Cops Shoot Child’s Dog 7 Times After Finding Marijuana In Family Home

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Posted by johncole at 2:37 pm
May 5, 2010


Cops Shoot Child’s Dog 7 Times After Finding Marijuana In Family Home


This post originally appeared on Balloon Juice.

Unbelievable:

SWAT team breaks into home, fires seven rounds at family’s pit bull and corgi (?!) as a seven-year-old looks on.

They found a “small amount” of marijuana, enough for a misdemeanor charge. The parents were then charged with child endangerment.

So smoking pot = “child endangerment.” Storming a home with guns, then firing bullets into the family pets as a child looks on = necessary police procedures to ensure everyone’s safety.

(video below the fold)

This is what happens when you give a bunch of cowboy assholes heavy weapons and fill them with a God complex. Although I’m sure Joe Lieberman would suggest we strip this family of their citizenship.

Oddly enough, I doubt the tea partiers screaming about individual liberty will notice this. After all, it isn’t like the cops were going to raise their taxes or provide them with affordable healthcare coverage. They were just shooting his dogs in front of his family and then made up some bullshit excuse to try to take away the kid. No big deal.


Link to video: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/05/05/cops-shoot-childs-dog-7-times-after-finding-marijuana-in-family-home/

[eShirl]

1. this kind of shit has been going on since the Reagan years

sometimes people are killed, too

[WhiteTara]

15. remember the mayor of some small town in the

northeast a couple of years ago? A package was dropped off on their front porch and it cost their dogs their lives, cause the cops kill dogs so they won't get bit.

[Flaneur]

36. Mayor Cheye Calvo of Berwyn Heights, Maryland

As a result of that raid, Maryland now has a law requiring all law enforcement agencies with SWAT teams to issue regular reports on each time they are used. It's the only state in the country that has even such minimal control over SWAT raids.

[LibertyLover]

98. Mayor Calvo filed suit against

the Prince George's County police chief and the SWAT team for the death of his dogs after an internal police investigation cleared the officers involved in the action of any blame. The PG County prosecutor asked the court to dismiss the suit, but the judge in the case said no, that Calvo's suit could proceed. We'll see what happens.

[iscooterliberally]

154. Yup. People are definitely killed

Here's a list right here.

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

I had the great fortune of getting my home 'tossed' in March because my college age kid was allegedly dealing. Somehow they thought he was the drug kingpin of my area. He doesn't even own a car. These guys apparently came in guns blazing. They pistol whipped my son in my front yard even though he surrendered immediately. I was at work. They threatened to shoot my dogs. Smoked their nasty cigarettes in my house and extinguished them in my dog's water dish. They threatened my wife. They scared the shit out of all my neighbors. Needless to say I would rather legalize heroin, crack cocaine and crystal meth rather than ever have that bullshit go down again. The War on Drugs totally sucks ass and needs to end now so we can restore our rights against unreasonable search and seizure. I realized that I was very very fortunate. We are in far greater danger of having our local SWAT team shoot us to death in our beds than anything that Al Queda or any of those folks could ever do.

[alstephenson]

304. How frightening!

And you are so right on.

[HALO141]

160. It's actually a result of the "officer survival" movement

Late 70's, early 80's. The dogma is to establish complete and utter control over the situation as quickly and decisively as possible. Dogs cannot respond to verbal commands (at least not the ones a police officer is likely to give) and they will often act to defend family members so SWAT pretty much views them as a threat to their safety and take them out of the equation as the onset of any engagement.

It's also a consequence of police work in the modern, urban environment. Cops generally don't have any personal connection to the people they're dealing with and really don't give a flying fuck what happens to them. All they really care about is going home at the end of the shift - A point that's been drilled into them throughout their training and law enforcement careers.

[PM Martin]

161. Police are trained to see the civilian, the citizen as the enemy.

[HALO141]

166. Don't know if I'd say "the enemy..."

But there is most certainly a very heavy "us v. them" element. Narcotics warrants are always considered "high risk" and always a "hard target entry."

From what I see (and I haven't researched it at all) this dude looks like a casual pot smoker. Things here just don't add up. Nobody's going to go to the trouble of getting a warrant to search the premises of such an individual. It's just not worth the trouble for a lousy class "C" or "B" misdemeanor. As someone else was asking further down the page, what's really going on and what were they really looking for?

[The Old Creak]

167. My Son

is a Deputy Sheriff, and he was not trained, nor does he believe that citizens are the enemy. There are, in fact, bad people out there who need to be dealt with. This video is very disturbing and makes me sick for the little boy and the dog. I think it might be interesting to know what events led to that warrant and the child endangerment charges. But then again, I guess its easier to stereotype and condemn!

[asdjrocky]

179. Looks like there was a whole bunch of bad people together at one time there.

Funny how wolves travel in packs.

[Zix]

240. Well, sir...

Your post looks to me suspiciously like an attempt to insert information into the narrative.

You could well be right about whatever it is you want to be true. It would certainly be slightly more comforting to suppose that these officers had good reason for their behaviour, but

a only slightly, and
b very often digging deeper in cases of perceived police misconduct reveals nastier things about the police rather than a nicer context for their actions. It can go either way.

I fully understand your discomfort at the thought of your son being lumped in with the less benevolent faction of the police but given the unfortunate frequency of incidents like this that are currently clogging Youtube and this site it's becoming very difficult to vilify those who prefer to stereotype. It's starting to look very much like there's a genuine phenomenon of extremely bad policing developing in the US and many people will be very frustrated with having attempts to discuss it, however emotive their language may be, dismissed as stereotyping if their perception is that they are addressing a real phenomenon.

In short - if both the pot and the kettle are black, the kettle doesn't really gain anything by exclaiming: "Oh, if that's not the pot calling the kettle black!" The more useful response would be to get oneself a good scrubbing, and if the pot knows where the sink is no observations pertaining to the irony of pointing out it's location are going to get the pot to shut up.

Sorry for being a smart-ass and my respect to you and your son, who I have no doubt conducts himself with the utmost professionalism.

[The Old Creak]

264. You really lost me

with the whole pot and kettle thing. However, it has been my experience that there are assholes in every profession. Sadly, (or fortunately, I should say) they don't all carry heavy firearms. Anecdotal evidence from YouTube and anonymous postings here do not equate to evidence of anything, much less statistically valid trends. In short, given who you might be speaking to at any given moment, everyone is an asshole. Grace is dead, and that's the saddest part.

[Zix]

284. Well, actually...

...video footage *is* evidence, sir. Admissable in court, I believe?

It's not sure what you mean by "statistically valid trend". What I was addressing is something I would describe more as a "directly observable phenomenon". That sounds a bit bald, I know, but some of the incidents we're seeing, which may be coming to light simply because of the ease of making movies these days, really do need some kind of investigation, I hope you'd agree.

I'm worried by your phrase: "There are assholes in every profession." Will you disagree with the idea that some professions shouldn't have any assholes, really?

Be assured that I have nothing but the greatest respect for the officer who does his job properly. I've met more than a few and fine fellows they all were.

And yes, Grace is dead.

[The Old Creak]

285. Yes, you are right

a video is evidence, although on its own, not conclusive. Investigation, absolutely, because investigation implies a conclusion has not been drawn. In a perfect world, yes, certain professions should not have assholes, but as we seem to agree, this is NOT a perfect world. I truly appreciate this dialog with you. It was the hope of this kind of exchange that brought me to DU.
PEACE

[Zix]

296. Cool website!

Is that you in the shades?

[The Old Creak]

313. Thank you

and yes

[iscooterliberally]

162. Which is exactly why drug prohibition needs to end.

I understand about survival for the cops. I don't want them to die either, but they are the wrong tool for the wrong job. If I can buy a fifth of Jack Daniel's from my liquor store, I should be able to buy a sack of weed or a bottle of percocet or a gram of pharmaceutical cocaine with out fear of 'persecution' from the government.

[wolfgangmo]

170. That is pretty true. Former officer speaking here.

Rule number one is protecting the public (in theory). Rule number 2 is living to go home at the end of a shift.

Truth is that rule number 2 happens most of the time for most cops. Most cops will not even fire their gun once in a career. Rule number 1 - well .... it depends on the officer. But in my experience most cops in my area are professional and take their jobs of "protecting and serving" seriously. I know I did.

[Zix]

237. Your job cannot have been easy. I feel sorry for the police a lot of the time...

I certainly wouldn't want to wade into some of these situations you see on Youtube.

Thank you for posting, sir.

[datasuspect]

331. i know, CI tip based home invasion raids, old ladies yelling during traffic stops

caged dogs, citizens speaking up (damn them for not being compliant!). what horror the police must endure.

especially lunch. this is the biggest, most harrowing part of an officer's day (if you follow chicago police radio traffic).

so harrowing, they have to put on emergency lights and sirens to get there!

[Zix]

343. Shrug.

I'm not suggesting that it's difficult all the time. I'm just pointing out that it is sometimes.

[dotymed]

180. Home of the free?

Land of the brave???:wtf:

[PM Martin]

2. SWAT Teams are cowards.

I do not want to say what I am thinking right now!
:argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh:
C**KS*****S!

[katandmoon]

3. Piece of shit fuckers

[blueamy66]

25. AMEN.

Could not have said it better.

[arthritisR_US]

40. you read my mind. n/t

[druidity33]

4. K&R

absolutely disgusting.

Just wait, someone here will try and justify this. "I'm sure the Police had a very good reason for this behavior....." :eyes:

[Occulus]

97. Nope! Vadawg got banned.

He was the absolute worst one in this regard. Thankfully, that particular POS is no longer with us.

[wolfgangmo]

173. The enemy is the system.

I know a lot of cops and used to be an officer. Most of them are pretty good people and try hard to do a good job.

It's the bad ones who are intolerable. But it is the system (drug war, et. al.) that is the enemy.

[Initech]

5. Fucking pieces of shit!!!!!

Argh, I'm so sick of this shit! LEGALIZE NOW!!!! :argh:

[freebrew]

138. It was my understanding...

that Columbia, MO. (where this happened) has already a city ordinance that legalizes small amounts of mj.
The article yesterday stated that 2 ozs. were found. Not a small amount according to statute.
However, a SWAT team for mj???!
I think there was something going on here that the cops aren't telling. Like who turned the guy in? What were they REALLY looking for?
How did they get a warrant? Since they 'found' drugs they didn't need one, but what's the chance of NOT finding drugs in a home in a college town?

Something doesn't pass the smell test here.

And shooting a corgi? and a pit bull that was caged?

Lawsuit time, methinks...

[MidwestTransplant]

6. Disgusting. That child will be forever disturbed due to the WOD.

Two dead pets too. Sick.

[marmar]

74. yep

nt

[alstephenson]

7. Oh crap, that's disturbing.

I'm feeling sick to my stomach. No words.

[Crystal Clarity]

92. OMG it was awful

the dog(s) crying in pain. And that poor child! All for a little pot in the house? WTF? WHEN are we finally going to end this insane "war on drugs"? Make them legal, empty the prisons of non-violent drug "offenders" and then we can have a debate about what to do from there; like perhaps taxing the particularly harmful ones (such as crack or heroin for ex.) into oblivion so that only rich can afford it. :evilfrown: ...(OK just thinking out loud here) But something needs to change. The video clip proves it.

Another observation: How, I wonder, did that video clip come to be released? I hope it's release means that at least someone within that department has a conscience.

[intheflow]

8. Columbia, MO? More like the Republic of Columbia!

Holy shit, the police video at the link was too disturbing for me to watch more than a few moments of. Asking WTF doesn't begin to address how disturbing this story is.

[FailureToCommunicate]

110. Columbia, MO is near where Winston Churchill gave his famous Iron Curtain speech

in Fulton. Good thing there is nothing like the Stasi in good old middle America...

