Okay, Ichi, I've got an hour at an internet cafe, let's play.
You've defended far-out insane cases of police brutality before,
Name them. If you want to claim the above, point out the instances, and argue them with me. I do
not make blanket defences of law enforcement action. Note that
in the post you quoted I acknowledged that "Yes, there was obviously a screwup in this situation".
What I
do, however, is explain use of force situations through the actual police use of force policy that guide police actions and the legal implications from them, and the reasoning behind them, to people, like you, who spout off grand declarations of "insanely excessive use of force."
but you don't have much of a leg to stand on this time, especially considering you're now defending police shooting the shit out of a house with a 7-year-old kid in it.
The raid taking place with kids in the house
is one of the major problems with this situation. However, that alone does not constitute excessive force. Hypothetical: Say the house
was that of a piece-of-shit drug distributor dealing from the house with his kids in it, and when the police break down the door, daddy reaches for his AK, and the police blow him away. The police would still have "shot the shit" out of a house with 7-year olds. But it would not have been "insanely excessive force."
Which is to say, context matters. The raid occuring with kids in the house
was, in my opinion, gross negligence by the investigators. But it was not "insanely excessive" use of force. Can you understand the difference? Do you understand why it is important to be precise with one's language?
Hint: You may be biased in this case.
Oh, that's original, accuse the cop of bias. Worked out
real well for Green Shinobi, too.
Okay, now, on to speaking about the situation more generally:
There were obviously screwups in this situation. Notwithstanding the fact that although very little weed was found in the house, that does not
necessarily mean that the daddy wasn't a drug dealer, I am willing to operate under the assumption that he is innocent of that charge, and that the police got the wrong guy.
The areas of criticism are thus.
For the overall investigation:
A) Possible faulty intelligence/poor investigative work on the part of the investigators. Maybe there wasn't really enough reasonable grounds to believe he was a distributor. Maybe the investigators were sloppy, maybe they even misled the judge on the application for the warrant. BUT, and this is important, as far as we know,
we do not know any of that for sure. So even though that is an area of possible criticism, it would be the height of arrogant and ignorant speculation to blindly rail on this point from the internet.
B) Fault of the judge. Assuming that the police did not knowingly or unknowingly mislead the judge on the application, the judge deserves criticism for authorizing a warrant under insufficient evidence. But of course, everyone always roasts the police and never gives the judge
granting the warrant a first, let alone second, thought.
C) And this is the biggest, and most obvious:
Executing the godamned warrant when there were children in the house. This
should have been easy to establish. A couple days' of staking out the house would have established the presence of children as they leave for school in the morning, etc. Although there are a few scenarios I can foresee where this would have gone unnoticed (ie. maybe they were visiting the grandparents for a week, something like that), assuming the kids were at the house during the investigation,
THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTICED. AND WHEN THAT IS THE CASE, THE FUCKING WARRANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED DURING THE DAY WHEN THEY WERE AT SCHOOL, NOT
IN THE FUCKING EVENING WHEN THEY WERE GUARANTEED TO BE AT HOME.
THAT is where this police force needs to be roasted. Not for shooting a fucking pitbull. Not for executing a drug warrant with a SWAT team. But for the gross negligence of deciding to execute the warrant at night instead of when the kids were at school.
D) maaaaaaybe the shooting of the dog. But at worst, this deserves an apology, compensation to the family, and a slap on the wrist to the officers. When executing a drug warrant, and encountering a
fucking pit bull, it should be a no-brainer to be able to put yourself in the officer's shoes and see how he could perceive it as a threat. Drug dealers
often protect their stash houses with viscious dog. This is ridiculously common knowledge in the law enforcement community.
Does that mean that you get to shoot any dog, automatically, when executing a drug warrant? No, of course not. Unfortunately, it does mean that it is all too easy to see how the officer could perceive it as a threat.
Therefore, the shooting of the dog is an unfortunate tragedy. It is not, however, "insanely excessive force."
Now, as for the actual use of a SWAT team to execute a drug search warrant. This cannot possibly be criticized by any rational person. I think I was quite emphatic on that point when taking on Green Shinobi. If there is sufficient evidence to acquire a drug search warrant on a residence, there is sufficient reason to use a SWAT team, or to go in with a hard entry. Period.
Specific knowledge that weapons are present is
not required. Period. Officer safety and preparedness does not work that way. You do not only prepare yourself for danger or violence when you have overwhelmning and specific evidence of weapons. You prepare yourself for danger as
much as is reasonable
at all times. And the
fact is that the possible/likely presence of drugs makes the presence of weapons
very likely.
In conclusion: Maybe criticize the fact that the warrant was issued at all and the poor investigation leading up to it that that might represent. Criticize the fact that the search was executed at night when the kids were present.
Criticizing the fact that a SWAT team was used for a drug warrant, and that a pitbull was shot as consequence? Notsomuch.
But ya, Ichi, clearly I'm crazy biased and unwilling to criticize the actions of police.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I also completed that rant without any "fuck you"s. I think my self-restraint is getting better
j/k
The state responding to suspicion of victimless crime with needless violence and destruction of property.
Shock.
Gee, almost the
exact same libertarian boilerplate language that GS used.
Shock.
