Another Isolated Incident

Radley Balko | June 7, 2007

Another botched, wrong-door drug raid. This one's got it all. Terrified immigrants who don't speak English, a roughed-up pregnant woman, a man kicked in the groin, another woman with a heart condition, flashbang grenades, and assurances from the cops that this kind of thing happens "not very often." Fortunately no one was killed. Only terrified.

The police never contacted the landlord of the residence to verify. And when they raided the "right" address, the place was empty.

Comments

|6.7.07 @ 7:19PM|#

After awhile rage sublimates into sadness.

|6.7.07 @ 7:23PM|#

FUCK THAT. Keep agitating!

Balko, Sic Balls!

|6.7.07 @ 7:34PM|#

Sort of makes you want to leave a board with nails in it in front of your doors overnight, just in case.
Since, you know, the 2nd ammendment seems to not apply to claymores.

|6.7.07 @ 7:34PM|#

No wonder Merry Land doesn't want the populace armed, and I live here. ::sigh::

Paul|6.7.07 @ 7:50PM|#

The police never contacted the landlord of the residence to verify. And when they raided the "right" address

Well of course. With all the noise and activity going on next door, the real drug dealers had plenty of warning.

|6.7.07 @ 7:52PM|#

Terrified immigrants who don't speak English, a roughed-up pregnant woman, a man kicked in the groin, another woman with a heart condition, flashbang grenades, and assurances from the cops that this kind of thing happens "not very often." Fortunately no one was killed. Only terrified.

Exactly how immigration should be handled in this country! Except for the part about no one being killed.

|6.7.07 @ 7:52PM|#

Personally, I think some of the new "non-lethal" weapons the government is working on might be useful: that pain-ray has some interesting possibilities.

Rig up devices to cover major hallways. If your home is invaded, turn the devices on. It would probably be sufficiently painful to cause the invaders to retreat.

You'd probably get charged with interfering with a police officer or whatever they call daring to question their authoritah, but wouldn't face the death penalty and your attackers would have received a nice dose of well-deserved pain. Who knows, widespread use of such devices might actually convince policemen to rediscover the concept of customer service and the "castle doctrine".

|6.7.07 @ 8:07PM|#

Theres a special place in hell for fascist thugs like that.

And also for the people that make laws that cause such incidents.

|6.7.07 @ 8:13PM|#

I guess these types of raids are conducted by the "well-regulated militia" that the gun control lefties assert have the exclusive, "collective" right to keep and bear arms.

crap-action-jackson|6.7.07 @ 8:14PM|#

I like how the article stays dispassionate and doesn't question the police's tactics: the only mistake is the address, not the brutality of these raids.

As the article put it: "They were supposed to have hit 901 Primrose."

Is that right??? They were supposed to "hit" a different house? Breaking in, waving their guns, roughing up a pregnant woman and kicking a guy in the nuts - those are all OK if its the right address.

Fucking cops...

|6.7.07 @ 9:08PM|#

He said an investigation is under way to find out what happened. "We are evaluating it to see what steps can be made to prevent similar events in the future."

My crystal ball says the official report will find that:

"While the wrong address was raided and innocent people were terrorized, there was nothing wrong with either the intelligence prior to or the officer's actions during the execution of the raid."

Just a guess.

|6.7.07 @ 9:25PM|#

Egregious...I can't believe what we allow cops to get away with...Keep up the good work Mr. Balko.

biologist|6.7.07 @ 10:28PM|#

but there's no right not to be terrified by the cops in the constitution!

|6.7.07 @ 11:36PM|#

but there's no right not to be terrified by the cops in the constitution!

You don't have to squint real hard at the 4th to see one, but I guess the Supremes are too old for a little squinting to be enough.

|6.8.07 @ 12:29AM|#

Please...the 4th amendment is dead. Dead, buried and forgotten.

|6.8.07 @ 1:27AM|#

Just emailed below to Annapolis Police (well f*ck, I was bored!)

see http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/06_07-70/TOP

& http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476

I can hardly believe the devolution of American Police into Amerikan Stormtroopers. Somehow you have morphed into Brown Shirts or STASI enforcers. When a CIVILIAN police force starts referring to The Public as 'civilians', it is an ominous, when No-Knock Attack Goons invade a private domicile and nearly kill innocent citizens it becomes something out of a kafka-esque nightmare. I truly hope that the American people wake up to the terrifying consequences of rogue police departments and that the people rearm themselves to defend themselves from you fascist thugs. Get Fucked, GreginOz.

irate pirate|6.8.07 @ 8:04AM|#

one must wonder why they should be given the benefit of the doubt when they cannot find the proper address, the pizza guy can find the right house but not our jack booted thug cops.

