America’s Troubled House

A quick search of the internet reveals hundreds upon hundreds of similar cases--from assault victims strip-searched and bloodied by power-mad deputies (Stark County, OH) to a man beaten to death and set afire by cop-thrown grenades. An interesting resource appears here: http://www.cato.org/raidmap/index.php?type=1 The sheer numbers here are astounding, and don't include the countless traffic stops gone bad. Invariably, these cases result in dismissed charges, probably for a variety of reasons, such as the respect many of us are taught to have for police as well as the very reasonable fear of reprisal. Making a police officer angry or vengeful is a very, very bad thing. Yes, mistakes happen, occasionally to good cops; but most of these incidents are rooted in arrogance, ignorance, or plain half-assed performance. This isn't surprising, since police face virtually no reppercussions for their actions. Invariably, all but the most egregious errors, the most heinous misbehavior, are dismissed. Until police are held accountable and face serious castigation events like these will happen again and again.

If Ms. Davis or any other person in this country believes that this is a rare occurrance they are sadly mistaken and badly informed. This goes on all the time, innocent people or minor offenders are killed and/or maimed
in these unjustified raids and the police are usually always exonerated when citizens seek redress. While I am in agreement with what the main thrust of Ms. Davis's article is.......this is not ONE incident. Do some research, Ms. Davis, find out what is really going on with the misuse of SWAT Teams in this country today .....I believed you will be horrified at what you find!

Republicans, listen to the blood child of your most beloved modern president.

Skins,

Actually she is not taking just this one incident. This type of thing happens all around the countyr. That being said, most of law enforcement is skilled and careful. But these types fo thigns are o the rise as oppsoed to the decline. Yes, they have occurred int eh past, but now it seems that some members of law enforcement are feeling a right to exceed their job and authority.

Also, unfortuantley, given the track record of the PG Police and Sheriff it is unlikely that they will learn anything except to fortify their "them versus us" mentality.

Lets not forget that Prince Georges's county is a notriously troubled area. Plenty of police officers have been killed while conducting legitimate raids, so they take their safety seriously. These cases are isolated when you look at the bigger picture. Since the police where negligent in this case, some sort of compensation needs to be awarded. If marijuana was decriminalized this would have never happened, and our tax payer dollars can go to fighting prince george's county and washington dc's crack problem.

Lets not forget that Prince Georges county is a pretty grimy place. Law enforcement officers have frequently been shot and killed while conducting legitimate raids. Because the police are clearly negligent in this case some sort of compensation needs to be awarded to the mayor's family, but these cases are not happening on a widespread basis, and the police officers are just trying to clean up the streets. If marijuana was decriminalized this would have never happened.

READ the law, file the case, you can write a pro se complaint in pencil on a napkin. There is no excuse for these atrocious jack-booted thug tactics. Google "Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)[1], a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that an implied cause of action existed for an individual whose Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable search and seizures had been violated by federal agents. The victim of such a deprivation could sue for the violation of the Amendment itself, despite the lack of any federal statute authorizing such a suit. The existence of a remedy for the violation was implied from the importance of the right violated."

The Bill of Rights in Berwyn Heights

It has been 220 years since our nation???s founders proclaimed the Bill of Rights. They would be disappointed with what we have done with their legacy. By its very nature, the war on drugs is a war on the Bill of Rights. That was evident in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, on July 29.
Prior to the war on drugs, police officers executed search warrants wearing readily recognizable uniforms. They knocked on the front door, announced their presence and purpose and waited. Only if it was clear that someone was refusing to open the door or no one was home did they force entry.
Today police executing narcotic search warrants are dressed in black SWAT uniforms and wearing ski masks. The officers look more like military commandos or street gangs than police sworn to protect and serve. Without warning, they set off stun and flash grenades, break out windows, knock down doors and burst in with automatic weapons at the ready.
As many as 40,000 such raids occur each year in the U.S. These raids have resulted in hundreds of needless deaths and injuries, not only to drug offenders, but to bystanders, children, police officers and suspects later found to be innocent.
In Berwyn Heights police used similar tactics without any reasonable prior investigation of the suspect. A simple background check would have revealed that the Calvos had no prior involvement with drugs, violence or firearms.
After observing Mr. Calvo place a suspect package in his home, and then take his dogs for a walk, the police could have detained him for questioning. There was no need to storm the home. No one is going to immediately destroy 32 pounds of marijuana.
This was not a high risk search warrant. This was a dangerous situation because the police were uniformed, equipped, trained and expected to act as if they were at war with the suspects.
The Chief of Prince George???s County says the Calvos were ???most likely???innocent victims???. The nation shrugs and the Calvos and their two, now deceased, pet dogs are chalked up as collateral damages in this war.
Milton Friedman said in 1990 that ???Every friend of freedom . . . must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the U.S. into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.??? His nightmare became a reality in Prince George???s County.
Since the war on drugs began, drugs are cheaper, stronger and more plentiful. There is more police corruption. Our prisons are crowded with inmates convicted of simple possession. And we are killing innocent civilians at an alarming rate. It is time for friends of freedom to admit, as we did with alcohol prohibition, that the war on drugs is a failed policy.
Russ Jones

it won't be long before we have to take our guns to the streets. deal some of these rotten cops some serious pain. i'm ready!!!

What about the poor 88 year old grandmother in GA? The cops shot her dead too.

Frightening. The other oart of the story: So many folks are concerned about myths, tribalism and perceived slights agains the current "administration" than they are about the sad state of the Fourth Amendment, accountability, and failed drug enforcement policy. And where are the real conservatives?

LOCAL DEPUTIES BOTCH RAID, NEWSWEEK BLAMES....BUSH!

Holy cow Newsweek, you need therapy!

Instead of just talking about this here, send Chief Melvin High an email (Police_CustomerService@co.pg.md.us) and Sheriff Jackson an email (sheriffinfo@co.pg.md.us). Or call them at (301) 883-7000 (Jackson) or 301-333-4000 (High). Let them know how you feel about their abusive and vicious tactics. Those dogs are dead for absolutely no reason and these scumbags need to be held accountable for what they did. Nobody deserves to have this happen to them. Nobody!

I put it to you that the beginning of this lies in believing that these outrages are deserved by people who <i>are</i> in fact using drugs not approved-of by the government. When we let this sort of thing happen to "the bad people", we are acting against our own best interests---all it takes for you to become a bad person is the stroke of a president or governor's pen, or the gleam in a police officer's eye or a suspicion in his gut.

Scared yet?
Go to wikipedia and search Donald P Scott.
Asset forfeiture as a motive for police action.

Just another example of the creeping police state we live under. When this type of thing happens, it should be perfectly legal to exercise one's Second Amendment rights on the police.

As long as police are effectively immune from prosecution for official misconduct, stuff like this will happen. Here in Texas it is damn near imposable to fire bad cops and make it stick.