Mommy, There's a Cop in My Room

Boston police are demoing a new plan that would let them into homes to search for guns without a warrant. All they'll need is the permission of parents–that'll be enough to let them poke around where the kids sleep.

The program, which is already raising questions about civil liberties, is based on the premise that parents are so fearful of gun violence and the possibility that their own teenagers will be caught up in it that they will turn to police for help, even in their own households.

In the next two weeks, Boston police officers who are assigned to schools will begin going to homes where they believe teenagers might have guns. The officers will travel in groups of three, dress in plainclothes to avoid attracting negative attention, and ask the teenager's parent or legal guardian for permission to search. If the parents say no, police said, the officers will leave.

And what if the kids have Lite Brites? Same plan, I imagine.

Radley Balko on no-knock police raids.