[Richd506]

135. I just have to say it

That poster on your reply is epic!

[Bonobo]

9. More Nazi behavior!

If you think my rhetoric is too strong, watch the link. I dare you too.

This is one of the reasons I am so super-sensitive on the Philles fan being tasered. It is quite obvious that even the good guys, us, are being pulled down into this vicious culture. Down to an unacceptable level of being inured to violence.

If tasering a man for running, drunk and joyously, onto a baseball outfield is cheered by everyone, I think we may have gone past the tipping point.

You may think I am exaggerating, but I don't think so.

When I was a kid, I just loved going to baseball games. Sometimes people would jump on the field. NO ONE in those days (30-35 years ago) would have thought that a beating was deserved for doing it.

Times have changed and we are moving in a very bad direction. One that will allow for continuing human rights violations. It is scary folks, and I ask you to teach your children better. Please.

[proteus_lives]

14. "a man for running, drunk and joyously, onto a baseball outfield"

What about when he drunkenly and joyously stabs a player?

You must have not spent much time about drunks. They are rarely "joyous".

[Bonobo]

16. He was in the outfield. near no one, waving around a towel and smiling.

Did you see the video?

If not, we have no common frame for discussing this.

[proteus_lives]

31. I don't get why you're defending this jack-ass.

Security is there for a reason.

[Bonobo]

32. It has nothing to do with him being a jackass (which he admittedly was)...

I am less concerned for the individual jackass then I am about how blithely we have come to accept tasering as an appropriate response to mild offenses.

Please remember that tasering has killed people on numerous occasions.

They should be used more judiciously at the very least.

Also, they are painful. Very painful. I am disturbed that we , as a progressive community, have come to the point where we are so callous about dispensing pain upon individuals for trivial offenses.

Again, it is the REACTION that concerns me. It is a sure sign of becoming progressively inured to violence.

[dem mba]

94. this is why you're wrong

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2499000/2499161.stm

In full view of crowd

The attack happened during the rest break in the match, against Bulgarian player Maggie Maleeva. Miss Seles was leading 6-4, 4-3 when she took a rest on her courtside seat during the changeover.

A man described as stocky and balding leaned over the three-feet-high (91 cm) barrier and stabbed her from behind. Miss Seles let out a scream, clutched her back and stumbled on to the court.



Monica Seles was stabbed DURING HER MATCH. The example you picked to make your point is a poor one. Security/Police don't know the fan's intent and should not have to jeopardize the player's health (or lives) while they wait to find out.

[Bonobo]

100. Clearly you did not see the video.

No one was in any danger. It was quite obvious.

Watch the video or we really have no common frame of reference.

Otherwise, you are correct.

[dem mba]

124. oh i saw the video

and we know AFTER the fact that the fan was some (I assume) drunk college kid. We know AFTER the fact that he was unarmed. We know AFTER the fact he wasn't a crazy obsessed fan. We know AFTER the fact that he wasn't going to harm the players or even the security people chasing after him.

Is it excessive to taser some college kid "streaking" a game. Yes, of course. Is it excessive to taser some psycho fan who is going to stab one of the players with a knife? No, of course not. Security should be erring on the side of caution and safety for the players. That's their job, so F this idiot for storming the field.

[DRex]

196. Nope. Taser is torture, & potentially lethal.

Sorry, but it was patently obvious to everyone that this man was not a threat, and if the taser happy cop can't read this situation and act APPROPRIATELY, then he should not be trusted with a weapon like that.

How about at least reserving it for a last resort, not just whipping it out and potentially killing someone who was just celebrating. The kind of society that treats the smallest transgression as an offense punishable by torture and mortal danger is not the kind of society I want to be a part of.

[Bonobo]

211. You took the words right out of my mouth.

I don't see how he could have watched the video and still wrote what he wrote.
DId he think the towel was a weapon and that by swirling it around he was dispersing nerve agent?

[dem mba]

232. well I guess we'll have to wait for the next fan to attack a player

before I can change your mind. peace.

[RedCloud]

116. That was a Graf fanatic jealous of Monica.

[Rhythm]

223. Would these Taser supporters still support the guard if the kid had died?

Please remember that tasering has killed people on numerous occasions.

As a matter of fact, over 70 people killed since the beginning of 2009.

I wonder how many of the "he had it coming" crowd would stick to that position if the video they watched had ended with the guard having to do CPR on a dying kid? Anyone who would still support using these dangerous weapons in non-threatening situation (which is what we had in Philly)... well, then i don't want to know them IRL, because they are sadistic fucks.

[chollybocker]

35. Less than 24 hrs. later...

...another idiot ran onto Phils' field (9th inning) and was apprehended and arrested WITHOUT THE USE OF A SINGLE TASER GUN.

But you're right - security is there for a reason. Tasers, however, are not.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

41. The out of shape cop from the earlier incident was probably still catching his breath.

God forbid you might have a couple cops on duty at an event with 50,000 people who can chase down a drunk.

[blueamy66]

84. Was the cop as fat as the other one?

Otherwise, yes, security is there for a reason.

[alstephenson]

305. "Security is there for a reason"...

Oh please. Sounds like the "what part of illegal don't you understand" meme.

[Myrina]

148. He was tased because the rent a cop was too goddamn fat to catch him.

n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

26. Has that happened? A player stabbed?

Or is that rhetoric?

[proteus_lives]

30. In tennis.

Monica Seles was injured when a psycho ran out onto the court and stabbed her.

[RaleighNCDUer]

111. No, a psycho leaned out from the crowd and stabbed her while she

was sitting at the sideline.

The guy did not 'run out onto the court'. He had a knife, not a towel.

It's about appropriate response.

If the guy at the game ran onto the field brandishing a knife, taser his ass. But he didn't.

And you know there is a difference, if you are interested in being honest more than in winning your argument.

[sabrina 1]

121. And that is the kind of justification for just about every bad

act committed by the police that has brought us to where we are. DID he have a knife? Or are you just using the 'ticking time bomb' scenario to defend the indefensible? In your mind every drunk is a knife wielding maniac? That is the mentality that causes this violence by the police. My friends and I have many times calmed down other friends or people we met at a party, who were drunk without resorting to violence.

What a bunch of bullying cowards we have running around with the authority to carry deadly weapons.

I completely agree with the comment to which you responded. We deserve that fact that one in one hundred Americans are currently incarcerated in this country. Maybe when it gets to one in 25 the public will finally stop rationalizing every wrong law and violent behavior by those who are PAID BY US, to protect and serve us.

What do you have to say about violently killing two pets in front of a seven year old? And this is pretty common btw. How do you justify that? Oh, wait, the cops had no way of knowing those pets might viciously attack them. There, that explains it.

[liberation]

123. Just because you or your buddies are mean drunks...

... don't mean you have to f*ck it up for the rest of us.

[krabigirl]

22. I agree, but I think we are beyond help.

[blueamy66]

28. delete

delete..responded to the wrong post

[blueamy66]

83. +1

great post

[RedCloud]

119. It takes a suicide bomber to stop that tasering shit!

Can you imagine tasering someone wired to blow up?

[sabrina 1]

125. Excellent post, thank you! n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

203. "Philles fan being tasered"

well, he is a Phillies fan :hi: (just joking)

[PM Martin]

10. F**K police unions!

The one union I would love to see busted!

[SocialistLez]

11. DISGUSTING!!

I would lose my mind if someone shot either one of my dogs.

I bet this kid is going to have a hard time trusting cops in the future.

[MODem75]

12. To give you an idea of the mentality of this PD

Here is a video of them tazing a man on a bridge that was threatening to end his life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V4ZQvRnllI&feature=related

[marmar]

76. Unreal.

nt

[CBR]

13. That is just sick. nt

[flvegan]

17. At least it was a pit bull. Sooner or later, such a breed full of inherent viciousness

would surely have killed both the child and the corgi. They're wired that way. I read that on DU.

Sorry, just wanted to be first.

Shameful behavior on behalf of that group of "police"

[Chulanowa]

147. Damn Right!

Every time a pit bull is born, the theme from "The Omen" plays! I read it on DU!

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PM Martin]

20. ...

[The Doctor.]

24. Well, that's the problem...

That's what they're geared for, that's why they go in ready to shoot anything without restraint. Shooting them is 'wrong' because they "represent" the law.

It's because the threat is out there that only total assholes are suited for the job. The problem here was a combination of poor investigating and shitty execution.

What needs to happen is a massive lawsuit. Storming a home and murdering pets to confiscate a few ounces of pot is just fucking atrocious and unjustified.

I'd like to follow this one.

[Webster Green]

47. No kidding.

I hope the victims wind up owning that dumbass town.

[DaveinJapan]

61. I don't think a few ounces of pot would be a misdemeaner

more like a few grams, I would think.

[The Doctor.]

73. Wow... I just had a look at Missouri's statutes;

Up to 35 grams is a misdemeanor.

Over that is a felony.

Ridiculous.

[awoke_in_2003]

205. couple that with steroids...

and 'roid rage- baseball ain't got nothing on PD's when it comes to steroid use.

[The Doctor.]

19. God I'd love to see these assholes have THEIR homes raided and pets killed.

Well... I'd hate to see the pets killed. These men are a symptom of a horrible illness this nation is suffering. They could never imagine how horrible it would be to experience what they do to other people daily.

They truly deserve a taste of their own medicine.

Who's the judge who signed that warrant?
What are the names of these assholes... especially the gun-toting pussy that shot harmless animals?

[blueamy66]

21. This shit makes me hate cops.

Use your fucking brains, please!

[OnionPatch]

79. I've always wondered how much support law enforcement loses

by demonizing marijuana smokers. Most of the people I know who smoke are decent, productive people, some of them outstandingly so. They don't break any other laws. They just happen to prefer marijuana to wine. They support the PTA, community organizations, etc. etc. but most of them would never go out of their way to support law enforcement because they know they'd be criminalized for smoking pot if they were caught. It makes no sense to alienate good people like this from law enforcement.

[blueamy66]

82. I agree 100%.

I just don't get it.

Why can't we legalize pot?

Why can't we educate people.....especially LEOs??

[liberation]

127. Because people need to realize that just like any other industrial complexes in the USA

... police and law enforcement is a complex first, designed to provide a livelihood/profit for its members, and a distant second (or probably third in most cases) comes that whole BS about "to protect and serve" which is as usual an empty slogan.


The so called "war on drugs" has little to do with the welfare and safety of our population, it is a simple program to funnel public funds into organizations like the DEA et al (And the supporting industries) which provide little to no value to society whatsoever, and which would not be able to justify their insane budgets otherwise.

When the agencies and laws which supposedly are there to "protect us" have destroyed far more lives than the drugs themselves ever did. We need to start asking some serious questions. Also there is the whole issue that the funding of these departments/complexes is dependent on the continuation of drug trafficking. I.e. if the DEA et al would be successful in their efforts to eradicate drugs, they would no longer have a reason to exist. So that is another thing that we need to take into account: these organizations depend on lack of success in their mission statement in order to survive. Think about that for a second...

[blueamy66]

129. Wow. Great post.

I agree wholeheartedly.

[liberation]

139. Thanks. I just wish more people took a few minutes to sit down and understand where we stand...

... the "war on drugs" seems to have been an umbrella for all sorts of organizations to mount an attack on personal rights and freedoms, in the name of corporate profit. And apparently the umbrella was not big enough, because they recently came up with the whole "war on terror" to take the syphoning of public dollars and squashing of rights to a whole new level.

Very few people understand how unconstitutional most of the anti-drug legislation really is. For example, police departments have the latitude to detain you under "suspicion" of drug trafficking and it is up to you to demonstrate your innocence. I don't think many people undertand who incredibly unconstitutional that is. One of the foundations of this country was the notion that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and that the burden of proof resides on the accuser not the accused.

