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Another Isolated Incident
Brooklyn Park police were looking for a meth lab, but they found a fish tank and the chemicals needed to maintain it.
And a few hours later, when the city sent a contractor to fix the door the police had smashed open Monday afternoon, it was obvious the city was trying to fix a mistake.
It happened while Kathy Adams was sleeping.
"And the next thing I know, a police officer is trying to get me out bed," she said.
And what thorough investigative work precipitated this raid?
Roehl said the drug task force was acting on a tip from a subcontractor for CenterPoint Energy, who had been in the home Friday to install a hot water heater.
"He got hit with a chemical smell that he said made him light headed, feel kind of nauseous," Roehl said.
The smell was vinegar, and maybe pickling lime, which were clearly marked in a bathroom Mr. Adams uses to mix chemicals for his salt water fish tank.
"I said, 'I call it his laboratory for his fish tanks,' " Mrs. Adams said, recalling her conversation with the CenterPoint technician. "I'm looking at the fish tank talking to this guy."
Police say there was no extended investigation, just an interview with the subcontractor.
Still, no one did anything wrong.
"From a cursory view, it doesn't look like our officers did anything wrong," said Capt. Greg Roehl.
[...]
"Everything this person told us turned out to be true, with the exception of what the purpose of the lab was," Roehl said.
[...]
Police say the detective who asked for the search warrant is an 8 ½-year veteran, but he just started working in the drug task force.
CenterPoint energy maintains the home was "unsafe" and it would have "irresponsible" for the subcontractor not to report it.
VM|4.29.08 @ 8:14AM|#
sigh.
thank you Radley! Your work is very important, and we all
appreciate your efforts! THANK YOU!!!
robc|4.29.08 @ 8:33AM|#
Once again, a situation where knocking on the door, showing the warrant, and then having a good laugh at the technician with the home owner would have been the proper procedure.
|4.29.08 @ 8:33AM|#
Only through aggressive lawsuits will it become too expensive for police departments to rely on unverified information for useless raids...
|4.29.08 @ 8:37AM|#
Jesus Christ. I get into Japanese maples, and they raid a
Japanese maple guy. Now I'm getting into fish
tanks, and this happens. I feel like Tweak on South Park.
I hope Centerpoint gets its ass sued off.
|4.29.08 @ 8:51AM|#
"Everything this person told us turned out to be true, with
the exception of what the purpose of the lab was," Roehl
said.
"Everything was true except the only relevant part" is a bold way
to brush off a question.
First Little Pig|4.29.08 @ 8:58AM|#
If wrongful raids resulted in a hefty compensation from the police department that was made up for in uncompensated overtime or a loss of vacation days for those responsible this would all come to an end.
|4.29.08 @ 9:03AM|#
I wondered about whether my tank would cause someone to raise their eyebrows. Not because of the chemicals, though. Because the lights are on for about 10 hours a day.
Episiarch|4.29.08 @ 9:05AM|#
So glad to know that some repairmen have decided that it's their
role to be rats. That government propaganda took time, but it's
finally bearing fruit.
Ratting your fucking customers out? If CenterPoint has the
slightest clue, they will fire Snitchy McRat immediately. They
should still be sued, though.
|4.29.08 @ 9:15AM|#
Episiarch,I agree.The first thing this guy did was call the police.Are some so brain washed that anything they can't understand must be drugs? I have chemicals for my pool,hot tub,lawn and fruit trees.My building is full.I'm sure something in there can be liked to drugs.Not to mention the cold meds in my bathroom.
|4.29.08 @ 9:16AM|#
The guy can run a salt water aquarium but can't install his own hot water heater?
|4.29.08 @ 9:24AM|#
This is scary, I have a fish tank with lots of chemicals to test the water. The fish lights are on 14 + hrs/day. I have a hydroponic set to grow tomatoes, lights on 16 hrs/day. I buy sudafed a lot for chronic allergies. Guess I should worry.
|4.29.08 @ 9:27AM|#
Tym,
Just go to your local police station and give them a set of keys to
your house.
jimmydageek <i>playing the rol|4.29.08 @ 9:27AM|#
James Ard | April 29, 2008, 9:16am | #
The guy can run a salt water aquarium but can't install his own hot water heater?
