didnt live at that address
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:34 AM
Jun 2014

he was only visiting the house when he made his drug sell. after the sell he went home. SWAT didnt even know that he lived somewhere else.

iscooterliberally

(2,847 posts)
38. They do this all the time all over the country.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:49 PM
Jun 2014

They never do their homework, or have any clue as to who is actually on the other side of the door. Sometimes they don't even have the address or description of the property right. They beat the crap out of people. They raid cars that happen to be parked nearby and aren't even covered under the warrant. They steal cash and valuables and then don't report it, or enter it into evidence. Drug cops are just thugs with badges. They kill, lie, cheat and steal with impunity. What needs to happen in this country is the complete and total repeal of the controlled substances act. The DEA needs to be done away with, and all this madness needs to stop. Sure, some drugs are bad, but after over 4 decades the 'solution' is far far worse than the problem ever was. Fuck the drug prohibitionists. They should all be voted out of office. They wanted to get tough on crime, but all they got was really really stupid on crime. Now the so called land of the free has more people in prison than any other nation. I guess we'll have to add this poor baby to the list:

http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/drug-war-victim/

CrispyQ

(36,112 posts)
43. Excellent post.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 02:56 PM
Jun 2014

Poor baby is fighting for his life over a 50 dollar meth buy.

That site is a national shame. The stories are horrific.

Rudolfo “Rudy” Cardenas
43 years old
San Jose, California
February, 2004

Rudy was a father of five who was passing by a house targeted by narcotics officers attempting to serve a parole violation warrant and the police mistakenly thought he was the one they were there to arrest. They chased Cardenas, and he fled, apparently afraid of them (they were not uniformed). Cardenas was shot multiple times in the back.

Dorothy Duckett, 78, told the Mercury News she looked out her fifth-floor window after hearing one gunshot and saw Cardenas pleading for his life. “I watched him running with his hands in the air. He kept saying, ‘Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot,’” Duckett said. “He had absolutely nothing in his hands.”



Shirley Dorsey
56 years old
Placerville, California
April, 1991

Rather than being compelled to testify against her 70-year-old boyfriend (Byron Stamate) for cultivating the medicinal cannabis she depended upon to help control her crippling back pain, Shirley Dorsey committed suicide. She saw it as the only way to prevent the forfeiture of their home and property. Despite her suicide, Stamate was sentenced to 9 months prison, and his home, cottage, and $177,000 life savings were seized.

iscooterliberally

(2,847 posts)
44. One of the stories happened less than a mile from my former home.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 03:40 PM
Jun 2014
Anthony Andrew Diotaiuto
23 years old
Sunrise, Florida
August, 2005
Anthony worked two jobs to help pay for the house he lived in with his mother. He had permit for a concealed weapon because of the areas he traveled through for his night job. Sunrise police claimed that he had sold some marijuana, and because they knew he had a legal gun, decided to use SWAT. Neighbors claim that the police did not identify themselves. Police first claimed that Anthony pointed his gun at them, and later changed their story. Regardless, Anthony was dead with 10 bullets in him, and the police found 2 ounces of marijuana.


The cops who killed this kid got away with murder and they are still on the force, or at least they were in 2010 when they beat the crap out of my then 15 year old son. They prey on young people in that area. They also entice and entrap desperate people from all over the country. The controlled substances act has nullified our 4th amendment rights in so many ways. I have written all my congress people telling them to repeal this terrible law and restore our rights. We are truly occupied by our own law enforcement at this time.

TransitJohn

(6,932 posts)
57. Oh okay, blow up babies then
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 12:41 AM
Jun 2014

Jesus fucking christ the fellating of authority around here is abhorrent.

Niceguy1

(2,467 posts)
59. no
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:10 AM
Jun 2014

There are two sides to the story and the person who wrote the linked article left out some very inconvenient facts out.... like the nephews dealing from that door. I dont think that am one denies that the raid went unintentionally wrong. However the family member did deal drugs there to the cops from that very door.

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)
60. The point is that the response was completely disproportionate, for an apparently small-time dealer.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:54 AM
Jun 2014

You'd think the guy was freaking Pablo Escobar, the way they approached this.

bluesbassman

(19,274 posts)
63. That's the part I don't get. The guy was a non-violent, small time dealer.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 04:50 AM
Jun 2014

Yes meth is an absolutely horrible drug, but they had an undercover cop make a buy so they had a line on this guy. What in the hell made this bust warrant SWAT involvement? It just doesn't make any sense at all. This is the definition of excessive force.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
87. Well, the force has got all this paramilitary, boner-causing SWAT equipment, right?
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 04:30 PM
Jun 2014

Are they supposed to just look at it.... and drool?

I mean, it could be sitting in the weapons room gathering dust for years until Pablo Escobar actually shows up in the county.