There are tons of equally egregious examples. But at the end of the day, it all boils down that government should not have the right to dictate what its citizens can or can't do with their bodies. If these anti-drug organizations were ever so concerned about our "safety and well being," they would spend their budget in educating people, making sure communities are safe, and systems are in place so that people can access their fair share of opportunities to realize their potential. Because educated people, with secure futures, and the capacity for realization... tend to not go out of their way to smoke something called "crack," for example. Yet, those very aspects I described make the smallest percentage of the anti-drug budgets. So that whole "we do this for your own good" is big crook of shit, as usual.

Oh, well.

[NoSheep]

146. Agreed completely. Look at the money spent to get pot growers in KY

These poeple don't have a way to make a living so they grow weed. They're poor as dirt. The government spends millions to catch them. Why don't they just try to raise the poeple out of poverty instead? It's NOT about taking care of citizens. It's about the money machine.

[mike_c]

189. wish I could rec your response all by itself....

Well said. Excellent points.

[zeemike]

208. It is the money stupid.

And you have it exactly right...there is too much money involved in keeping it illegal.
And so much fun for the warrior/cop dressed in combat outfit busting down doors....what a sense of power and what an adrenalin rush for them.

[krabigirl]

23. This is horrible :( I am so angry and sad right now...wtf!

[Bluenorthwest]

27. Where are our resident cop defenders for this one?

Revolting, criminal behavior on the part of the thugs with badges. Cowards and worse.

[Odin2005]

212. He was TSed, finally.

[Bryn]

29. Such a big deal for such a tiny small crime!

I am so disgusted with those trigger-happy cops shooting pets like that.

[nebenaube]

33. actually, they killed the dogs before executing the search.

They probably planted the weed.

[unpossibles]

96. it would not surprise me

I've often wondered if they keep a little extra held back from the evidence locker "just in case"

[Jackpine Radical]

99. Yes, they do.

And they also keep "throw-down" knives and guns with filed serial numbers to plant on unarmed people whom they just happen to shoot.

[defendandprotect]

34. Inflicting violence upon a society is one of the quickest ways to make it 3rd world ....

and the Drug War is one of the tools long being used by the right wing to do that

to America!

[MODem75]

37. The shooter should be charged with felony animal cruelty

and have to serve some prison time for this.

[Flaneur]

38. SWAT raids need to be reined in. Maryland has begun to do so.

This after the fiasco when PG cops raided the home of the mayor of Berwyn Heights and killed his two dogs.

Now, SWAT teams there have to report regularly on their activities. It's a start.

What about your state?

[intheflow]

75. I remember reading about that incident.

I wondered what happened afterward. You sound familiar with the case. Aside form the new SWAT guidelines, did the cops face any charges, was anyone dismissed? I think I remember some cops were were suspended but nothing beyond that.

[Pavulon]

39. I fail to see any reason for their actions

unless that dog was an IMMEDIATE threat they had no reason to fire a weapon. It is beyond shitty and I would make it my life's mission to take everything they own for that behavior. This type of shit is dangerous for police as well. In my part of the world if they were not clearly sounding off as police shooting my dogs would be met with steel core 7.62 x 51 fired non line of sight through the walls. IE if my door crashes in and i hear shots and no "police" gunfire is a reasonable response.

That makes this shit dangerous for everyone.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/may/03/drug-raid-inquiry-is-ongoing/

local news..

fucking drugs should be legal, let these guys go find stolen cars and sole rapes or something useful.

[RaleighNCDUer]

112. That's what happened with that grandma in Georgia a couple years back.

She was scared of the local gangbangers and kept a handgun with her, so when the cops busted down her down without announcing who they were, they were met with gunfire. They, of course, shot back and killed her in her rocking chair.

All because they raided the wrong house looking for drugs.

[rurallib]

42. And this is where lawyers are very helpful

[Webster Green]

43. I watched the video earleir. That was a fucking pot bust??

For a small quantity? Child endangerment?

What a load of fascist fucking bullshit.

I'm beyond pissed. Those cops are scum and they are fucking wussies. Bullies playing war.

[troubledamerican]

44. Republican cops, no doubt

[PM Martin]

46. Most of them are.

[MODem75]

67. Not just Republican, but "Christian" as well.

A lot of the cops are hardcore fundies. When they do this they believe they are enforcing their morality, and therefore the right thing. Even if innocent people are shot.

[PSzymeczek]

195. From "I Kill, Therefore, I Am"

by Phil Ochs

The last verse is telling:

Farewell to the gangsters we don't need them anymore
We've got the police force, they're the ones who break the law
He's got a gun and he's a hater
He shoots first, he shoots later
I am the masculine american man
I kill therefore I am.



Find the rest of the lyrics here:
http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/i-kill-therefore-i-am.html

[saltpoint]

45. Had the family a huge barn in back with more marijuana than was ever

gathered in all history it would still not justify the brutality and stupidity exhibited by the SWAT team in this case, nevermind a few goddam ounces.

Disgusting.

[Pavulon]

50. There was no ounces, not even grams. They got a pipe and resin.

for that bullshit. What the fuck is wrong with our country.

[MODem75]

51. They probably planted the pipe.

Just so they can say they found something.

[Pavulon]

55. Even if it was his, what a giant fuckup. This will (or should be) national news

these guys went in way to fast (hence the "slow it down guys") and fucked up.

[saltpoint]

53. That makes it even worse.

Jesus.

[donco6]

201. Geez

<checking for . . . uh . . . contraband in my house>

I love my dogs.

[Robeson]

48. Not surprised in the least...

...I could tell stories from those I know, that would match that.

[Drops_not_Dope]

49. So I was watching COPS last week

they came upon an open door while searching for a suspect in a different crime.

Thinking their perp might be inside this abode they announced themselves and sent in the Dog. Well lo and behold no perp but a few marijuana plants.

They called this in and went about looking for the perp elsewhere. Soon they were informed a different crew had arrived back at the abode and had warrant in hand. The owner showed up as well.

Once inside the search turned up SEVERAL ASSAULT RIFLES and the small amount of plants grown for seemingly personal use.

Point here is, they made so much more out of a dozen pot plants than they did of the cache of assault rifles.

Of course the assault rifles are legal.

:smoke:

[Pavulon]

52. Rifles and Drugs, no reason to waste time on either

drugs are a massive waste of time.

[mitchum]

54. Roided up pieces of shit who think they are big men

Amazing Grace to them

[RedCappedBandit]

56. I find the fact that the actions of pigs no longer disturb me to be disturbing.

:freak:

[w4rma]

57. They get off on the power the badge gives them. They aren't protecting anyone. (nt)

[Blue Owl]

58. WHAT THE GODDAMNED FUCK???

These cops ain't human.

[Pavulon]

59. Treat them Like the Spring Lake Department. SBI destroyed it, shut it down.

once a level of incompetence is reached there is no other choice. That level of force for a pot bust is inexcusable. Firing a weapon in a home without a lethal threat is inexcusable.

Fired everyone and the local sheriff took over the work.

[tblue37]

60. When I had small children and a home daycare, I never even let

ane use bad language round my kids or the kids in my care. The government claims the parents are unfit to take care of their own kid, but in addition to the way the storm troopers barrelled in and shoot the poor child's pets, they were also shouting some pretty foul language for a 7-year-old to hear.

That whole video made me think of what it must be like to live in a dictatorship, where the police can invade your home and do pretty muh anything they want to you, your family, your possessions. We have become such a police state here!

[Lost4words]

85. +1

[MadHound]

62. Actually you would be surprised, the tea partiers are up in arms over this as well

Columbians in general think that they police went way too far on this one. The local RW radio talk show had people calling in to this, and to a person they all thought the cops went too far.

Columbia passed one of the most lax dope laws in the country four years ago by an overwhelming margin. To have something like this go down is getting everybody riled up. Police review board is on board, as are a number of Columbia area lawyers.

My guess is that this SWAT team is going to have the hammer come down on at least some of them. Hell, it might even cost the police chief his job, he was hired a little over a year ago out of Texas and not too many people are happy with him.

Give it a bit, but these guys will get what is coming to them in a court of law.

[catrose]

105. Just wondering

why a SWAT team would go for such a stupid little investigation. Do they always turn out for potential drug busts?

[RaleighNCDUer]

113. You're wondering why?

As MadHound said: Columbia passed one of the most lax dope laws in the country four years ago by an overwhelming margin.

They think they are losing a war. They've been indoctrinated on the 'War on Drugs' for forty years, and can't conceive it ending short of victory (however THAT might be interpreted).

[MadHound]

151. Well, the official reason is that supposedly this guy was some big dealer

My bet is that they got some bogus information, or had a beef against this guy, and decided to go in guns blazing.

Like I also said, we've gotten a new chief of police out of Texas, and this guy's an asshole and I think it is rubbing off on the department really, really bad.

[Pavulon]

63. One more note. 9mm or 556 nato will penetrate walls and kill. These idiots

firing either an m4 or mp5 put rounds downrange that could easily kill neighbors. That should be considered as well.

[Ikonoklast]

184. The neighbors are criminals, too.

After all, why do they live in a high-crime neighborhood? They must be guilty of something.


I knew cops, guys I went to school with, that always found drugs in a search, even though that wasn't what the warrant was issued for.

Want to know how that was possible?


So did the DA.

[UndertheOcean]

64. OINK OINK OINK OINK n/t

[AzNick]

65. Hey where did that happen?

Trying to figure it out. Cant find the info...

[Pavulon]

66. 2/11, I assume the video tape is what makes it "real"

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/feb/23/family-questions-swat-drug-search-that-led-to/

[MadBadger]

69. Columbia, MO

[Fastcars]

68. Jackbooted thug

piece of shit MotherF'ers. Kille a kids dogs over a freaking misdemeanor that in most jurisdictions would result in a summons to appear.

But I think the taser was used properly in the Philly incident. Seems like the problems arise when LEOs use the tasers as a punishment device. Sort of like when they all pile on and kick a suspect that is already down and no longer a threat. How dare a person not comply instantly with a cops order. No matter if it was understood or even legal.

[L0oniX]

70. You never know when a terrorist is going to stuff a shit load of C4 up a dogs ass...

and blow up Times Square.
:sarcasm:

[fishwax]

71. .

:wtf:

[bullwinkle428]

72. But, but, but..."roid rage" is an urban myth!!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[RaleighNCDUer]

118. Of course it's a myth.

'Roids may be itchy and uncomfortable, but they don't provoke rage. Unless maybe you can't find a pillow to put on the chair.

[Name removed]

77. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[berni_mccoy]

78. The Dog Was CAGED!?!? WTF!

[YOY]

90. Two dogs...one caged and the other one was hardly a threat.

They shot a fucking corgi. The situation was pretty much under control (and totally unwarranted...even with a warrant).

A vicious fucking corgi. I assume some of these cops may be the decendants of Welsh sheep and feared the herding instinct in a time when they needed absolute control...of a raid for a few ounces of pot.

[superduperfarleft]

80. What I find the most horrifying is imagining who had dispose of the bodies?

Did they leave the parents to take their bullet-riddled dogs out to the backyard to bury them?

That guy in handcuffs showed an admirable amount of restraint. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin just watching that, I don't know how I'd handle it if it was MY dog and it was ME in handcuffs.

A SWAT team for a simple search warrant of a family's house. Unbelievable...

[superduperfarleft]

81. Here's a Columbus Daily Tribune link.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/may/03/drug-raid-inquiry-is-ongoing/

Evidently, the Corgi was "only" wounded, and there's an "inquiry" that I'm sure will result in swift punishment for firing unprovoked and uncontrollably in a family home. :sarcasm:

What kind of fascist asshole shoots a fucking Corgi in the leg?