I'd have trouble installing a hot water
heater, too. A water heater, however, should be a cinch!
|4.29.08 @ 9:29AM|#
Isn't lime alkaline? Mixed with vinegar in a closed container it could explode! This guy might be a terrorist. Someone call Homeland Security!
|4.29.08 @ 9:32AM|#
jimmydageek,
Theoretically, James could be talking about a water heater that
takes the heated water from his first water heater and makes it
even hotter.
Maybe don't be so quick to judge, Mr. Pedant. Maybe James needs
near-boiling temps in his shower to feel truly clean. Or perhaps
his television is steam-powered.
|4.29.08 @ 9:41AM|#
The post called it a hot water heater first, which I believe is standard terminology for the things. But, it's Brooklyn Park, so maybe the water heater was stolen?
|4.29.08 @ 9:50AM|#
I'm coming to the conclusion that the WoD and the prison
industry have too tight a hold on the public for it to ever end.
However, I do think the public could eaily be convinced that
smarter police officers would be a "public good" "for the
children".
How about a push for a minimum IQ of 130 for cops? Musical, social,
genral G, whatever, so long as the person ranks two standard
deviations above the average they're allowed to join the
force.
I think that would end the problems with bad raids right there.
|4.29.08 @ 10:16AM|#
CenterPoint energy maintains the home was "unsafe" and it
would have "irresponsible" for the subcontractor not to report
it.
Unsafe how, exactly?
And oh, yeah, I'd be suing my utility company if they fingered me
for a drug raid. Falsely telling people someone is a drug user,
much less a drug manufacturer, is slander per se, so
you're looking at six figure recoveries. Not sure if reports to
cops are privileged in this context, but the embarassment factor
alone is likely to get you a good settlement.
First Little Pig|4.29.08 @ 10:19AM|#
In some jurisdictions a home owner is prohibited from messing with gas lines and/or water lines and has to call the appropriate utility. Given that he called an energy company I bet that he needed it hooked up to his natural gas line.
|4.29.08 @ 10:24AM|#
Isn't lime alkaline? Mixed with vinegar in a closed
container it could explode! This guy might be a terrorist. Someone
call Homeland Security!
The vinegar is not actually used in the tank. I use it to clean the
glass, to soak powerheads, to clean up salt creep, etc. It's safer
to use becuase it won't have too much of an effect on ph. You don't
want to use ammonia based cleaners anywhere near a fish tank, salt
or fresh.
Naga Sadow|4.29.08 @ 10:26AM|#
Apparently the employees at the CenterPoint energy company are unaware of the "STOP SNITCHING!" movement. I take it upon myself to mass email them til they get the message.
|4.29.08 @ 10:26AM|#
"From a cursory view, it doesn't look like our officers did
anything wrong," said Capt. Greg Roehl.
Translation - We're way too arrogant to admit, even to ourselves,
that this was a blatant misuse of police power.
|4.29.08 @ 10:27AM|#
I presume Kathy Adams will now be switching to another supplier (CenterPoint appears to be a competitive supplier in a deregulated energy market), and telling all her friends and neighbors to do the same.
SCOTUS on no-knock violation r|4.29.08 @ 10:46AM|#
One of those interests is the protection of human life
and limb, because an unannounced entry may provoke violence in
supposed self-defense by the surprised resident. See, e.g.,
McDonald v. United States, 335 U. S. 451, 460-461 (1948) (Jackson,
J., concurring). See also Sabbath, 391 U. S., at 589; Miller, 357
U. S., at 313, n. 12. Another interest is the protection of
property. Breaking a house (as the old cases typically put it)
absent an announcement would penalize someone who " 'did not know
of the process, of which, if he had notice, it is to be presumed
that he would obey it … .' " Wilson, 514 U. S., at 931-932 (quoting
Semayne's Case, 5 Co. Rep. 91a, 91b, 77 Eng. Rep. 194, 195-196 (K.