As was said by George Carlin, there should be two requirements for being a cop COMMON SENSE and DECENCY, it hasn't been tried yet.

|6.8.07 @ 8:48AM|#

As that rare bird around here (caw, caw), the liberaltarian, let me remind all that it is liberals who most steadfastdly stand against police abuse of power in the US (try reading Dunphy's work on NRO to see how conservatives feel about this subject).

John Shuey|6.8.07 @ 9:06AM|#

"As that rare bird around here (caw, caw), the liberaltarian, let me remind all that it is liberals who most steadfastdly stand against police abuse of power in the US..."

Yeah, now if you'd only show some appreciation for the rest of the Constitution as well.

Jennifer|6.8.07 @ 9:08AM|#

let me remind all that it is liberals who most steadfastdly stand against police abuse of power in the US

Which is why you can't even fart these days without stinking up a Democratic candidate saying things like "This war on drugs is a failure and needs to end," right?

Josh Houghtelin|6.8.07 @ 9:15AM|#

I bet the drug dealers had a good laugh. Wouldn't kicking down the wrong door when trying to chase down gun toting drug dealing thieves be a huge red flag for incompetence? Time to review the intelligence behind our war on drugs. I've been reading about a lot of these 'rare incidents' lately.

|6.8.07 @ 9:25AM|#

Democrats may not equal liberals Jen. Think the ACLU. They fight like mad to protect people from police abuse, but yeah, not many Dems will stick with them. Now why is that? Could there be another party who took cheap shots at them, who is decidely against the ACLU and others fight to reign in police abuse, that pushed the Dems into that defensive position? Who, oh, who could that be? Jesus, put the blame where it lies and don't worry about being invited to the next Heritage Foundation conference on tax reform. Conservatives totally suck, just say it.
"Yeah, now if you'd only show some appreciation for the rest of the Constitution as well."
You mean like the 1st Amendment? Oh SNAP, the GOP is the only party that monolithically supports gutting the establishment clause, or the speech clause (don't make me provide votes on things like flag burning and cross displays, cuz I can if it will prove ya the fool and ya really need that in ya life).
Or Article one? Cuz the GOP is the only party I know pushing to give Article II the only recognition.
Heck, check out NRO's Bench Memo's. Those guys don't even believe in judicial review of the legislature and executive!

Christopher Monnier|6.8.07 @ 9:37AM|#

Again, I ask the question...who terrorizes Americans more? The police et al via the War on Drugs or "the terrorists."

|6.8.07 @ 9:49AM|#

Easy Chris, the police (and it ain't just the war on drugs). I've never met a terrorist, have you? But I have met a power abusing cop. And I bet most people have. It's not their fault, its the nature of giving folks power over others.

Robert|6.8.07 @ 9:55AM|#

Obiously terror is the greater threat, but so what? Is the object to minimize threats by comparison, or overall? Because by comparison, the rest of us are all a little better off every time an incident like this happens.

|6.8.07 @ 10:22AM|#

Just more collateral damage in the War on Drugs and Civil Liberties.

|6.8.07 @ 11:10AM|#

let me remind all that it is liberals who most steadfastdly stand against police abuse of power in the US

This was meant as a joke, right?

Daniel|6.8.07 @ 11:17AM|#

This issue was mentioned on the Mike and Mike show on ESPN Radio this morning. Although it was on "News of the Weird" because Golic found it hilarious that a man got kicked in the crotch. That bothered me enough to fire off some emails to ESPN. Of course nothing will happen but at least my conscience is clear.

VM|6.8.07 @ 11:31AM|#

Daniel -

you heard that too!I started composing Radley's work for them, but then got distracted by something shiny!

"two units got damaged"

|6.8.07 @ 11:57AM|#

Hey, if you don't want your home to be mistakenly raided, don't live there! How much of a rocket surgeon do you have to be to figure that out?

VM|6.8.07 @ 12:07PM|#

lol!

|6.8.07 @ 12:22PM|#

-Rig up devices to cover major hallways. If your home is invaded, turn the devices on. It would probably be sufficiently painful to cause the invaders to retreat.-


I've got one of those. Made by Rock River.

Seitz|6.8.07 @ 1:06PM|#

Although it was on "News of the Weird" because Golic found it hilarious that a man got kicked in the crotch.