[YOY]

91. or a caged dog. Pit Bull or not.

As a corgi lover I have to morbidly joke that it must take some aim to shoot a corgi in the leg.

[Green_Lantern]

265. the corgi wasn't shot in the leg

A second dog was shot in the leg but was not killed. The corgi is seen in the video and does not appear to be wounded.

The pit bull was.

[Jennicut]

86. All for a little bit of pot. I mean, don't these police have real crimes to investigate?

And firing on animals. Ever heard of mace assholes? My husband was a meter-reader for years for CT Light and Power. When a dog went to go bite him while he was reading meters in people's yards, he took out the mace. At least it didn't kill the animals.

[mrbarber]

87. Disgusting.

And the worse part is, nothing will happen to these fascist assholes.

Fucking pigs.

[YOY]

88. The YouTube is sickening.

Of course the anti-gubmint types are there...yes, privatize it. That will make it all better...throw more profit in the equation.

[aikoaiko]

89. You'd be surprised how much the cop-shoots-dog thing is discussed on more

...conservative boards.

Its actually a running joke whenever someone makes contact with LEO - they must first say whether the dog was shot or not.

[Fumesucker]

93. Obama is not in favor of legalizing marijuana

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/richardson-report/obama-marijuana-legalization-122308

But alas, the answer from Camp Obama was -- as it has been for years -- a flat one-liner: "President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana." And at least two of Obama's top people are drug-war supporters: Rahm Emanuel has been a long-time enemy of reform, and Joe Biden is a drug-war mainstay who helped create the position of "drug czar.

So these sorts of no knock raids will continue since there is zero political courage to end them.

[snooper2]

95. OH I AM SO FUCKING PISSED AFTER WATCHING THAT

THOSE POS MOTHER FUCKERS.....

[DesertDiamond]

101. I'm so angry right now I can't sit still. The person who did that needs jail time.

[Echo In Light]

102. Authoritarians love power. What do they love even more? Abusing it, and supporting others who do too

[hedgehog]

103. Video of the incident here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=462199&mesg_id=462199

[Renew Deal]

104. The headline is misleading

They shot the pitbull before they found the marijuana, but I guess that's not sensational enough for alternet.

[Romulox]

107. You remind of the guy who said, "It's OK-they're on their 10 minute BREAK from their 15 hour shift!"

re: picture of the exhausted Microsoft workers in China.

In other words, your alternative framing doesn't really help matters much. They took a life over marijuana residue. :hi:

[Renew Deal]

144. It's not about alternative framing. The headline is untrue.

The headline basically says that they found marijuana and shot the dog as a consequence. That's just not what happened.

[Romulox]

187. Of course it's about framing. WHY were they in the home?

They shot the dog as a consequence of looking for marijuana. Again, how does your alternative framing make the facts any more palatable? :silly:

[sabrina 1]

128. Why did they shoot a caged pit-bull?

In front of a seven-year-old? That is outrageous. And even BEFORE they found any evidence of a crime? As if having marijuana actually IS a crime? Does it take a swat team to take out a family pet in America now?

They wounded the Corgi. THAT IS SENSATIONAL! Your laissez faire attitude towards police brutality is the reason why this country is where it is today. They would not dare shoot family pets in most other modern democracies.

But then, maybe you have the right attitude after all. You've simply accepted the fact that we do live in a police state. The rest of us are still pretending that we live in a democracy. Now I get it.

[Echo In Light]

134. The standard authoritarian directive in the face of wrong doing: never trust your own lying eyes

They roll it out like fuckin clockwork

[Renew Deal]

145. My post has nothing to do with "police brutality."

I've only commented on the headline which is untrue. You simply accept the fact that the media lies to us. The rest of us are still pretending that we should have an honest media. Now I get it.

[Flaneur]

233. That's a silly quibble.

[uppityperson]

206. You see, they were saving that child from the pit bull since pit bulls are known to be able to

get out of their cages unnoticed and always attack and kill the smallest person in the vicinity with those locking jaws of theirs that are stronger than CROCODILES!!!!!1111

:sarcasm:

[DaveinJapan]

308. Hang on, the dog was caged!!?? nt

[Deep13]

106. SWEETIE, DON'T LOOK AT THIS!

Damned evil hippy dogs! Jesus fucking Christ! All that trauma to a child for a fucking misdemeanor drug offense! Child endangering? Really? REALLY?

[leeroysphitz]

108. One of these days The People are going to fed up with these dirty pigs and they aren't going to

feel as high and mighty when they lose the advantage of overwhelming force to crowds of righteously furious citizens bent on obtaining justice for years harassment and oppression at the hands of these psychopaths with badges.

[Dappleganger]

176. Agreed.

And this is why the people should not be giving up their 2nd Amendment rights so easily.

There are good cops...but they are rare and when the Blue Line goes one way, they go along with it. They're not here to protect and serve anyone but themselves.

[leeroysphitz]

204. The average cop isn't intelligent enough to serve his own interest.

They get off stepping on "little people" while protecting the interests of the elite gluttons that use them as muscle while they are busy devouring everything they can get their corrupt hands on.

[Forrest Greene]

109. There's A Time-Honored American Custom

...that used to be applied in such cases of egregious misconduct by public officials. It's called "Laying In Wait."

[DRex]

114. Just another example...

of how making pot illegal makes it infinitely more harmful.

Also, I'm tired of cops shooting first. Even with tasers, they are far too nonchalant about using them. But the using of them is so often far far worse than the crime committed. It's not 'keeping the peace,' but rather torturing people for the smallest transgressions. It's a sick method of policing.

[Unca Jim]

115. Damn!

I still don't get why they sent the SWAT team.

I'd like to see that warrant. What were they expecting to find there?


The homeowners will be able to get recompense from the city/state/county, but nothing will bring back the dogs.

[Froward69]

117. Fucking PIGS!!!

[snappyturtle]

120. OMG! I am so angry. I've gotten to the point that I fear the police

more than the criminals! I also fear that my likelihood of coming under the sadistic grasp of a officer of the 'law' is greater than that of a criminal. Sad day. Going to forward this. Thanks for posting.

[sabrina 1]

130. You're not alone, a lot of people feel that way now.

As you said, your chances of running into one of these disturbed, sadistic cops are far greater than your chances of running into a criminal.

But it's the people's fault. They wanted to be 'safe' and they thought that if they had more laws and more police they would be safer. As Ben Franklin warned, those who would trade freedom for safety deserve neither, and he has been proven to be correct.

'An over-lawed society is a failed society' someone once said.

But even here on a progressive board you find people defending even the most egregious acts by the police, such as shooting unarmed people who are merely being rambunctious and are at the worst, 'assholes'. Cops now believe, and sadly with the support of far too many Americans, that being an asshole can get you the death penalty.

I feel sad for the good cops, and there are many because they are associated with these renegades mainly because most of the time nothing is done about it.

[PM Martin]

132. The "good cops" who are silent

are complicit.

[sabrina 1]

137. True but it is probably dangerous to oppose these types

so in a way I can understand their position. Not saying it is right, some probably quit but we don't hear about them. And, if there were enough good cops it would make it easier to stand up. It's a sad situation we are in, and it's probably too late to do much about it except to keep suing them until it costs so much they will have to start changing their ways.

[donco6]

202. I never used to. I do now. n/t

[snort]

122. Business as usual.

This is why I hate pigs.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

126. This reminded me of a song by Bruce Cockburn.

"You've Never Seen Everything"

The song is filled with so many depressing images that it was hard to listen to the first few times. The words are depressing because they ring so true as this story points out.

This is in one part of the song:

And on the other side of the world
the drug squad busts a child's birthday party
Puts bullets in the family dog and the blood goes all over the baby
And the Mounties are strip-searching schoolgirls
because they can

After reading some of the comments, I'll wait until I calm down to watch the link to the video.

[Cetacea]

157. If you want tio calm down, do NOT watch or listen to video

Not if you love animals and children

[polly7]

190. Thanks. I work with injured people but can't handle watching

animals or children suffer. Just such a horrible story.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

227. Thanks for the additional warning.

I'll bookmark it for the time being.

My Dad & Uncle were both Veterinarians and there's not much that I detest more than violence against children and animals.

I already have a pretty vivid image of what this video must contain.

:mad:

[sui generis]

131. this was a SWAT exercise

they KNEW that it would be relatively safe. There are a dozen other ways to apprehend persons of interest and to control a residential property with a kid on premises that do not involve SWAT. These guys were practicing their process on a relatively "safe" target.

And another thing, if a SWAT raid was planned, they KNEW the family had dogs. They had planned to kill the dogs all along, mostly to practice killing dogs in the event they ever had to do a real raid for a real reason. Pathetic little shits, but that's Columbia, Missourri for ya.

It's sad that somebody in the family lacked enough judgment to endanger their family by having anything to do with illegal substance, but those stupid rinky dink wannabe SWAT members got to go play dress up and execute possibly the worst use of SWAT conceivable.

If their research was that shit poor that they were unable to find kilos of contraband then they shouldn't be carrying guns to begin with. They're too fucking stupid.

[PM Martin]

136. SWAT Teams are cowards.

95% of what they do has nothing to do with dangerous cases such as bank robberies/bomb threats, etc...

[Crystal Clarity]

140. SWAT Team callouts

are supposed to be for these reasons....

http://people.howstuffworks.com/swat-team.htm

[PM Martin]

142. There was no "high risk" involved here

As for police, they agree to accept a certain amount of risk.

[Crystal Clarity]

182. This case falls under NONE of the

listed callout reasons on that site. Including "high risk" as you point out.

I really, REALLY hope some heads are going to roll over this.

[KansDem]

133. I'm not a lawyer, but aren't search warrants to be issued *before* entering the residence?

Aren't you suppose to knock, show the search warrant, then enter?

I mean, what good is a search warrant after you kick in the door, shoot the family's pets, and 'cuff one of the residents?

It's like it's an afterthought...

[happyslug]

217. You do NOT need to knock to serve a Search Warrant

The Search Warrant is a statement from a Judge that the Police have shown probable cause that evidence of a crime is present at the location. If the police believe that the evidence may be destroyed if the Police knock to enter first, the Police do NOT have knock for the Police have always had the right to enter without ANY warning if their had a warrant. If the situation is less likely that the evidence will be destroyed then the police should knock (and in many states that is required in such situations) but the decision is left up to the police serving the warrant.

[dorkulon]

141. This is SOP in Buffalo for drug raids, here's an article on it:

http://www.buffalobeast.com/98/achtung.htm

Speaking of unfortunately named initiatives, police recently carried out “Operation Shock and Awe” in the Buffalo theatre in the war on drugs. Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson’s 3-day secret police raid swept across the city, netting an unimpressive amount of drugs, guns, and cash, and resulting in 78 total arrests. Some Buffalo residents are confident the raids provided the nearly incomprehensible levels of massive destruction needed to dissuade all future drug use in the city, while others feel the operation was a tragic waste of perfectly good narcotics and pit bulls.

The Buffalo News reported that the raid netted “about six pounds of marijuana, seven ounces of crack cocaine, five guns and more than $11,000” in the execution of 38 search warrants. If you break that down, it’s 2.5 ounces of pot (that evil drug that causes countless Buffalonians to enjoy Cartoon Network programming more than they really ought to), 0.18 ounces of crack, 0.13 guns and 289 bucks per warrant executed—not exactly an “awesome” rate of return. Divide the total take by the amount of people arrested—78—and it’s hard to imagine what all of those people were actually charged with, especially since I’m pretty sure money is not classified as a schedule 1 narcotic.

The brutality of the News article’s wording is worth remarking. It leads off like this:

“A loud ‘flash bang’ concussion device is detonated inside a Kensington Avenue house as Buffalo Police SWAT officers, clad in black armor and brandishing automatic assault rifles, storm a lower apartment.