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)
88. We are a nation full of idiots who think "Death Wish" was a documentary series.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 06:22 PM
Jun 2014

Terrible (and terrifying) as it is, in some ways we get the police force we deserve.

TransitJohn

(6,932 posts)
71. There's not 2 sides, there's the truth
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 09:40 AM
Jun 2014

The cops blew up a baby for a dime bag. Just admit that you're an authoritarian.

pecwae

(8,021 posts)
84. Yes, the nephew
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:59 PM
Jun 2014

dealt drugs from that door earlier, but the police relied upon a CI to get the 'all clear' to use flashbang. Dealing drugs does not equal an innocent with a hole in his chest...period.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
89. And yet they were able to approach him without a swat team to do an undercover buy, right?
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:00 PM
Jun 2014

But they couldn't arrest him in the same fashion?

tblue37

(64,860 posts)
52. The nephew had sold $50 worth of drugs. There were
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 12:05 AM
Jun 2014

kids' toys in the years. The cops knew there were kids in the house. Yeah--little kids were there, but the target of the raid was not, because he did not live there ay more.

But these hopped up adrenaline (and possibly steroid) addicted cops can't take the time to check out even the most obvious things. They want their chance at that macho, chest-thumping thrill.

Pholus

(4,062 posts)
55. I soda-spewed on: "they dont swat raid harmless users"
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 12:29 AM
Jun 2014

They turn their paramilitaries loose on whoever they want, often times without even the slightest idea of what they are doing or who they are raiding.

Fortunately, they are stupid and occasionally raid the wrong person (like this mayor). That's how we know about them, because they are otherwise damned good at covering up their mistakes when they involve mere mortals.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302935.html?sid=ST2009013002471

The part I like best was how his own PD decided they had better not leave the victim alone with the SWAT dolts

The scene at the house was so terrible and odd to Berwyn Heights officer Johnson that he planted himself in the living room. He couldn't see a search warrant posted anywhere. The mayor looked so vulnerable that Johnson wanted to make sure nothing even worse happened to him, such as getting shot. "Not that I didn't trust the police," Johnson would later say. "But I wanted to personally witness what is going to happen to my mayor, so if they try to say this guy went for a gun -- and he didn't -- it's not going to happen on my watch."


That last sentence parses out pretty nicely. Officer Johnson "trusts the police" but just wanted to make sure the SWAT ninnies didn't blast the mayor to cover up their own fuckups.

Strange how that case "got settled out of court" almost as if there might have been some wrongdoing or something...

arthritisR_US

(7,256 posts)
10. How freaking horrible! Don't these people have any recourse to sue the
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:36 AM
Jun 2014

police? In the article she clearly states that kids were outside so no surprise there were young ones inside. They could see blood under the crib and the cops wouldn't let her go to her wailing and gravely wounded child? Damn pigs, I'd sure as hell try and sue the crap out of them

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
13. This kind of swat actions, use of home-invasions, Flashbang/shock use has got to stop in America.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:41 AM
Jun 2014

This should not be allowed inside America for any reason

quakerboy

(13,893 posts)
61. I agree with the first part
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 04:11 AM
Jun 2014

I would give them an exception for imminent danger to a hostage or other innocent. Like, the downstairs neighbor let them in, they drilled a hole, and they have a camera on a guy with a gun to someones head imminent. Then and only then would this level of force be appropriate.

For drug crime, not at all. If they have enough drugs to be worth risking lives over, then its too much to flush, and the extra few second between the door opening and getting to the bathroom wont make a bit of difference.

blackspade

(10,056 posts)
14. Thugs with badges.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:41 AM
Jun 2014

What a bunch of sick fucks.
America is not a fucking warzone, but keep this up and it will be.

How will the badge sniffers justify this one?

Garion_55

(1,914 posts)
17. i heard the cops got death threats. called baby killers
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:48 AM
Jun 2014

the police took down their facebook page too the day it happened. still hasnt gone back up

tblue37

(64,860 posts)
53. Normally I would be horrified to think of anyone being subjected to such
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 12:16 AM
Jun 2014

harassment, but in this case they do seem to deserve it.

deurbano

(2,891 posts)
21. "US police departments are increasingly militarised, finds report"
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:03 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jun/24/military-us-police-swat-teams-raids-aclu

Ed Pilkington in New York

Tuesday 24 June 2014 00.01 EDT

<<...Bou Bou is not alone. A growing number of innocent people, many of them children and a high proportion African American, are becoming caught up in violent law enforcement raids that are part of an ongoing trend in America towards paramilitary policing.

...Swat teams were a late 1960s invention that emerged out of the Los Angeles police department. Initially, they were designed to help officers react to perilous situations such as riots, hostage taking and where an active shooter was barricaded into a house.

