Wrong Tool For The Job

[level.eleven]

I read Balko's take this morning as well. I think the lieing coming out the Police Department is very disturbing and not just the problem of a few bad apples.

There was an 8 day gap between the informants tip and the home invasion.

When concerned citizens inquired as to what went down they were told it was a training excercise and that no shots were fired.

When pushed for a copy of the tapes, they deleted the audio and the incriminating portions of the video.

These types of scenarios are playing way to frequently.

[mrjarrell]

Radley Balko has a couple of updates related to this travesty. One from a military perspective that I particularly liked and one from someone that attended a Columbia, MO civilian oversight meeting. Both good reads on a subject that is not going away anytime soon.

More Militarised Than The Military

I am a US Army officer, currently serving in Afghanistan. My first thought on reading this story is this: Most American police SWAT teams probably have fewer restrictions on conducting forced entry raids than do US forces in Afghanistan.
For our troops over here to conduct any kind of forced entry, day or night, they have to meet one of two conditions: have a bad guy (or guys) inside actively shooting at them; or obtain permission from a 2-star general, who must be convinced by available intelligence (evidence) that the person or persons they’re after is present at the location, and that it’s too dangerous to try less coercive methods. The general can be pretty tough to convince, too. (I’m a staff liason, and one of my jobs is to present these briefings to obtain the required permission.)
Generally, our troops, including the special ops guys, use what we call “cordon and knock”: they set up a perimeter around the target location to keep people from moving in or out,and then announce their presence and give the target an opportunity to surrender. In the majority of cases, even if the perimeter is established at night, the call out or knock on the gate doesn’t happen until after the sun comes up.
Oh, and all of the bad guys we’re going after are closely tied to killing and maiming people.
What might be amazing to American cops is that the vast majority of our targets surrender when called out.
I don’t have a clear picture of the resources available to most police departments, but even so, I don’t see any reason why they can’t use similar methods.

I’ve heard similar accounts from other members of the military. A couple of years ago after I’d given a speech on this issue, a retired military officer and former instructor at West Point specifically asked me to stop using the term “militarization,” because he thought comparing SWAT teams to the military reflected poorly on the military.

More at the source

Report From the Meeting of Columbia’s Police Civilian Review Board

Regular commenter “CTD” writes:

Last night I attended the monthly meeting of the Columbia Police Civilian Review Board. (The board itself is in its infancy, just having started up in January. The cops fought it’s formation every step of the way, of course.) The meeting had to be moved to the city council chamber because so many people showed up. Even then, it was standing room only. Not a single citizen who spoke attempted to defend the police. Not one. Several told similar stories about being victimized in raids, or having dogs killed. The local Libertarian Party chapter president spoke and quoted from Overkill, FYI. They quality of the citizen comments was surprisingly good, overall. Nobody made any point you haven’t a million times, but it was heartening to see so many agreeing that these paramilitary tactics are far too dangerous to be used for non-violent suspects. Thanks so much for getting the word out on this, we really appreciate it.

This was really my fondest hope for Overkill—that when one of these raids happens, citizens and policymakers would consult the paper. The idea for the SWAT transparency bill in Maryland came from Overkill. Maybe this episode will spur Missouri legislators to pass something similar.

[mrjarrell]

Well, as expected the Columbia PD has completed their "investigation" and found that their enforcers acted in accordance with PD policy and are "innocent" of any wrong doing. Despite the video footage showing otherwise. This is par for the course in the incidents, as we have seen all too often.

via The Columbia Tribune

The actions of an eight-member SWAT team that conducted a Feb. 11 narcotics raid have been deemed appropriate in an internal review, Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton said.
The chief yesterday afternoon released the findings of his monthslong internal investigation into the raid that resulted in the shooting of two dogs, one fatally, and the discovery of a misdemeanor amount of marijuana. A video of the raid has been viewed more than 1 million times online.
Investigators believed Jonathan E. Whitworth, 25, of 1501 Kinloch Court was in possession of a large amount of marijuana. Burton mentioned during his statement that officers found a safe and duffel bags that smelled strongly of marijuana, supporting the belief that Whitworth might have had more drugs at the residence earlier.
“The actions of the officers who made entry into the residence were evaluated based upon Columbia Police Department policy, applicable state laws and the information they had available to them at the time,” Burton said. “These are the only criteria by which the actions of these officers can be evaluated fairly.”
The investigation answered the questions of whether SWAT members acted according to procedure and whether their actions put the officers, suspect or his family at an unnecessary risk, he said. The answers to both questions is yes, he said, which is why no disciplinary action has been ordered against SWAT members or narcotics investigators but several policy changes have been made to SWAT.
“To answer Question 2, should we do things differently in the future so this doesn’t happen again? Yes,” he said.