“…Within seconds, there are multiple shotgun blasts. At the same instant, another officer cradles a 1-year-old boy out the front door and down a flight of steps to safety.

“When the smoke clears, three large pit bull terriers lay dead, in pools of their own coagulated blood.”

Jesus! So this is good police work, huh? The cops just stun-grenaded a friggin’ baby and shot three dogs dead for a teaspoon of crack, and we’re supposed to cheer?

“Shock and Awe,” or “Schlag und Awe” in the original German, was a term developed by the Nazis and first put to print in the glossy WWII era propaganda magazine Signal. As expounded upon in a United States' National Defense University report from the mid-‘90s, the military goals of Rapid Deployment are "to affect the will, perception, and understanding of the adversary to fit or respond to our strategic policy ends through imposing a regime of Shock and Awe." In Nazi Germany and modern America, the “adversary” is both the defined enemy and the news-consuming public at large. The Buffalo police are trying to scare the shit out of you with an inappropriately named, historically disconnected bit of military marketing might. (This isn’t a new tactic: a previous campaign of police intrusion was dubbed “Operation Clean Sweep,” after a search-and-destroy campaign in Vietnam.)

[sabrina 1]

152. 'Shock and Awe' on America's streets and in their homes! Great

reporting. What is the purpose of all this? It is sickening.

Here is more if people have the stomach for it:

The Drug War Goes to the Dogs

In the course of researching paramilitary drug raids, I’ve found some pretty disturbing stuff. There was a case where a SWAT officer stepped on a baby’s head while looking for drugs in a drop ceiling. There was one where an 11-year-old boy was shot at point-blank range. Police have broken down doors, screamed obscenities, and held innocent people at gunpoint only to discover that what they thought were marijuana plants were really sunflowers, hibiscus, ragweed, tomatoes, or elderberry bushes. (It’s happened with all five.)

Yet among hundreds of botched raids, the ones that get me most worked up are the ones where the SWAT officers shoot and kill the family dog.

One of the most appalling cases occurred in Maricopa County, Arizona, the home of Joe Arpaio, self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America.” In 2004 one of Arpaio’s SWAT teams conducted a bumbling raid in a Phoenix suburb. Among other weapons, it used tear gas and an armored personnel carrier that later rolled down the street and smashed into a car. The operation ended with the targeted home in flames and exactly one suspect in custody—for outstanding traffic violations.

But for all that, the image that sticks in your head, as described by John Dougherty in the alternative weekly Phoenix New Times, is that of a puppy trying to escape the fire and a SWAT officer chasing him back into the burning building with puffs from a fire extinguisher. The dog burned to death.

The fact that this man, I hesitate to use the word 'man' as it implies human traits, when speaking about Joe Arpaio, is still operating in Az is a sad indictment of this society.

It seems that Swat Teams are trained to 'take out' family dogs first:

In a massive 1998 raid at a San Francisco housing co-op, cops shot a family dog in front of its family, then dragged it outside and shot it again.

When police in Fremont, California, raided the home of medical marijuana patient Robert Filgo, they shot his pet Akita nine times. Filgo himself was never charged.

Last October police in Alabama raided a home on suspicion of marijuana possession, shot and killed both family dogs, then joked about the kill in front of the family. They seized eight grams of marijuana, equal in weight to a ketchup packet.

In January a cop en route to a drug raid in Tampa, Florida, took a short cut across a neighboring lawn and shot the neighbor’s two pooches on his way. And last May, an officer in Syracuse, New York, squeezed off several shots at a family dog during a drug raid, one of which ricocheted and struck a 13-year-old boy in the leg. The boy was handcuffed at gunpoint at the time.

In that link above, there is an article about the rise of paramilitary police in this country. It's pretty scary and it happened without much comment, especially from our 'free press'.

[NoSheep]

143. Holy hell.

[tqla]

149. Remember the North Hollywood shootout?

Swat commandeered an business nearby and spent all their time planning while the local Cops just went out and took care of business and put a stop to the whole thing. It was a total embarrassment for SWAT. The Cops did a bang-up job! Heros!

[PM Martin]

150. As I said before, SWAT teams are composed of cowards

who would not dare go on the ground in the middle east.

[DonCoquixote]

194. Some cops are bad

But do you tar all Swat with the same brush? I admit, what happened here was awful, but there are criminals out there that are bettered armed and trained than many soliders, and because of that, we do need a SWAT. Now that SWAT is abuse, yes, and that the drug war is a waste, yes, but as much as Police can be a pain, no one wants to see society without them.

[PM Martin]

220. 95% of what SWAT teams do is wrong.

We DO NOT NEED chickenhawk militant thugs terrorizing the citizens!

[DonCoquixote]

231. so

when you deal with biker gangs, KKK, or MS-13 that are better armed than many soliders, what should we do, roll out the red carpet? As the ATf learned at Waco, when you have a bunch of well armed psychos, a policeman with a snub nose .38 just won;t cut it.

[HALO141]

153. SWAT always shoots the dog.

Pretty much a matter of policy albeit unspoken.

[Cetacea]

156. And they wonder why kids grow up and shoot cops

That dog crying out will be burned in that child's mind forever.

[PM Martin]

159. Cops are hurting themselves by staying involved in the

failed war against drugs.

[Green_Lantern]

242. the police don't write the laws...

People who traffick in narcotics generally aren't just peace loving people.

So you want honesty and law abiding cops but also cops who look the other way and allow criminal enterprises to operate freely?

[Zix]

249. They could protest, perhaps...

They could be a bit more vocal. A substantial percentage of them think the drug war is stupid.

They have the right to protest just like everyone else. If their department tries to stop them they can take on the department. It'd be scary, but would it be as scary as having to face narcotic smugglers with guns? The narcotics trade would collapse completely and take a good deal of crime with it if drugs were legalised.

I understand it would be difficult for them, though, probably a good deal more difficult than any of us realise. policing is not a normal job and police departments are not normal employers...

Also, it's difficult to see what effect their protest would have...

[Green_Lantern]

253. also then they'd spend all their time protesting and not doing

Their jobs and then everyone would whine that the police weren't doing their jobs. Also I don't think police can go on strike like everyone else since they are emergency responders.

[Zix]

258. .... Green Lantern ...

... you have responded to me with disengenuous nonsense...they WOULDN'T spend all their time protesting any more than anyone else who goes on protests spends all their time protesting. I go on protests. I don't spend all my time protesting. I have plenty of time for my job. And even if people did complain about the police spending all their time protesting (which is incredibly unlikely, IMO, many people would dearly love to know that the police have feelings and opinions too, hey, it might even make people more polite to the police) it would be a straight toss up between people complaining about their protesting and people complaining about their involvement in the drugs war. That disadvantage would be cancelled out by its counterpart.

Also I said nothing at all about strikes. In fact I put no particular characterisation on the manner of their protest.

How about a petition of police officers? Or letters from Police Associations? I refuse to believe that the police are incapable of organising themselves. They're dead against politicizing themselves, naturally, and admirably so, I can see that, but this is no longer a simple case, they are being used as lightning conductors for the consequences of a fatal flaw in social perceptions - on occasion this misperception of the nature of mind-altering substances on behalf of the criminal justice system loses one of them their lives...

[Green_Lantern]

259. I wasn't being disengenuous...

I was simply saying that going beyond writing letters or signing petitions most police don't have time to take extensive action to fight for this cause.

Honestly I think it's a myth that most police want drug legalization.

[Zix]

289. Well, I don't know about "most", either.

But there are certainly some. And given the danger they are exposed to as a result of the drugs war I do find it surprising that more of them don't speak up.

It used to be the case that the majority of the police here in the UK would have preferred not to waste their time chasing dope-smokers and I know many stories of police officers turning a blind eye over here. I'm glad they do.

[Flaneur]

269. Police don't write the laws, but they sure lobby for them.

I especially love it when cops become medical experts and explain why we shouldn't allow medical marijuana. Cops have a vested interest in perpetuating the drug war; it's money in their budgets.

Yeah, guys who sell bags of pot are just like Mexican drug lords.

I want the drug war ended. I want the cops to quit being an obstacle to reform.

[tabasco]

303. Police in British Columbia stopped enforcing marijuana laws.

I saw the BC police chief on TV say they only had resources to investigate "crimes that produce victims."

Yes, cops have a choice.

There were no narcotics involved in this case. Why are you trying to change the topic?

[Cetacea]

155. Mother fuckers! Jesus Christ !

fuck it.

[Green_Lantern]

158. for sure the video looked and sounded horrible but...

I think it'd be wrong to jump to conclusions that these police were just being fascist jerks.

For one thing no one here can say what evidence the search warrant was based on and from the video we can't even see the dogs' behavior.

Also the video clearly doesn't show the police treating the suspect in a rough or angry manner.

If they were uncontrolled thugs I'm sure the suspect would've been treated pretty rough too.

If the dog was being aggressive what do you expect?Give them a treat?

Criminals use dogs for protection in many cases. Who says this wasn't one of them...

[sabrina 1]

163. The dog they killed was in a cage.

And since when did the U.S. send out Swat Teams to go after people for possession of marijuana in their homes, killing the family dogs, sometimes killing innocent by-standers, using paramilitary Pentagon supplied weapons and uniforms?

Are you seriously attempting to defend this? Please read my post above linked to information about how often this happens. Also, read about the escalation of introducing these para-military SWAT teams to take over what should be ordnary police work. Why are the American people tolerating the militarization of their civil police force?

The issue isn't whether or not this cop 'thought' a dog might be vicious. The issue is 'what are these military types doing on our streets and in our homes'? And if a dog does bite them, since they have no business being in the homes of American citizens without their permission and without a warrant, that's too bad.

[The Old Creak]

169. No Warrant?

[HALO141]

181. Lets not get TOO awfully melodramatic.

"...since when did the U.S. send out Swat Teams to go after people for possession of marijuana in their homes..."

Since narcotics became a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. As has been stated numerous times in this thread, we don't know what the warrant was based on or what information the team had when it entered the residence.

"...killing the family dogs..."

see posts 160 and 153

"...sometimes killing innocent by-standers..."

It's a dangerous world. Shit happens. Believe me, NOBODY wants that. When that happens, the city/county/whatever always ends up paying out mega-bucks in the law suit settlements. They may not care about you (and they don't) but they DO care about the money.

"...using paramilitary Pentagon supplied weapons and uniforms..."

The M-4 carbine (seen in the video) and MP-5 sub-machine guns (also popular with various SWAT organizations) are readily available to any civilian law enforcement through regular industry supply channels. As for the uniforms, armor and the rest of the kit, you don't have to be anyone special to buy that. It's available to anyone with cash or credit card. I've got two sets of ballistic armor hanging in my closet right now.

"The issue is 'what are these military types doing on our streets and in our homes'?"

Narcotic organizations are typically well organized, VERY well equipped (they have machine guns too) and have become increasingly ruthless over the past several decades. There isn't even space here to list all the street gangs that make their money moving narcotics for, and take their marching orders from, various drug cartels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_Salvatrucha">MS 13 may be the most infamous but there are hundreds more following the same formula for success. What you're not seeing are all the narcotic warrants that get served where they find numerous automatic weapons, shotguns, etc.

"The dog they killed was in a cage."

Really? How do you know? I'll have to watch the vid again because I didn't even really see the dog, only heard it.

[Flaneur]

191. Tell me, how many cops have been killed in these "dangerous" drug raids?

The number is tiny--you can count them on the fingers of one hand--each year.

But killing dogs is standard, and killing home-owners, especially if they are armed, is not uncommon.

Or they could just legalize drugs.

[Flaneur]

192. These cops need public shaming. Maybe even pickets at their homes.

I know people's homes are usually considered out of bounds, but in the case of these home-invading thugs in uniform...

