Mayor's Labradors are "collateral damage" in War on Drugs

Don

All Living is Local
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
24,567
Reaction score
4,007
Location
Agorism FTW!
"I'm sorry for the loss of their family pets," Jackson said. "But this is the unfortunate result of the scourge of drugs in our community. Lost in this whole incident was the criminal element. . . . In the sense that we kept these drugs from reaching our streets, this operation was a success."
So ends the statement of the Sheriff of St. George County, Michael Jackson, regarding the raid on Berwyn Heights, Maryland Mayor Cheye Calvo’s home last summer.
The findings of the internal review "are consistent with what I've felt all along: My deputies did their job to the fullest extent of their abilities," Sheriff Michael Jackson said at a news conference.
The Washington Post has the story.

Radley Balko is not so kind in his analysis. First, he lays the groundwork.
Last summer, officers intercepted a package of marijuana at a delivery service warehouse. Despite the fact that they already knew of a drug distribution network in which dealers were sending packages of marijuana to random addresses with the intent of having them picked up by accomplices working for the delivery companies, the Sheriff’s Department raided Calvo’s just seconds after his mother-in-law brought the package into the house with no investigation into who actually lived there.
Then he deconstructs the official argument.
First of all, the police intercepted the package at the warehouse. At that point, they had already kept the marijuana inside from “reaching the streets.” Everything that happened next was at the discretion of the officers who carried out the investigation and raid well after the marijuana had already been confiscated, which means they and they alone own the results of the raid.

Second, what happened to Calvo isn’t the “unfortunate result of the scourge of drugs in our community,” it’s the result of a bumbling, overly aggressive, wholly incompetent police department. And it’s the result of a drug warrior mentality that believes invading someone’s home with guns and filling their pets with bullets is an appropriate response to a possible violation of state marijuana laws. The raiding cops didn’t bother to notify the Berwyn Heights police chief before sending in the SWAT team, which would almost certainly have tipped them off to their mistake. They didn’t bother to do any investigation at all of who lived at Calvo’s residence. Their first resort was to use the most overwhelming force possible.
Is there any way to stop this recurring problem of "isolated incidents" and the whitewashing of home invasions by over-zealous law enforcement? This could be your home, or mine, the next time.
 
Last edited:

sulong

It's a matter of what is.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Messages
1,776
Reaction score
127
Location
Portland OR
I think the first step is to bust up the police unions.
 

AMCrenshaw

...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
4,671
Reaction score
620
Website
dfnovellas.wordpress.com
Back to the scheduled show:

Is there any way to stop this recurring problem of "isolated incidents" and the whitewashing of home invasions by over-zealous law enforcement? This could be your home, or mine, the next time.

Yes and no. Decriminalizing marijuana would end some of it, but then there's the other drugs. This reminds me of a recent, local news story in which the police stormed the house of someone they suspected sold marijuana. They found less than a gram but then proceeded to arrest the whole family (including a minor). All the while, the house is wrecked and the family's pet is abandoned for three or four days -- apparently no one could pay bail-- until another family member was able to rescue the animal.

And what for?

I think when we are witness to such brutality/ignorance/over-zealousness, we should be calling our representatives, demanding greater accountability on the part of police officers. If these are truly "isolated cases" then a by-definition-normal police officer won't get into trouble.

A
M
C
 

CACTUSWENDY

An old, sappy, and happy one.
Kind Benefactor
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
12,860
Reaction score
1,667
Location
Sunny Arizona
This is as bad as when the bust in and hurt or kill at the wrong address. This is all just sooooo uncalled for.
 

Dommo

On Mac's double secret probation.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
1,917
Reaction score
203
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
All of the cops involved in this should be supsended without pay, and the ones who orchestrated this operation should lose their jobs.

There's no excuse for going in guns blazing, and treating someone like they did. I'd be filing some serious lawsuits, and I'm quite sure lawyers would be chomping at the bit to be a part of this action.