Just don't do anything illegal, and just don't be there when the cops make a mistake and come to your house instead of the one they meant to, and you don't have anything to worry about.
Yeah, something is not right when the police in the US have looser rules of engagement than the army in a war.
You know what that’s called?
A police state.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Quote of the Day - Police SWAT edition
It's no longer correct to call it the "militarization" of the police when the Rules of Engagement are tougher for the Marines shooting at terrorists than for cops shooting at you. Alan nails it:
A story in yesterday's news makes it a bit less cut-and-dried if this information is true.
ReplyDeletehttp://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_a978c23a-a40f-5d0a-a203-76b88ac67e86.html
Murphy, Richard Jewell could not be reached for comment.
ReplyDeleteI'm skeptical, but willing to listen. But there doesn't seem to be a lot of information to reduce my skepticism there.
authorities found rifles, handguns, body armor and a portion of a law-enforcement uniform inside the house
ReplyDeleteThey'd find the same things after a search of my house....
Guard Duck - I wonder...
ReplyDelete...WTF did they expect to find in an ex-marine's house? From what I understand for years the body armor issued by the Corps was sub-standard at best so a lot of guys bought their own and wore it instead. The cost of those things is pretty high - certainly not something that I would be inclined to part with upon my discharge, even if i had no further use for it.
I don't know the particulars to this case, but it does occur to me that I might be in a similar situation if the cops ever "wrong addressed" my home. I don't understand why people expect that if a black-clad ninja with automatic weapons breaks down my door and yells "police" that I should just believe him. It isn't that I want to go toe-to-toe with the cops. If I was sure that it was the cops, I'd comply and deal with the lawsuit later. But with the recent trend towards violent gangs dressing up like cops and doing these raids, even shouting "police" when they come in...
...well, hell, you've got a split second to determine if you are dealing with the cops and put down your gun, and if you're wrong, you just bought yourself a front-row ticket to the viewing of the gang-rape of your wife. If you're wrong the other way, you go to jail for the rest of your life (assuming you survive). Kind of a lose-lose, don't you think?
I just don'tunderstand what the problem is with knocking on the door, waiting for an answer, and showing ID and explaining that they have a warrant for search of the residence. I know the argument is that it gives people time to destroy evidence, but seriously, is prosecuting a guy on drug charges really worth one innocent life?
Better yet, a little surveilance on the house, wait until you leave, take you down three blocks away and then go into the house, as would have been easily accomplished with this guy - he worked at a mine, the cops knew it, and they knew when he had to go to work that night. How f-ing hard is that? No one dies. No kid gets to grow up without his dad, and no innocent people are put in harm's way. No innocent six-year old girls are set on fire by flash-bang grenades, and then her daddy gets killed because he is trying to put out the fire instead of complying with the police demands (yes, this really happened, and yes, it was a "wrong address" raid).