More at the source.

One has to wonder. If they acted appropriately, then why would changes need to be made in the way they act in the future?

[jsgolfman]

I didn't expect an outcome that was different.

[Colt556]

Did anyone really expect the cops to condemn their own? An entity should not be able to investigate it's self in matters such as this.

[level.eleven]

Well, I would say they didn't violate any policies that were in place. With the number of dog shootings going through the roof the past several years, you have to believe that it has become standard operating procedure for some agencies to immediately dispatch any animals in the residence (just as it is in Iraq) upon entering.

Here are a couple more puppycides from this weekend.

From the comments: Readers respond to dog-shooting by Saginaw Township police | - MLive.com

Daily Herald | Family upset after dog killed by Des Plaines officer

Maybe I am wrong about this, but growing up I never heard of so many dogs being shot. Perhaps it is because I didn't have cable news or the internet. But, it seems like enforcers used to be able to do their job without so much collateral damage.

It must also be standard operating procedure to ignore the fact that childeren are in a home that is set for invasion. The enforcers knew (after getting caugth in a lie) that a child was present. So a conclusion can be drawn that children present isn't enough to halt an invasion.

So yeah, according to thier policies they didn't break any rules.

[Colt556]

IIRC one dog was caged and the other dog was a small Corgy. Dog killings are up as are commando type raids with military weapons and cops wearing hoods/mask.

[smoking357]

Originally Posted by mrjarrell

Well, as expected the Columbia PD has completed their "investigation" and found that their enforcers acted in accordance with PD policy and are "innocent" of any wrong doing. Despite the video footage showing otherwise. This is par for the course in the incidents, as we have seen all too often.

via The Columbia Tribune

More at the source.

One has to wonder. If they acted appropriately, then why would changes need to be made in the way they act in the future?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

[SemperFiUSMC]

If you shoot a dog, two things happen. First there's a big boom. Second, unless you kill the dog straight away, it wails like nothing you've ever heard. And it's loud. Real loud. Most likely both things happen simultaneously.

So as I thought about the lab shot in the first story you posted, coupled with the theories above, I came to a puzzling conclusion. Shooting a dog outside gives up your tactical advantage of suprise. It alerts someone not only to the fact that you are there, but gives them an idea where you are. If you know anything about tactics why would you give away your position? If you don't understand tactics what are you doing there?

I had two GSDs that wouldn't bark. Guard dogs can and are often trained not to bark. The cop said he rattled the fence and nothing happened. What would he have done if the dog had barked? Called off the op? Not entered the property? Yeah whatever. What if rather than 1 10 year old lab he encountered 5 highly trained rotts? If these guys are really so undertrained that they think that rattling the fence qualifies as solid recon what are they doing out there?

How about this. Have animal control knock on the neighbor's house behind them. Show them a badge, tell them about complaints about a barking dog. Ask which neighbors have a dog, what kind, and when / how often are they outside. Oh yeah, it's not quite as much fun as shooting something.

Seriously!

Originally Posted by level.eleven

Well, I would say they didn't violate any policies that were in place. With the number of dog shootings going through the roof the past several years, you have to believe that it has become standard operating procedure for some agencies to immediately dispatch any animals in the residence (just as it is in Iraq) upon entering.

Here are a couple more puppycides from this weekend.

From the comments: Readers respond to dog-shooting by Saginaw Township police | - MLive.com

Daily Herald | Family upset after dog killed by Des Plaines officer

Maybe I am wrong about this, but growing up I never heard of so many dogs being shot. Perhaps it is because I didn't have cable news or the internet. But, it seems like enforcers used to be able to do their job without so much collateral damage.

It must also be standard operating procedure to ignore the fact that childeren are in a home that is set for invasion. The enforcers knew (after getting caugth in a lie) that a child was present. So a conclusion can be drawn that children present isn't enough to halt an invasion.

So yeah, according to thier policies they didn't break any rules.

[rambone]

Subjects of Missouri Drug Raid That Went Viral Have Their Civil Suit Dismissed

[The judge] found few, if any, facts to support many of the allegations in the complaint. She also found cause for tactics used by officers to conduct the raid, force used against Jonathan Whitworth during his arrest and the actions toward the wife and son to be proper.... The lawsuit was seeking restitution for damages to personal property and medical and veterinary expenses. It was filed in September 2010 against the 12 police officers who were at the raid for their contribution toward an alleged violation of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.