No-Knock Warrants

[West Chester]

This is a scary new trend. How does everyone feel about this issue?

Here is the shooting for reference

Dressed in black and carrying assault rifles, members of a local multi-jurisdiction police unit burst into a dark home in Ogden, Utah, one night in September shouting, "Police! Search warrant!"

A video of the incident made by the Weber-Morgan counties Narcotics Strike Force and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency shows a man suddenly appearing in a hallway holding a shiny object that an officer thought was a sword, but was really a golf club, according to Weber County Attorney Dee Smith.

In the instant he appeared, the video shows, three shots rang out and the man, Todd Blair, 45, fell to the floor, dead.

The Ogden incident was among a growing number of no-knock police raids last year, a tactic that has grown in use from 2,000 to 3,000 raids a year in the mid-1980s, to 70,000 to 80,000 annually, says Peter Kraska, a professor of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University who tracks the issue.

That increase has raised questions about the tactic, including whether the surprise element poses an unnecessary threat to people whose residences are invaded.

Judges can issue no-knock warrants when they believe the element of surprise could help officers avoid danger or keep people from destroying evidence, Kraska says.

Critics say the no-knock tactic gives residents — some innocent — seconds to decide if they face a police raid or a home invasion.

At times, particularly in drug cases, police make their case for no-knock search warrants based on faulty information from unreliable informants, says Ezekiel Edwards, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

"That's just going to increase invasions of privacy and tragic harm to both residents and officers," he says.

In the Odgen incident, Sgt. Troy Burnett was found to have handled the situation appropriately, Smith says. "This was a split-second decision. He acted according to his training."

Arlean Blair, mother of the man who was shot, says her son posed no threat to officers. "They could have used rubber bullets. They could have used spray," she says.

Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, says the onus for the increase in no-knock cases is on the judges who authorize such warrants.

The law holds that police should knock and announce themselves, except in special circumstances and when they have approval from a magistrate, says Miller Shealy, assistant law professor at the Charleston School of Law in South Carolina.

They don't need a no-knock warrant if changing circumstances give them reason to barge in, he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...ock14_ST_N.htm

Contributing: Barnett and Alongi also report for The Greenville (S.C.) News

[NikeBauer21]

This was posted a little while back IIRC... Frankly, I don't know how I feel about it. If someone comes busting in my door without knocking, I will grab the nearest gun and start shooting, because I did not do anything to warrant entrance of police personnel, so I will assume you are suspects trying to B&E. This is one of the risks of entering un-announced. I don't know if you are police, or murderers (or both... but I digress). But on the other hand, if you have a known suspect in a home, announcing your presence isn't the smartest idea, as it tips them off...

So, I don't know... if they get the right house, it may not be bad. If you get the wrong house, it could be a huge CF...

[Daycrawler]

This is a repost, however I will reply to the no knock part. No knock warrants are for high risk searches. The Police have to tell a judge what is high risk about the search. Guns, other weapons, alarms , dogs ect. . That leaves alot open to interpitation! The guy in this video grabbed a golf club. unfortunately it also looks like a sword untill the head of the club becomes visible.

[streaker69]

This is a repost, however I will reply to the no knock part. No knock warrants are for high risk searches. The Police have to tell a judge what is high risk about the search. Guns, other weapons, alarms , dogs ect. . That leaves alot open to interpitation! The guy in this video grabbed a golf club. unfortunately it also looks like a sword untill the head of the club becomes visible.

If you as a private citizen shot a man holding a golfclub that you thought was a sword, chances are, you'd be charged with manslaughter, because you didn't properly identify the threat. But the police are allowed to shoot and get away with it, because they're professionals.

[NikeBauer21]

....But the police are allowed to shoot and get away with it, because they're professionals.

You sure that's the right generalization to use??

[Hawk]

Well, in "No Knock" the police are announcing themselves as they break the door down. The alternative is to knock on the door announce who you are and give the occupants a chance to answer the door, or grab a gun, or dump their stash.

In these matters the police should consider the safety of innocent civilians first. Way too many times the police make mistakes that cost lives.

I feel the police should be required to meet a high level of criteria that both ensures they are at the correct residence, and at the same time ensures the safety of any innocent occupants before they are issued a "No Knock" warrant.
Whatever happened to shields and flash bangs for higher risk entries? Or are those tools limited to SWAT use?

[streaker69]

You sure that's the right generalization to use??

I know what you're saying, but if you think about it, we as citizens are some how held to a higher standard when defending ourselves than the paid professionals are. They're the ones with all the training on making split second decisions paid for with our money. But if you or I were to shoot someone in the same way, obviously not inside another person's home, we'd be crucified.

Maybe the first guy through the door should be using less than lethals, and if that fails to put the guy down, then the guys behind him back him up. Police the entire way up the command chain should be held 100% accountable, PERSONALLY, if they conduct a raid like that on the wrong address and someone is injured or killed.

[LorDiego01]

I still have never seen, heard, nor found any illicit substance, in any quantity, that's anywhere near as dangerous as adrenaline junkies, in full military armor kicking down residential doors and opening fire.

[NikeBauer21]

I know what you're saying, but if you think about it, we as citizens are some how held to a higher standard when defending ourselves than the paid professionals are. They're the ones with all the training on making split second decisions paid for with our money. But if you or I were to shoot someone in the same way, obviously not inside another person's home, we'd be crucified.

Oh, without a doubt. That's how it should be. Being entrusted with more power, should mean you are held to a higher standard. People trust, look up to, and sometimes admire you. This is where, I believe, so much of the generalized "hatred" derives from. More often than not, they get away with things we can't, or ever would. All this shows, is that corruption is rampant, and if you have power, the rules are different for you...

(generally speaking...)

Maybe the first guy through the door should be using less than lethals, and if that fails to put the guy down, then the guys behind him back him up. Police the entire way up the command chain should be held 100% accountable, PERSONALLY, if they conduct a raid like that on the wrong address and someone is injured or killed.

It could certainly be better than potentially killing someone over a golf club. Because quite honestly, if someone breaks into your house (assuming you are completely innocent, not expecting to get raided), and you have no time to judge who or what it is, what will your reaction be? If not a firearm, perhaps a bat? Or cane? There is way too much to chance. Even if you are 99% certain that suspect/house is in fact the one you are looking for, there remains that 1% you will kill someone who is completely innocent, and only acting on reaction and instinct.

It's hairy, for sure...

Like I said, if I'm in the bedroom, and I hear my front door get busted in, what will my reaction be? I know I'm completely innocent, and have nothing to fear, so I assume it's bad guys. So I grab my gun, and take up home defense mode. Now, the entering police see me posted up, and assess me as a threat, thus killing me (eventually).. and potentially my family. Innocent lives easily lost because of a misunderstanding. Sad though to ponder...

[God's Country]

How this could be viewed by any court as not being unreasonable is just further proof that we’ve been lost for a very, very long time.

The fourth doesn’t say the right to be safe in your home from unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated unless the gov. thinks you’re a scumbag. The fourth is supposed to guarantee that right regardless, and any issued warrants must be executed accordingly.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

No knock warrants IMO place an unnecessary burden on the citizen to be required to decide in an instant whether they are about to be harmed or injured. But since officer safety trumps peasant safety I’m wrong and always will be wrong until we collectively grow some stones and take back our country.