B. 1603)). The knock-and-announce rule gives individuals "the
opportunity to comply with the law and to avoid the destruction of
property occasioned by a forcible entry." Richards, 520 U. S., at
393, n. 5. See also Banks, 540 U. S., at 41. And thirdly, the
knock-and-announce rule protects those elements of privacy and
dignity that can be destroyed by a sudden entrance. It gives
residents the "opportunity to prepare themselves for" the entry of
the police. Richards, 520 U. S., at 393, n. 5. "The brief interlude
between announcement and entry with a warrant may be the
opportunity that an individual has to pull on clothes or get out of
bed." Ibid. In other words, it assures the opportunity to collect
oneself before answering the door.
. . .
We cannot assume that exclusion in this context is necessary
deterrence simply because we found that it was necessary deterrence
in different contexts and long ago. That would be forcing the
public today to pay for the sins and inadequacies of a legal regime
that existed almost half a century ago. Dollree Mapp could not turn
to 42 U. S. C. §1983 for meaningful relief; Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.
S. 167 (1961) , which began the slow but steady expansion of that
remedy, was decided the same Term as Mapp. It would be another 17
years before the §1983 remedy was extended to reach the deep pocket
of municipalities, Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.,
436 U. S. 658 (1978) . Citizens whose Fourth Amendment rights were
violated by federal officers could not bring suit until 10 years
after Mapp, with this Court's decision in Bivens v. Six Unknown
Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388 (1971) .
Hudson complains that "it would be very hard to find a lawyer to
take a case such as this," Tr. of Oral Arg. 7, but 42 U. S. C.
§1988(b) answers this objection. Since some civil-rights violations
would yield damages too small to justify the expense of litigation,
Congress has authorized attorney's fees for civil-rights
plaintiffs. This remedy was unavailable in the heydays of our
exclusionary-rule jurisprudence, because it is tied to the
availability of a cause of action. For years after Mapp, "very few
lawyers would even consider representation of persons who had civil
rights claims against the police," but now "much has changed.
Citizens and lawyers are much more willing to seek relief in the
courts for police misconduct." M. Avery, D. Rudovsky, & K.
Blum, Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation, p. v (3d ed. 2005);
see generally N. Aron, Liberty and Justice for All: Public Interest
Law in the 1980s and Beyond (1989) (describing the growth of
public-interest law). The number of public-interest law firms and
lawyers who specialize in civil-rights grievances has greatly
expanded.
Hudson points out that few published decisions to date announce
huge awards for knock-and-announce violations. But this is an
unhelpful statistic. Even if we thought that only large damages
would deter police misconduct (and that police somehow are deterred
by "damages" but indifferent to the prospect of large §1988
attorney's fees), we do not know how many claims have been settled,
or indeed how many violations have occurred that produced anything
more than nominal injury. It is clear, at least, that the lower
courts are allowing colorable knock-and-announce suits to go
forward, unimpeded by assertions of qualified immunity. See, e.g.,
Green v. Butler, 420 F. 3d 689, 700-701 (CA7 2005) (denying
qualified immunity in a knock-and-announce civil suit); Holland ex
rel. Overdorff v. Harrington, 268 F. 3d 1179, 1193-1196 (CA10 2001)
(same); Mena v. Simi Valley, 226 F. 3d 1031, 1041-1042 (CA9 2000)
(same); Gould v. Davis, 165 F. 3d 265, 270-271 (CA4 1998) (same).
As far as we know, civil liability is an effective deterrent here,
as we have assumed it is in other contexts. See, e.g., Correctional
Services Corp. v. Malesko, 534 U. S. 61, 70 (2001) ("[T]he threat
of litigation and liability will adequately deter federal officers
for Bivens purposes no matter that they may enjoy qualified
immunity" (as violators of knock-and-announce do not)); see also
Nix v. Williams, 467 U. S. 431, 446 (1984) .