[HALO141]

198. I'm not defending their actions.

Similarly, I'm not taking a position on drug policy in the U.S. (If I were, I might tend to agree with you more than you would have expected.) I'm only telling you how things are.

Also, I fail to see the inherent nobility in intentionally lining up to get shot just so the statistics look more even. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.


I happen to agree that the police are terribly misused by politicians, forcing them into an oppositional relationship with the public at large that heightens the risk exposure to everyone on both sides.

[Green_Lantern]

236. I'm glad more cops aren't being killed...

As far as being heavily armed on these raids...they have no clue what they're going to be walking in on. You yourself even said many drug dealing homeowners are heavily armed themselves.

These officers were serving a legal search warrant on this home so these people can't claim the right to have dogs attack them. Nothing on this video suggests the police were being overly aggressive.

[Flaneur]

245. No, the point is that these raids are NOT inherently dangerous for police.

For all the hype about dangerous drug dealers, the number of police killed in drug raids--of which there are tens of thousand every year--is ludicrously small.

The number of home owners and dogs killed in these raids is much higher.

I didn't say many drug dealing home owners are heavily armed. I said many home owners have guns. It's an American thing. And it becomes especially fraught when somebody (SWAT) comes breaking down your door in the middle of the night and you pick up your gun to defend yourself and then you're dead.

I didn't see any dog attack anybody in that video.

The root problem here is drug prohibition. A related problem is SWAT mission creep. These units were designed for hostage situations and the like, but they are now being routinely used to serve search warrants without any evidence there is a particular danger associated with any given warrant. They basically treat US citizens as if they were terrorism suspects.

There is also a problem with judges rubber stamping search warrants. Clearly in this case, their information was not reliable.

Finally, at worst, police thought they had a 20-something pot dealer in a college town. They could have just knocked on the door.

[sabrina 1]

209. Wow! 'Shit happens'!

Yes, it does and when it does in a democracy it is up to the people to put a stop to it.

Your response to the idea of this country escalating the use of para-military forces against American citizens is seriously frightening. I am glad to say that you are very much in the minority. This is one issue that Americans across the political spectrum agree on.

The link I posted above had nothing to do with 'narcotics organizations'. In every instance where someone was killed and/or the family pets slaughtered by these cowards, the people were ordinary citizens and many times nothing was found.

How about 'stepping on a baby's head' as they barged in the door? Or shooting off the finger of a child and killing its mother because 'we couldn't see very well, we just saw a shadow'? Is this acceptable in this country now?

These crimes against the American people have been escalating over the past several years and are only now getting some attention.

As for this:

It's a dangerous world. Shit happens. Believe me, NOBODY wants that. When that happens, the city/countywhatever always ends up paying out mega-bucks in the law suit settlements. They may not care about you (and they don't) but they DO care about the money.

THEY are making it a dangerous world, for pets, for families, for children and their mothers and fathers. And I don't want their money, I want my pets and family alive. Nor do I want to pay the salaries of public servants who 'don't care about you, but they care about money'. If they don't care about us, they need to be fired as quickly as possible as that is supposed to be their job.

But really, you made my points for me. These thugs are mindless killers and are not safe to have around innocent children and their pets as the record shows. What kind of human being kills a family's pet and then laughs with his buddies about the whole incident? See my link above.

And finally, in the research done in the link I posted above, what did they accomplish after all the carnage? Nothing much in terms of fighting any 'drug war'. Most of the people whose homes they violently invaded were innocent of any crimes. The criminals were the invaders.

Your lack of outrage and apathetic acceptance of the growing police state, is sad to see.

[HALO141]

216. You don't know me well enough to make such assumptions.

Spare me the righteous indignation. You're not qualified to sit in judgment.

[Richard Steele]

339. After seeing your post, those aren't "assumptions", they are OBSERVATIONS.

Different.

[Green_Lantern]

238. well I'm sure there are police who are abusive...

But nothing I see on this video shows them behaving aggressively. I refuse to just assume they weren't being attacked by the dogs.

[fascisthunter]

241. sociopathy tends to be a trend

[uppityperson]

207. a dog in a cage isn't much protection. eom

[Name removed]

230. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

247. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[D23MIURG23]

164. What would we do without our cowardly, self congratulatory, racist police force...

I've always wondered. I think maybe we would live in peace and the roles of custodian and garbage collector would become much more competitive positions.


Incidentally, why the hell was the swat team sent to do a misdemeanor pot bust? Is such a thing too dangerous for these illiterate eunuchs to handle without m-4s?

[blueamy66]

219. +1

nt

[Green_Lantern]

239. you don't know what evidence they had...

For the search warrant...they aren't psychics so they didn't know it'd end up just being a misdemeanor.

[Flaneur]

246. Whatever the basis was for that search warrant, it sucked.

It was wrong.

They attacked a family whose biggest crime was that Dad smoked pot. And killed their dog. And traumatized their kid.

But go on, keep defending this.

[Green_Lantern]

250. how do you know the basis for the warrant?

All you know is that the search didn't turn up anything...If the evidence didn't provide enough probable cause for the warrant I agree the police should be sued.

[Flaneur]

266. I don't know the basis for the warrant. Probably some snitch.

What I do know is that police thought they had a major pot dealer, but all they really had was a guy who smoked pot. The evidence behind that warrant was bunk.

Even if they thought they had a college town pot dealer, why did they go in like they were US Special Forces taking down a terrorist hideout?

[D23MIURG23]

306. Thats right, and I also don't care. If they were competent this wouldn't have happened.

Why is it that this kind of monumental organized stupidity is considered a problem in any profession other than law enforcement?

[Uncle Joe]

165. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[rcrush]

168. This isnt the first time something like this has happened

Google how many times Swat Teams have busted down the WRONG DOOR and killed someone, not just a dog, COPS have killed so many innocent people.

[Uncle Joe]

171. I timed it from the first knock until the door was broken in, 9 seconds.

If you're sleeping, on the toilet, in the shower, have the television/radio turned up loud, hard of hearing, or elderly will you make it to the door within 9 seconds?

This is just a small taste of what the insane "War on Drugs" has done to the American People's privacy, freedom, safety and family structure.

I doubt you will see this episode on FOX's Cops.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particualary describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[Cetacea]

186. That was my first thought.

[benEzra]

307. Heck, I'm awake, alert, clothed, and have my glasses on...

and I would be hard pressed to make it to my front door in 9 seconds from the computer here. And if I did, I wouldn't fling it open, I would be looking through the living room windows to see who was there. Plenty of criminals have pulled home invasions while claiming to be police.

Part of the purpose of requiring a warrant is to assure the homeowner that the search is legit. 9 seconds isn't much different from a no-knock, in practice, because nobody answers their door that fast.

[Uncle Joe]

324. This kind of virtual no-knock Swat search De Facto assumes guilt before innocence.

I could understand extreme caution and/or rapidity of action on the part of the police if they were about to engage a serial killer, murder suspect, violent crime in progress etc. etc.

However using virtual Gestapo tactics because someone is suspected of possessing drugs is too draconian, invasive, unnecessarily dangerous to all involved, counter productive and UnConstitutional, there is nothing "reasonable" about this kind of search.

This out right violates the Fourth Amendment and for all practical purposes, it could be argued these tactics violate the Eighth Amendment as well.

The Eighth Amendment

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, no cruel and unusual punishment inflicted."

Busting in the door and shooting the family dog for defending his family is cruel and unusual punishment; when the police tactics; extremely outweigh the suspected crime.

Likewise the same truth would hold if they busted in your house endangering your family or pet causing damage to your property because you didn't pay a speeding ticket.

[bobburgster]

172. These guys are getting way out of hand!

[Echo In Light]

183. Our Militarized Police Departments ...

Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Crime

Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak today.

I’m here to talk about police militarization, a troubling trend that’s been on the rise in America’s police departments over the last 25 years.

Militarization is a broad term that refers to using military-style weapons, tactics, training, uniforms, and even heavy equipment by civilian police departments.

It’s a troubling trend because the military has a very different and distinct role than our domestic peace officers. The military’s job is to annihilate a foreign enemy. The police are supposed to protect us while upholding our constitutional rights. It’s dangerous to conflate the two.

But that’s exactly what we’re doing. Since the late 1980s, Mr. Chairman, thanks to acts passed by the U.S. Congress, millions of pieces of surplus military equipment have been given to local police departments across the country.

We’re not talking just about computers and office equipment. Military-grade semi-automatic weapons, armored personnel vehicles, tanks, helicopters, airplanes, and all manner of other equipment designed for use on the battlefield is now being used on American streets, against American citizens.

Academic criminologists credit these transfers with the dramatic rise in paramilitary SWAT teams over the last quarter century.

SWAT teams were originally designed to be used in violent, emergency situations like hostage takings, acts of terrorism, or bank robberies. From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, that’s primarily how they were used, and they performed marvelously.

But beginning in the early 1980s, they’ve been increasingly used for routine warrant service in drug cases and other nonviolent crimes. And thanks to the Pentagon transfer programs, there are now a lot more of them.

This is troubling because paramilitary police actions are extremely volatile, necessarily violent, overly confrontational, and leave very little margin for error. These are acceptable risks when you’re dealing with an already violent situation featuring a suspect who is an eminent threat to the community.

But when you’re dealing with nonviolent drug offenders, paramilitary police actions create violence instead of defusing it. Whether you’re an innocent family startled by a police invasion that inadvertently targeted the wrong home or a drug dealer who mistakes raiding police officers for a rival drug dealer, forced entry into someone’s home creates confrontation. It rouses the basest, most fundamental instincts we have in us – those of self-preservation – to fight when flight isn’t an option.

Peter Kraska, a criminologist at the University of Eastern Kentucky, estimates we’ve seen a startling 1,500 percent increase in the use of SWAT teams in this country from the early 80s until the early 2000s. And the vast majority of these SWAT raids are for routine warrant service.

These violent raids on American homes, when coupled with the imperfect, often ugly methods used in drug policing, have set the stage for disturbingly frequent cases of police raiding the homes not only of recreational, nonviolent drug users, but the homes of people completely innocent of any crime at all.

Cont...

http://reason.com/archives/2007/07/02/our-militarized-police-departm

[pintobean]

174. This guy was a total dirtbag

Google and Casenet searches show that. I have no problem with a judge signing a warrant and the police executing it. But a swat team barging in and immediately firing their weapons? WTF? They unnecessarily put everyone involved in danger. The innocent dogs paid the price for this stupidity, but they're damn lucky they didn't kill the kid. I find it very difficult to believe they were unable to arrest the man outside the home, then execute the search warrant.

Brute force and ignorance.

[idrahaje]

175. Swat not cops

Or ATF. Like say the infamous picture of Elian (sp) Gonzales being forcibly removed with a semi auto weapon up his nose.

[conscious evolution]

229. SWAT are pigs

Not a seperate group.
One and the same.

[Machineland]

177. I'm sorry but...

if that was to happen to me I would have to go out to each one of those cops private houses and do the same to them. And if people did just that when something like this goes on they might think twice about it. Everyone of those cops get drunk in their homes with their family around. I would just end up in the paper as some kind of loon and probably get killed in the process. But they are worse than the drugs they are going after. Yes I would have to clean up my community and make it safe for my kid to grow up there. If it was meth or other hard drugs they were going after I would understand, but pot no. Pot is not any more of a drug than a cup of coffee.

[asdjrocky]

178. When people ask why I hate cops, this is why.

Plus a million other reasons.

[Fredfon]

185. IS THIS NOT THE GODDAMN DEFINITION OF TYRANNY?????!!!!!!

That is an obvious MILITARY outfit busting into a family's home with gun's blazing! They got their toys and gear from "homeland security" grant money no doubt.

