Buffalo's Stampede Against Privacy

City of Light's finest bomb houses, arrest scores, kill dogs, and achieve nothing

Radley Balko | June 21, 2006

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The Buffalo News reports that several police officials referenced Operation Clean Sweep in speculating how they might go about organizing future raids, adding that, "Police also are looking into working with federal housing officials to seize problem drug houses."

The timing of the Operation Shock and Awe is also suspicious. The raids came just days after Erie County Executive Joel Giambra publicly came out against the Drug War. Giambra held a press conference with members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a new group of ex-cops and prosecutors advocating the decriminalization or legalization of drugs. Giambra's not exactly a profile in political courage—his tenure has been plagued by allegations of fraud and corruption. Still, his apostasy on the issue stands in stark contrast to the hardened positions of the political leaders around him. And his long-running feud with local police organizations, including the Buffalo PD, casts doubt on the timing of the raids.

As for the specific raid described by those reporters from the Buffalo News, a different account emerged weeks later in the paper's letters to the editor:

The warrant they had was for marijuana only, not guns or narcotics, as one News reporter wrote. A loud, concussion device was detonated first, and then shotgun blasts were heard all the way down the street. A 1-year-old child was present at the time, and he wasn't carried out of the house in the same instant as the shotgun blasts started, as reported.

This child not only heard all this, but also witnessed his beloved pets get brutally slaughtered right in front of his tender eyes. Oddessy, a boxer mix; her pup, Snoop; and a pit bull terrier, Ginger, were all pets. They weren't fighters, vicious or unlicensed—they were friendly, lovable dogs; just ask anyone who knew them.

When the officers came in, they came to kill the dogs. Oddessy ran between one of her owner's legs, and was blasted in the head. Snoop was shot twice. Ginger was shot as she ran into a back bedroom, where she was cornered by officers and hit with four more shotgun blasts. The dogs were carried out of the house in garbage bags.

It's unlikely that city officials will be deterred. Buffalo PD Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards told the Buffalo News that Shock and Awe was "just the beginning." "There will certainly be more raids in the future," he said. "You can count on that... We're looking at small-scale, large-scale, street-level... We're looking at top to bottom."

That's troubling news for low-income residents of Buffalo, those most likely to be targeted by wide-net operations like Shock and Awe. It's even worse news for their pets.