But foot in the groin had a foot in the groin.

|6.8.07 @ 2:22PM|#

OtherMatt, Malto---anyone who thinks more gun ownership would stop, or even slow this kind of thing is an absolute fool. I'm glad no one got killed in this raid---I'd like a hell of a lot less no-knock paramilitary raiding---but at least this one didn't result in an innocent person (or their kid) getting their head blown off.

Now if they'd opened fire, do you think the police would have said "Gosh, they've got guns---we'd better step back until we know what's going on?" No---they would have fired right back, and with considerably bigger and more powerful weapons.

When more people shoot at cops, the result will only be more death---both more dead cops and more dead idiots who think that shooting at cops will convince them to leave you alone.

LarryA|6.8.07 @ 4:16PM|#

As that rare bird around here (caw, caw), the liberaltarian, let me remind all that it is liberals who most steadfastdly stand against police abuse of power in the US

Well, except against gun owners, CEOs, SUV owners, smokers, etc.

Democrats may not equal liberals Jen.

Well, that's true. If you're a classic liberal. Which in this country is more rare than a libertarian.

You mean like the 1st Amendment?

How about the Second?

When more people shoot at cops, the result will only be more death---both more dead cops and more dead idiots who think that shooting at cops will convince them to leave you alone.

Until the revolution starts.

|6.8.07 @ 4:25PM|#

LarryA, I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting for The Revolution (though I encourage you to to do so). Meanwhile, on this planet, I continue to be amazed by anyone who thinks gun ownership has any positive effect on one's personal liberty; as far as I can tell, gun ownership only encourages the police to shoot first.

|6.8.07 @ 5:48PM|#

"Well, except against gun owners, CEOs, SUV owners, smokers, etc."
Wrong. Liberals may be wrong on the substantive issues there (except surely right on CEO's) but they go to the bat on the PROCEDURAL rights of those accused even of those crimes. GOP, not so much...They're like "procedural rights hell, we know who the evildoers are, now get a rope!"

|6.8.07 @ 9:28PM|#

Fuzzy -- And just how well-regulated do you think this particular team of cops/militia/stormtroopers was/is? Do you think THEY deserve to be armed, while the innocent homeowner-citizens are denied that right?

You say: "When more people shoot at cops, the result will only be more death---both more dead cops and more dead idiots who think that shooting at cops will convince them to leave you alone."

Well, yeah. That's what happens in a war - against "drugs" or against any other "enemy".

So: Do you think "we" can "win" this one? Or should we declare a truce, disarm the paramilitary cop squads, and concentrate on keeping alQaida et al. from smuggling black market nukes into US cities. Or, any of the myriad other tasks that our overburdened police are charged with.

|6.8.07 @ 10:58PM|#

Malto: I'd be delighted to support disarming of paramilitary police units; I think the issuing of big toys to police departments has been a disaster. What I disagree with is those who think that more guns in the hands of individuals would do anything to make the situation better, which seems to be the position of the Second Amendment cheerleaders.

|6.9.07 @ 6:40PM|#

Actually, after pondering overnight, disarming police SWAT teams is a second step, not a first. As long as police are walking into busts where they're facing fifteen Uzis and teflon bullets, they're going to want force proportionate to that, and any attempt to take away their paramilitary weapons will be met with extreme pushback. The only way to get the police to de-escalate is to reduce the number of kevlar-piercing bullets and automatic weapons available; only then will we be able to scale back paramilitary police tactics.

|6.10.07 @ 10:44PM|#

Ken wrote:
it is liberals who most steadfastdly stand against police abuse of power in the US

Oh, really? Let's start with the FDR Administration, from the National Firearms Act of 1934 to the suspension of habeas corpus to the imprisonment of 110,000 men, women and children for the heinous crime of having Japanese ancestors.

The Chicago Democratic Convention riot was on LBJ's watch.

Then let's talk about the kgBATF abuses of the Carter Administration and later the Clintoon Administration, which turned Mt Carmel into a hibachi, then Chuck Schumer (pron. "Schemer") and the other Dems defended the thugs and the FBI when each lie was uncovered.

No, sorry, Ken, the liberals are just as deep in the cesspool as the conservatives.

|6.10.07 @ 10:49PM|#

TFB:

The problem is that these thugs didn't mention that they were cops, they weren't in uniform, and they just busted in the door and roughed people up.

And, you know what? The way to get the cops to stop acting like the scum they're after is for our Elect Officials to tell them to stop. Notice, most of these a**holes pinned to the backs of badges are enforcing laws which American society didn't know that it needed for the first couple of centuries of this country's existence . . .