Damn it-if you get bit by a dog, even a "pit bull" you are still "going home at the end of the night". Especially with all that armor you're wearing big man.

FUCKING PUSSIES!!!!!

Just had a local cop scream at me yesterday to move my truck. I was painting the fence at the local historical society with my seven year old son to teach him about community service and this asshole pulls up and screams at me to move my truck (it was NOT in a no-parking zone but people had to slow down to get by it, heaven forbid). My son was visibly shaken as this guy was SCREAMING at me to move the truck. I had to explain to my son that some people (even cops) are just angry people and like to bully people around. What was supposed to be a fun day bonding with my son was RUINED by this a-hole.

[Green_Lantern]

243. police have every right to bust into a home with a warrant...

And if they were just trigger happy nuts why does the video show them not behaving aggressively with the suspect?

Also, no guns were blazing...if they were blazing why wasn't anyone shot?

[Flaneur]

271. And they have every right to knock on the door.

But no, they'd rather play Special Forces and do their fascistoid thug thing.

There need to be restrictions on "no-knock" raids. US citizens are not some enemy force. Yet.

[Green_Lantern]

277. it depends on the evidence that provided probable cause...

But his lawyer must be in on it if he never challenged the legality of the raid. I'm not going to second guess the police based "probably".

[Flaneur]

316. Well, the evidence that provided probable cause was wrong, wasn't it?

Yes, the police had a search warrant. No, they didn't have to go in like gangbusters.

The fact that a search warrant was issued based on such crappy information also raises questions about that whole process. Are judges just rubber stamping whatever bullshit the cops bring them? That appears to be the case here.

[Green_Lantern]

319. I don't know if it was wrong, it depends on the info...

Assumptions assumptions.

[RagAss]

188. Shoot my dog and I shoot back...as long as I have movement in my finger.

I don't give a mother-fuck who you are !

[Green_Lantern]

244. what if these dogs were used as attack dogs to protect...

A drug dealers' house?

[Zix]

252. Alternatively, what if they were used as a child's pet?

Which is more important?

[Green_Lantern]

254. well Nothing in the video shows that the dog was being aggressive...

Or not. Honestly it breaks my heart either way. It's not the dog's fault it's aggressive but if it's attacking someone it has to be stopped.

[Cetacea]

257. Wsn't one in a cage? (I can't watch it through)

Maybe they should think about equipping teams with tranquilizer guns when they know there are dogs in a house. Just have the person follow the lead entrant.

[Green_Lantern]

260. if they could use tranquilizer guns on animals...

Why not just use it on the people? It wouldn't eliminate the threat fast enough plus you'd need to know the dog's weight so you wouldn't give too large or small a dose.

[tkmorris]

300. A Corgi attack dog?

Yeah, all of the best-equipped drug dealers around here have attack Corgis as guardians. Well, those and ninja ferret assassins.

[Green_Lantern]

314. they had 2 pitbulls....

The Corgi wasn't shot.

[keepCAblue]

193. SWAT commander's email: Send him some OUTRAGE

Captain Tom Dresner, Commander: [e-mail]

And here are pics of the mutherfuc*ing bastards who so "bravely" slaughtered a helpless, non-threatening family pet:

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Police/Divisions/SWAT/starstruct.php

[PM Martin]

213. Ugliest COCKROACHES I've seen!

[asdjrocky]

221. Those prick bastards sure like their guns. nt

[MindandSoul]

197. This is sick! It seems to me that the only way the children were

endangered is through the cop firing his gun! And (in term of post traumatic stress) watching their pets be killed by the cops!

No excuse for this kind of over reaching behavior by the cops!

[lynne]

199. This doesn't pass the smell test. Very few details on blog -

- need more info to form opinion as we sure don't have the whole story here.

[keepCAblue]

200. What part of the video are you not "getting"?

There is no ambiguity or missing details in the video. The SWAT team enter the house and immediately slaughter the dog. First one shot, then sounds coming from another room of an obviously wounded and crying dog. Then several seconds later, after ushering out the woman and child from the same room, several men open fire on the already wounded dog. You could clearly hear from the dog's cries it was incapacitated and severely wounded. There was no provocation or just cause to continue shooting to kill the dog. Hell, the search for the drugs had not even commenced...the dog was shot within seconds of the officers entering. They never gave the dog's owner (the woman or the child) the chance to contain or secure the dog, nor did the bastards take any pity on the dog once wounded and give the owner's a chance to tend to it or seek medical help. They just coldly and callously executed the dog. Regardless of what might have been found subsequently in the search, it does not justify executing the family dog.

What part of this is confusing you???!!!!!

[lynne]

222. I said I couldn't tell by what was on the blog. I couldn't see the video -

- it wouldn't initially run for me. Hard to tell much from the video with regards to what the dogs were doing so don't know if the pit bull lunged or came at them. There were two dogs from what I read elsewhere - a smaller dog injured in the paw and the pit bull killed - so could be the injured dog crying in the video. It sure looks like the entire mess could have been handled better but I'm not going to second-guess someone when faced with a pit bull. Two just attacked a neighbor walking her dog yesterday. If one came at me and I had a gun, I'd use it.

This occurred in February. Story here > http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=453570

[RedCappedBandit]

224. replied to wrong post.nm

[keepCAblue]

228. "If one came at me and I had a gun, I'd use it."

First off, the dogs, both the pitty and corgi, were in the kitchen, behind a gate. Second, even if the pitty responded "aggressively", it had every right to -- even the gentlest of dogs REGARDLESS OF BREED will respond exactly the same way when confronted with a bunch of large scary looking men armed with guns breaking into their home.

You are what's called a "breedist" a.k.a. a dog breed bigot. Pit bull? Shoot it. Why? Because it is a Pit Bull, no other reason.

"If one came at me and I had a gun, I'd use it."

Well, frankly, if you came busting into my home armed with a gun and shot my dog and if I had a gun, I'd fucking shoot you.

Big difference between a vicious dog loose on the street coming at you with teeth bared and a dog in his own home, secured in a gated area barking out of fear and sense of duty to protect his family and home.

BIG DIFFERENCE. Too bad you are too busy being an apologist to comprehend that difference.

[Green_Lantern]

248. see it keeps coming back to this...

Nothing on that tape shows the dogs weren't acting aggressively towards the police.

Secondly, First off, the dogs, both the pitty and corgi, were in the kitchen, behind a gate. Second, even if the pitty responded "aggressively", it had every right to

If the police are serving a legal warrant at a home, no you don't have a right to use force to defend your home. They do have the right to use force if attacked, even if the dog is just defending the home.

If you have dealings with police I'd strongly advise not shooting at them.

[Flaneur]

268. They like to shoot the dogs. They do it all the time.

It's almost as if it were standard operating procedure.

Just do a Google search on "officer-shoots," "deputy-shoots," and "police-shoot," and you will see this is virtually a daily occurrence.

[Green_Lantern]

279. yeah police are always shooting my dogs...

Now look up suspect shoots police officer....

[Flaneur]

315. Look it up if you don't believe me.

As for "suspect shoots officer," there are far fewer of those than "officer shoots."

Look it up.

[Odin2005]

210. All cops should be assumed to be fucking PIGS until proven otherwise.

[The Old Creak]

234. What should they assume

about YOU until proven otherwise?:P

[Zix]

235. What they feel they should or should not assume about us until proven otherwise

doesn't appear to have much to do with what we think or say or in fact do, so there's not a great deal of point in answering your question.

If they're happy to shoot our dogs in cages just in case... something, I don't know what, then I don't think any discussion of what we feel their assumptions about us should be will have much effect on anything. It's not as if they're going to listen.

[The Old Creak]

251. All cops

didn't shoot that dog. I'm having a hard time with the stereotyping going on here. My son is a Deputy Sheriff, and I assure you these comments don't apply to him.

[Zix]

274. I did not assert that they did, sir.

I asserted that their assumptions about the rest of us appear in certain very emotive cases to have an interesting flexibility that might be considered to be dependent on the necessity to justify their own actions rather than the necessity to safely anticipate ours... I suppose my language should have been more precise, I apologise for conveying the impression that your son might occupy a place in my thoughts that would cause you discomfort.

It's not as if we see a very large number of police officers, even here on DU, expressing any particular concern over police abuse of authority, although there have been some very reassuring posts from some of them. I'm sure you will agree with me in the hope that there would be a great deal more support from the general public for the police if there were more condemnation of the abusive policeman.

Your original question still stands: "What should the police assume about you?" and I'm afraid the answer is - anything that makes it easier to get control of the situation. I don't think very many police officers would contradict that. Actually, I don't think very many police officers make any assumptions at all about the general populace, I don't think that features. They are required by law to use a one size fits all set of procedures to establish a consistency that the public can relate to, and there's no other way of doing this if you're going to have law enforcement at all. This means that they must act in way that LOOKS as if they're making a series of unbased assumptions.

And, unfortunately, it's becoming more and more difficult to support the argument that they aren't in fact making them. Its very easy to start believing everyone's a rat in a cage when you're taught methods of dealing with people that are essentially rat-in-cage management techniques. I have experienced my mind playing this trick on me in previous jobs dealing with the public.

Don't get me wrong. Some people really are rats, but not all of us are, I hope.

I will take your characterisation of your son at face value, sir. Would he extend a similar courtesy to me? Or is he in fact obliged to ignore my relatives testimonials and if so, why? And, given that the police also commit crimes, and in some notable and very upsetting cases, use their position for personal gain at the expense of their suspects, would my extension of such forbearance in fact be wise, were I arrested by some unscrupulous policeman who is NOT your son?

[Green_Lantern]

255. where are you gettingthis from....

How do you know the dog was in a cage?

[Zix]

275. Well, it said so further upthread...

... am I wrong? :shrug:

[Green_Lantern]

280. someone in the thread said that...

Nothing in the article says the dog was caged.

[superduperfarleft]

261. They already do assume things about private citizens, mainly that we're all criminals.

And if you don't like the way cops are viewed, maybe the cops should clean their departments out as opposed to defending pigs like the ratfuckers in the OP behind the blue wall of silence.

Tell your noble son to go easy on the bruthas tonight. :puke:

[Name removed]

270. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[superduperfarleft]

276. Many people in my profession are assholes, but if I assault or kill someone while I'm at work

I'll be fired, arrested, and spend the night in jail. If a cop assaults or kills someone while he's at work, he'll be assigned to desk duty pending an "investigation," if that. Usually the public has to shame the police force into doing what's right, because the cops are too busy covering their own asses and defending the creep.

Not really the same thing...

[Green_Lantern]

281. serving a legal search warrant is not assault...

Did this video show any officer assault anyone?

[superduperfarleft]

287. I'm not talking specifically about this video, I'm talking about the general lack of accountability

that cops have to the community they are supposed to be serving.

Again, if cops don't like being called pigs, maybe they could start policing themselves better.

[Green_Lantern]

291. I know alot of good and hardworking police...

You can't possibly back up your accusations.

[superduperfarleft]

293. "Can't possibly back up."

Really? Really? Do you even open a newspaper once in a while? Police corruption and brutality is not exactly an unheard-of thing.

I'm not sure what to say to someone who is as far-removed from reality as you seem to be.

[Green_Lantern]

295. I never once said police corruption and brutality doesn't exist...

I'm simply saying it's not as wide spread as you suggest and that police are rarely held accountable for their bad actions.

[superduperfarleft]

297. Well where I live, cops regularly assault and/or kill people, and are back on the force in no time.

Or they're allowed to sit at home collecting a paycheck while the department "investigates," whereas I would be sitting in jail if I had done what they'd done.

Or do you really think that widespread distrust of police comes out of flippin' nowhere?

[Green_Lantern]

298. most prejudices do come from biased assumptions..