Another development over the past half-century that deters
civil-rights violations is the increasing professionalism of police
forces, including a new emphasis on internal police discipline.
Even as long ago as 1980 we felt it proper to "assume" that
unlawful police behavior would "be dealt with appropriately" by the
authorities, United States v. Payner, 447 U. S. 727 , n. 5 (1980),
but we now have increasing evidence that police forces across the
United States take the constitutional rights of citizens seriously.
There have been "wide-ranging reforms in the education, training,
and supervision of police officers." S. Walker, Taming the System:
The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice 1950-1990, p. 51
(1993). Numerous sources are now available to teach officers and
their supervisors what is required of them under this Court's
cases, how to respect constitutional guarantees in various
situations, and how to craft an effective regime for internal
discipline. See, e.g., D. Waksman & D. Goodman, The Search and
Seizure Handbook (2d ed. 2006); A. Stone & S. DeLuca, Police
Administration: An Introduction (2d ed. 1994); E. Thibault, L.
Lynch, & R. McBridge, Proactive Police Management (4th ed.
1998). Failure to teach and enforce constitutional requirements
exposes municipalities to financial liability. See Canton v.
Harris, 489 U. S. 378, 388 (1989) . Moreover, modern police forces
are staffed with professionals; it is not credible to assert that
internal discipline, which can limit successful careers, will not
have a deterrent effect. There is also evidence that the increasing
use of various forms of citizen review can enhance police
accountability.
|4.29.08 @ 10:54AM|#
CenterPoint appears to be a competitive supplier
I spent about 14 years in the Twin Cities and lived in several
burbs. I never had a choice of gas or electric company. Brooklyn
Park may be different, but I doubt it.
|4.29.08 @ 10:54AM|#
Why can't everyone just mind their own fucking business? The percentage of the adult population that believe it is their civic duty to not mind their own fucking business astounds me.
Bingo|4.29.08 @ 11:08AM|#
ChuckG:
Why can't everyone just mind their own fucking business
Its for the children or else the terrorists have already won for
the greater benefit of society you can't expect people to take care
of themselves this never happened back in the good old days we need
to do something. Or something along those lines.
TallDave|4.29.08 @ 11:14AM|#
Radley, your disgusting shilling for these merchants of slavery
and death at Big Aquarium is nothing short of reprehensible.
Free markets, free minds... but what about free fish?
TallDave|4.29.08 @ 11:15AM|#
Why can't everyone just mind their own fucking
business
Clearly, someone is not thinking of the children. Or the fish. Or
the fish children.
TallDave|4.29.08 @ 11:17AM|#
"From a cursory view, it doesn't look like our officers did
anything wrong," said Capt. Greg Roehl.
I assume by cursory view he means the "what fucking hell were you
goddamned moron assholes doing??" view.
Phillip J. Birmingham|4.29.08 @ 11:52AM|#
Are some so brain washed that anything they can't understand
must be drugs?
It's not that bad. After all, most people know that electronics
they don't understand must be bombs!
What pisses me off about these cases is that it's NEVER anybody's
fault. Nobody ever gets in trouble for this sort of crap.
|4.29.08 @ 12:02PM|#
Salt water fish tanks are really cool.
Deputizing untrained water heater repairmen to provide tips on meth
labs, which are then used to get warrants for drug raids, not so
much.
|4.29.08 @ 12:09PM|#
What if thiis guy is raising psychoactive fish in his tank, so he can eat them and get high? It's a risk no self-respecting water heater installer can afford to accept.
|4.29.08 @ 12:09PM|#
Wouldn't happen when Jesse Ventura was mayor, he'd kick ass in Brooklyn Park. Jesse knows salt water.
BakedPenguin|4.29.08 @ 12:09PM|#
How about a push for a minimum IQ of 130 for cops?
Try "a minimum of 90" for now. Baby steps.
|4.29.08 @ 12:24PM|#
Deputizing untrained water heater repairmen to provide tips
on meth labs, which are then used to get warrants for drug raids,
not so much.