But they have developed into something entirely different. The ACLU survey found that 62% of Swat team call-outs were for drug searches. Some 79% involved raids on private homes, and a similar proportion were done on the back of warrants authorizing searches. By contrast, only about 7% fell into those categories for which the technique was originally intended, such as hostage situations or barricades....


“Law enforcement agencies are increasingly using paramilitary squads to search people’s homes for drugs,” the ACLU writes. It adds: “Neighbourhoods are not war zones and our police officers should not be treating us like wartime enemies.”

Research by Peter Kraska, a professor at Kentucky University, has tracked the exponential growth in the use of paramilitary tactics in the US. In the 1980s there were as few as 3,000 Swat raids a year, but by around 2005 that number had leapt to 45,000.

Such a rapid proliferation has been actively encouraged by the federal government, particularly by the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11, and by the Defense Department. The Pentagon channels military equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan to domestic police forces under its 1033 programme....

...Once the equipment has been handed over, the temptation is to use it. That certainly was the case for the mayor of Peoria, Illinois, who in April sent a Swat team to search the house of someone who had poked fun at him in a satirical Twitter account.

As the ACLU notes: “if the federal government gives the police a huge cache of military-style weaponry, they are highly likely to use it, even if they do not really need to.”...

...A few hours after the raid took place, police located the suspect they had been seeking at a different house in the neighbourhood. The officers knocked on the door, the suspect opened it, and agreed peacefully to come in for questioning.
 

Comrade Grumpy

(13,184 posts)
27. Why don't they just knock on the door or yell "Come out with your hands up!"?
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:51 PM
Jun 2014

This incident, and too many others, are a result of paramilitarized law enforcement. Some people in America may violate some drug laws, but that doesn't make them enemy combatants, and their kids collateral damage.

A Little Weird

(1,754 posts)
33. War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing (ACLU)
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:24 PM
Jun 2014
https://www.aclu.org/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-policing

Apparently the police like to play Army now. Unfortunately, we citizens are the enemy.

ManiacJoe

(10,136 posts)
75. When they do that
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:25 PM
Jun 2014

the drug dealers flush the drugs down the toilet (or otherwise destroy the evidence) instead of coming out of the house.

Still, most no-knock warrants are not appropriate.

A Little Weird

(1,754 posts)
31. A swat raid wasn't needed to apprehend the suspect
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:22 PM
Jun 2014
A few hours after the raid took place, police located the suspect they had been seeking at a different house in the neighbourhood. The officers knocked on the door, the suspect opened it, and agreed peacefully to come in for questioning.

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jun/24/military-us-police-swat-teams-raids-aclu


Found this while reading another post earlier on DU - http://www.democraticunderground.com/101696102

Garion_55

(1,914 posts)
41. crazy right? how many other peoples lives could have been saved
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 02:30 PM
Jun 2014

just by doing the same thing? cops think all suspects want to go out in a blaze of gunfire or something.

SaveOurDemocracy

(4,395 posts)
32. And another... Police Shoot 95-Year-Old WWII Vet to Death for Refusing to Go to Hospital
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:22 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/police-shoot-95-year-old-wwii-vet-death-refusing-go-hospital



SIX officers vs ONE 95 y/o man with a suspected UTI who refuses to leave his room? They confer and decide best course of action is firing bean bags @ close range?? WTF?!

davidthegnome

(2,983 posts)
34. We need to get the assholes at the top.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:30 PM
Jun 2014

We need to consider who was giving them their orders. Who was in charge of this mission? Who authorized the raid without having all the facts? That is the person that needs to be held ultimately accountable for this. My sister once lived in a house where there was a drug raid, everyone had to get down on their knees with their hands behind their heads, while masked men with heavy weaponry held guns on them. In the end, all the bastards found was a little marijuana, less than an ounce.

This though? It goes way beyond sick. I don't give a shit what drugs or sales were involved here, they have a fucking obligation to do their homework, to be certain that they're getting the right people - BEFORE they go in using stun grenades.

Bunch of assholes indeed. Who ever is at the top of this monkeyfuck circus needs to be shamed in public as being the prick responsible for an infant in a coma.

lexx21

(321 posts)
39. Brainless cops
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:59 PM
Jun 2014

The nature of the police should have been evident during the OWS movement where people protesting were herded and then tear gassed. The protesters were not violent. They were exercising their 1st amendment right. However the cops HAD to be in charge and bust up that hippie group. You see the results.

In the small town of Cary NC, the cops there wear combat gear. Cary is a very quiet town, somewhat affluent, but definitely quiet. Why would cops need to wear fatigue pants, combat boots, and tote around the type of hardware that they do?

Cops have the feeling of entitlement. The moniker on patrol cars "to serve and protect" is laughable at this point. They protest no one, they serve the mayor. Period.