Wow, if police are getting away with murder perhaps you should be posting a news story about this. Where is this happening?

Are you the only one who knows about this?

[superduperfarleft]

299. Mock away.

My city is the one where the cops dropped a bomb on the MOVE house. Then google Frank Tepper. There's another one that shot a kid in the back for stealing a pizza from his son, and I think he's still on the force (the kid was permanently disabled, and later died of pneumonia). There's another one who assaulted two girls in a convenience store after his son rear-ended them on the road, then other cops came and tried to intimidate the cashier into giving up the surveillance tape to cover his ass. A few months ago, one cop went all ghetto chick and assaulted a suspect who was mouthing off, and she wasn't disciplined (although the suspect was, of course, arrested for assault on a police officer). The eight cops who kicked the shit out of a couple of suspects on live TV were given their jobs back. A couple of days ago, a cop kicked a social worker in the face and fractured his eye socket. And just last week a cop who had a long history of complaints gunned down his brother-in-law and wounded several bystanders because the dude sprayed his girlfriend with a water pistol. The new DA is more aggressively prosecuting (occasionally), but there's a LONG history of the cops being just as bad as the criminals. This is all I can remember in the past couple of years.

So while you're sitting here defending these thugs, innocent people are being victimized on a daily basis. The above are just the ones we hear about.

[Green_Lantern]

317. so much for cops getting away with murder...

Says here Frank Tepper was indicted---http://www.examiner.com/x-15953-Philadelphia-Legal-News-Examiner~y2010m2d8-Grand-jury-indicts-former-cop-Frank-Tepper-in-shooting-death-of-William-Panas

. And just last week a cop who had a long history of complaints gunned down his brother-in-law and wounded several bystanders because the dude sprayed his girlfriend with a water Yep and he has been charged with murder---. http://www.southphillyreview.com/news/police-report/Deadly-water-gun-battle-92915019.html

Your claim was that cops are getting away with murder all the time yet several your own examples suggest otherwise. In the other examples the details are based on he said/she said.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

325. Deleted message

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[datasuspect]

322. SOP for LEOs: they assume you are a suspect or a threat to their safety AUTOMATICALLY

why should we citizens be any less charitable than they are?

[Green_Lantern]

256. well if you disrespect them you can't really expect them to be...

Gentle with you...

[superduperfarleft]

262. If they can't handle a little disrespect without turning into bullies, they need to get another job.

[Green_Lantern]

267. I didn't say turn into bullies...

I'm saying if you don't cooperate they'll force you too.

[Flaneur]

272. You didn't have to. SWAT actions speak for themselves.

Paramilitarized thuggery aimed at US citizens.

[Green_Lantern]

282. I didn't see any thuggery in the video...they were behaving quite

Professionally. If they were just being thugs I fail to see why they weren't treating the suspect aggressively?

The SWAT team was sent because on drug raids they have no clue what they're walking in to.

[superduperfarleft]

288. Rousting a family and killing their pets over a bag of weed is thuggery.

I don't care what they thought they were walking into, they should've had better intelligence before going around busting down doors and terrorizing people.

[Zix]

290. Restraining someone after entering his house by force is an aggressive act.

The question is whether or not it was justifiably aggressive.

[PinkFloyd]

214. Ironically, the war on drugs is doing more harm than the drugs themselves.

Has it stopped people who want to get "high" from doing so? No. Has prohibition ever worked? No.

What it has done is throw billions down a bottomless pit, inflate our jails with people who really don't deserve to be there, give millions to the most dangerous in our society and create crazy cowboy-asshole cops like these.

I hope California's ballot measure passes because I believe it will be the first nail in the coffin of this ridiculous crusade if it passes.

[leeroysphitz]

215. We used to have a drug problem in this country so we hired a bunch of cops.

Now we have a cop problem. So what's the next move?

[Green_Lantern]

294. they may legalize marijuana but I bet we'll always have laws against..

Drugs like meth. As far as prohibition not working, do you include assault rifles? Should they be legalized because people still get them?

[PinkFloyd]

310. Actually, you can get an assault rifle

Even fully automatic with silencer if you pay a tax and fill out more paperwork. Just look at what you could buy if you wanted it and didn't mind filling out a few extra papers, shelling out thousands and paying an extra tax:

http://www.gunsamerica.com/907941595/Guns/Rifles/Class-3-Rifles/Class-3-Subguns/M60_C_R_Model_T161_Belt_fed_machine_gun.htm

http://www.gunsamerica.com/993350784/Guns/Rifles/Class-3-Rifles/Class-3-Subguns/H_K_UMP_45_Short_Barrel_Rifle_SBR_W_Gemtech_Suppressor.htm


Would you call the war on drugs, in it's current form, a success?

[Green_Lantern]

318. "war on drugs a success"

I don't think it can be declared Mission Accomplished but I think in certain cases it can be seen as doing good. I'm sure it has kept great deal f foreign processed drugs off the street and that's the reason meth is so big...it's produced here.
I think marijuana should be decriminalized to free up resources to go after meth.

[Name removed]

218. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RedCappedBandit]

225. This is what happens when you train a bunch of thugs to believe that violence is always a solution.

[Green_Lantern]

283. well criminals are armed so how can police not be trained to

Use force to stop them. Pacifism doesn't work.

[Echo In Light]

286. Neither does militarized, police state tactics

[Green_Lantern]

292. if it was police state tactics they would've gone in without a warrant...

And disappeared the family.

[Echo In Light]

312. Yeah, b/c it goes from none to all, just like that. No gradual tip-toe totalitarianism for the US!

Quack

[Green_Lantern]

320. by your standard any military or police action can be seen as

The first step towards totalitarianism...then we're into Glenn Beck territory where he says govt. involvement in health care is the first step to socialism...

[Name removed]

336. Deleted message

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[RedCappedBandit]

335. Where did I say police should be pacifists?

Clearly they need to be taught that violence is a last resort, as opposed to standard procedure.

[Rex]

226. The dog clearly ate all of the PCP before the cops arrived.

Why else would he charge them?

[chrisa]

263. Disgusting.

How long before they go on to shoot an innocent person too?

[Cetacea]

273. Seven times. nt

[The Old Creak]

278. WOW

I'm not sure what is more depressing, the video or this thread:shrug:

[pintobean]

301. St. Louis news reported on this just now

over 500,000 hits on youtube
cops claim pit wasn't caged, corgi accidentally hit in the paw
cops are receiving threats - including death threats

[Green_Lantern]

321. all law enforcement, federal agents, and govt. workers are being

Terrorized by this wave of anti-govt. types. It's just like the early to mid-90s. Too much paranoia.

[lib2DaBone]

302. This all started with the War On Drugs... many years ago...

The War On Drugs was the catalyst that allowed the Camel to get it's nose under the tent.

Nixon knew this... as did the MIC and the Corporations. Nixon needed a way to squelch the anti-war crowd and suppress them without CONgressional oversight.

The WOD is the biggest assault on Fourth Amendment protection ever foisted on the American Public.

It has gone unchallenged so long now, that it has become ingrained in our culture.. to the point where every job requires you to have a drug test. They can search your locker at work, kick in your door or confiscate your car and home and sell them for cash.

Nixon (and Johnson) laid the groundwork for what we have today: SWAT Teams, TSA, ATF, ICE, Border Patrol, SS, NSA, DEA, FBI, IRS, U.S. Marsha, Free Speech Zones.. and more Law Enforcement due any day now. Why? Because it is PROFITABLE. Just ask the Geo Corporation or The Corrections Corporation of America.

The next shoe-to-drop will be the swearing in and Deputizing of Eric Prince and his BlackWater Killers, to be used here at home. (Which for-hire Cops were involved in the bridge shooting during Hurricane Katrina?)

It's only a matter of time... mark my words..

[BlueIris]

309. Sociopaths should not be allowed in law enforcement.

I'm going to go hug my Corgi now.

[smalll]

311. What breed? If it was a pit bull, I can get behind this.

:shrug:

[Green_Lantern]

323. there were 2 pitbulls and the owner said they were just playing...

And police are psychics...and can't enter homes even with warrants....and can't be armed...and must wait to be shot before using force...and can choose to ignore all drug laws.

[Texasgal]

326. Please stop justifying this

What they did was wrong, very wrong.

[Green_Lantern]

328. not if the dogs were really being aggressive...

If a dog attacks someone it's not wrong to shoot them. Is it?

[Texasgal]

329. There are much better ways to deal with

an agressive dog. Shooting them is not one of them. If the cops were serving a warrant they should know that there are dogs and take appropriate tools to deal with it.

It's called doing your homework.

[Green_Lantern]

332. so now police must play dogcatcher? I'm sorry but they can't

Screw around trying to figure out how to wrestle off dogs when making arrests. It's sooooo easy to sit here and say how police should do this or that.

If a dog attacks you then you have every right to shoot it.

[Texasgal]

334. Sorry, I don't agree.

There are plenty of ways to deal with an aggressive dog. You don't HAVE to shoot! Especially in front of a young boy!

Take your own advice : It's sooooo easy to sit here and say how police should do this or that. <----- exactly.

[Name removed]

337. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Beaverhausen]

327. were there any firearms in the house?

[Green_Lantern]

330. I don't know but no illegal firearms were found...

nt

[benEzra]

338. Nearly 4 in 10 U.S. homes have firearms, including ours.

Would this have somehow been OK if the victims legally owned guns?

[Green_Lantern]

340. it really depends on the basis for getting the warrant...

But the homeowners can't resist the search. All of this is determined during evidence hearings.

[benEzra]

341. It would be nice to actually have a chance to respond to the warrant...

instead of having flash-bangs thrown, your door bashed in, and shots fired.

This was NOT a no-knock. It was an ordinary knock-and-announce warrant, and the purpose of knock-and-announce warrants is to defuse this type of situation, allow the homeowner to voluntarily comply, and avoid a dynamic entry. From the FBI:

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/1997/may976.htm

UNDERLYING RATIONALE FOR KNOCK AND ANNOUNCE

The Supreme Court has determined that "every householder, the good and the bad, the guilty and the innocent, is entitled to the protection designed to secure the common interest against unlawful invasion of the house."19 The knock and announce rule provides citizens with psychological security, knowing that one need not fear an unexpected intrusion. Privacy interests also are protected, avoiding unnecessary embarrassment, shock, or property damage resulting from an unannounced entry.

The rule serves to protect both the individual citizen and the police from the risk of harm and the potential for violence that may occur as a result of an unannounced entry.20 Announcement protects officers by ensuring that they are not "mistaken for prowlers and shot down by a fearful householder."21 Innocent citizens also are protected from law enforcement officers who mistakenly might shoot armed occupants who merely are trying to defend themselves from who they preceive to be armed intruders.

Pounding and yelling on the door for six to nine seconds before setting off concussion grenades and kicking in the door does not allow the warrant to fulfill that purpose, and ultimately endangers both innocent home residents and the police themselves.

[Beaverhausen]

342. No, my point is, the SWAT team started shooting without even seeing any weapons

This thing is absolutely not OK with me in any way, shape or form.

[benEzra]

344. I agree.

It almost seems to be standard operating procedure in some jurisdictions to automatically shoot any dogs that are present. The case of the raid on the mayor of the Maryland town comes to mind; they shot both his family's black labs, one of which was apparently shot while running away. The assumption seems to be that "these are drug dealers, so those are guard dogs that need to be put down"; problem is, not everyone who gets fingered by a paid informant is actually a drug dealer...

[Crystal Clarity]

333. Botched Paramilitary Raids Interactive Map...CHECK THIS OUT!

http://www.cato.org/raidmap/index.php

I, like probably most of you am not a fan of the CATO institute. However, this is really good info regarding the OP subject matter. Too good IMO to not take note. I stumbled upon it while doing a search on SWAT teams.