It does have a very Stasi quality to it. It's not very
comforting to think that every person I let in my home is looking
for violations of the law to call in(and by this, I don't mean that
a worker should call in evidence of a crime) and worse when they're
mistaking unusual yet innocent items for "drug lab materials".
|4.29.08 @ 12:44PM|#
It seems to me that I'm hearing a lot more about these
repairman/informant stories than I used to.
I recall that, shortly after 9/11, the government announced a
program which encouraged people who visit private homes, like
repairmen, to report suspicions of terrorism-related
activitiy.
Migration?
|4.29.08 @ 12:56PM|#
"Everything this person told us turned out to be true, with the
EXCEPTION of what the purpose of the lab was"...
now, now, now - you don't know that. The purpose of th lab was to
grow fish WHO WOULD MANUFACTURE METH. See, you made a mistake in
not taking the event to its logical conclusion.
|4.29.08 @ 1:03PM|#
Stupid police. Don't they have some other way to verify this sort of thing? Surely they must have? Or is it just they really, really enjoy conducting no-knock (or semi-no-knock) raids and will use any excuse to do so.
|4.29.08 @ 2:23PM|#
This just proves my point that they are so gung-ho to make
arrests andpad stats that they take absolutely ZERO time
investigating anything beyond the original tip for validity.
Thus again I say we must start making anon tips to police of meth
labs, pot farms and people selling drugs from their homes. Giving
them only the addresses of politicians/judges, their families and
friends. We know they will not take the time to fact check a damn
thing all they will see is another bust just waiting for them to
take down.
This is the only way this will change. You must make it their
problem or it is never seen as a problem at all. Once they are
directly affected they will change things damn quickly.
Perhaps a flood of tips just running the SS all over creation for
nothing just sending them to nowhere will help also. Since they are
so apt to react to tips without any investigating seems we could
have them really busy wasting their time. When the % of tips that
lead to anything drops to less than 10% just maybe they will quit
bothering chasing their own asses.
Paul|4.29.08 @ 4:03PM|#
I recall that, shortly after 9/11, the government announced
a program which encouraged people who visit private homes, like
repairmen, to report suspicions of terrorism-related
activitiy.
Migration?
Joe, the post 9/11 terrorism fight and the drug war became one in
the same almost immediately. Right after the stupid 'shoe bomber
incident' occurred, and they started making people remove their
shoes, they'd swab them. My mother-in-law asked what they were
swabbing for, the TSA official said (without batting an eye)
"Drugs". This was within a week of the shoe bomber incident.
T|4.29.08 @ 4:54PM|#
I'm with Dee. Call from a public place near the home in question. Say you were over there and left because the scene was just too much for you. Say some child might be in the room with the drugs. Watch the comedy ensue.
LarryA|4.29.08 @ 5:12PM|#
The guy can run a salt water aquarium but can't install his
own hot water heater?
Quick, what are your local building code/permit requirements for
installing a water heater in a private dwelling? And as above, it's
probably a gas water heater.
How about a push for a minimum IQ of 130 for cops?
Seems like I read somewhere that many departments have a maximum IQ
level to weed out the nerds.
Cactus|4.30.08 @ 12:53AM|#
These incidents won't stop until it becomes too dangerous to
break down door in the middle of the night. Once the masked thugs
have to start hauling out several of their comrades in body bags on
these home invasions they'll probably reconsider the practice. Once
they know that invading someone's home in the manner in which
they're doing now will most likely result in one or more of them
not going home at the end of their shift then they're going to be
much less enthusiastic about busting down doors and brutalizing
people.
Adrenaline, playing dress up with the entire "Blackhawk" catalog,
kicking in doors and brutalizing people becomes much less fun when
it involved more substantial risk. After all, it isn't about
protecting and serving or any other bullshit for public
consumption. It is about going home at the end of the shift.
nothing else matters. This business of putting your life on the
line to protect or save Joe Citizen is so much horseshit. Joe
Citizen means dick. It's about getting home at the end of the
shift.
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