The cops involved in the swat raid on that house should be prosecuted along with their watch commander. If a kid sold an undercover cop meth, then arrest the punk right there. Was a swat team needed to "take him down"?

CrispyQ

(36,112 posts)
42. Kick, kick, kick.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 02:36 PM
Jun 2014
My husband’s nephew, the one they were looking for, wasn’t there. He doesn’t even live in that house. After breaking down the door, throwing my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children, the officers – armed with M16s – filed through the house like they were playing war. They searched for drugs and never found any.

I heard my baby wailing and asked one of the officers to let me hold him. He screamed at me to sit down and shut up and blocked my view, so I couldn’t see my son. I could see a singed crib. And I could see a pool of blood. The officers yelled at me to calm down and told me my son was fine, that he’d just lost a tooth. It was only hours later when they finally let us drive to the hospital that we found out Bou Bou was in the intensive burn unit and that he’d been placed into a medically induced coma.


These "officers" should be fired.

It's clear that We the People are now the enemy.

A HERETIC I AM

(24,307 posts)
56. FIRED?!?!?
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 12:34 AM
Jun 2014

These "officers" should be fucking strung up!

I have lost every single ounce of respect I have ever had for just about every single member of "Law Enforcement".


Fucking savages.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
48. We can't expect to train an abusive international police force......
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 08:38 PM
Jun 2014

...through the US military, and then complain when that police force comes home and continues to carryout the same practices at-home that they we're given medals for in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- Chickens, home, roost, etc.....

K&R

''Protecting and Serving''

BobTheSubgenius

(11,530 posts)
50. I understand why someone would set up a fund...
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:57 PM
Jun 2014

...for the poor little tyke's medical bills, but it begs the question WHY is the agency responsible for this catastrophe not paying them???

kim06

(1 post)
90. Did some investingating-
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 03:25 PM
Jun 2014

The Sheriff immediately contacted the social worker @ the hospital & had all of the bills forwarded to the county as soon as he found out. I feel terrible for this family! I also fell bad for some of those officers. I hope all can recover from this

pecwae

(8,021 posts)
85. A few protests locally
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 04:02 PM
Jun 2014

but quiet for the most part. It's rural area where retribution is dealt out to those who speak out too loudly for too long.

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
65. This grieves me so...
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:12 AM
Jun 2014

... I have new baby great nieces and great nephews arriving monthly these days. Identical boys about 8 months ago. I'm surprised that child is still alive. I know children are resilient, but I can't imagine the little boy every really recovering from this. Too many innocents are killed in the pursuit of one drug dealer. Why can't they wait until the person exits the dwelling and then accost him? Surround the GD place and wait, for God's sake?

Garion_55

(1,914 posts)
66. they blew a hole in him to where they could see his ribs
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 08:36 AM
Jun 2014

all for a 50 dollar meth buy.

and the police chief afterwards said they did nothing wrong and would do the same raid the exact same way again.


PIGS!!!!

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
72. Police State
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 12:21 PM
Jun 2014

That's how I'm going to mark these heinous reports from now on.
Because that is what we are living in. We saved the effing world in WWII, and now the USA seems to have taken on the worst characteristics of our WWII enemies.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
77. Probably because the long-term damage to the poor little guy wasn't as apparent yet.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:29 PM
Jun 2014

It was headlined "SWAT team throws flash bang grenade into crib during drug raid", generally.

This is a personal plea by the mother, which brings it tragically home.

pecwae

(8,021 posts)
86. In the first few
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 04:04 PM
Jun 2014

days of it happening the local police spokesman was quoted as saying the "little boy was going to be okay".

Response to Garion_55 (Original post)

Takket

(21,353 posts)
78. Why don't the cops...
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:32 PM
Jun 2014

Just park an undercover car on the street corner and wait until the person they are looking for comes in or out of the house? Then they can just pounce on him then instead of invading the house. am I missing something?

Garion_55

(1,914 posts)
79. yes you are.....
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:37 PM
Jun 2014

if the cops apprehend the guy on the street they might not get to search his home. if they dont get to search his home they wont get to keep all the cool toys they find.

Takket

(21,353 posts)
80. so, give them a warrant to search the home after the arrest. what is the big deal?
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:43 PM
Jun 2014

and why are the cops not required to survey the home for a time to determine who else might be inside? Don't they have to go through some sort of paperwork to define what they would do if there was a baby present?

I'm an engineer and I work frequently for one of the major utilities. ANY TIME contractors are working in their buildings off my design drawings, they must submit a "Method of procedure" that details ALL the existing conditions and exactly what they are going to do. This MOP must be signed off on by the Owner and the general contractor. Shouldn't we make police do something like this too? They should have to detail everything they know about the home and who is in it before they can just kick the door down. 24 hours of snooping probably would have told them there would be a baby in there!

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