SWAT team throws stun grenade:lands in baby crib

[Againsheila]

The police have been intentionally militarized so the powers that be will have more control once the wheels fall off of this stupid country.

scary, isn't it?

 

[MikeK]

[...]

A small bag of drug evidence is not worth violation of constitutional rights or endangering lives over.

And therein lies the tale!

There were over 44,000 no-knock break-ins last year. That's forty-four thousand! And every single one I was able to read about was drug-related. Every single one! Some (who knows how many) were for something as pathetically trivial as suspicion of marijuana possession. Have a look: Botched Paramilitary Police Raids | Cato Institute

I am old enough to remember a time in America, not that long ago, when the idea of police breaking down doors at 3AM for something less critical than arresting an extremely dangerous major criminal or rescuing someone would have raised outraged public protest for such a brazen assault on the American concept of Liberty. This was something we knew was going on in the USSR -- but not here! Now it is going on here. What we are seeing in these break-ins is unmitigated police state activity. And not only is the American public seemingly oblivious to it, a significant percentage of them think it's perfectly alright!

The War On Drugs was bad judgment on Richard Nixon's part. But Nixon realized that when he saw what was happening as the result of it and he backed off on it by withdrawing federal funding. Then came the idiot movie actor President, Ronald Reagan, and his ditzy, Quaalude addicted wife, and look what we have now with our emerging, Soviet-style, extraordinarily militarized police state.

The key question here is motivation. What is the purpose of these break-ins? We all know the drug war is pointless, totally ineffective, and extremely counterproductive. And in this specific example we see it being used to accustom the public to having their doors kicked in at three o'clock in the morning by masked goons with machine guns. And they are doing this for something they know will make no difference on illegal drug use and availability. What they are doing conforms with the offhand definition of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!

This is not an example of expedient exercise for the supposed purpose of "officer safety." The real, federally financed purpose of this outrageous assault on the very spirit of our Constitution is to condition the public to accept oppression by aggressive agents of the State!

And it is working!

 

[theHawk]

Why couldn't they just wait for the perp to leave the house and arrest him/her?

 

[Againsheila]

Why couldn't they just wait for the perp to leave the house and arrest him/her?

Excellent question.

 

[Pogo]

[...]

A small bag of drug evidence is not worth violation of constitutional rights or endangering lives over.

And therein lies the tale!

There were over 44,000 no-knock break-ins last year. That's forty-four thousand! And every single one I was able to read about was drug-related. Every single one! Some (who knows how many) were for something as pathetically trivial as suspicion of marijuana possession. Have a look: Botched Paramilitary Police Raids | Cato Institute

I am old enough to remember a time in America, not that long ago, when the idea of police breaking down doors at 3AM for something less critical than arresting an extremely dangerous major criminal or rescuing someone would have raised outraged public protest for such a brazen assault on the American concept of Liberty. This was something we knew was going on in the USSR -- but not here! Now it is going on here. What we are seeing in these break-ins is unmitigated police state activity. And not only is the American public seemingly oblivious to it, a significant percentage of them think it's perfectly alright!

The War On Drugs was bad judgment on Richard Nixon's part. But Nixon realized that when he saw what was happening as the result of it and he backed off on it by withdrawing federal funding. Then came the idiot movie actor President, Ronald Reagan, and his ditzy, Quaalude addicted wife, and look what we have now with our emerging, Soviet-style, extraordinarily militarized police state.

The key question here is motivation. What is the purpose of these break-ins? We all know the drug war is pointless, totally ineffective, and extremely counterproductive. And in this specific example we see it being used to accustom the public to having their doors kicked in at three o'clock in the morning by masked goons with machine guns. And they are doing this for something they know will make no difference on illegal drug use and availability. What they are doing conforms with the offhand definition of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!

This is not an example of expedient exercise for the supposed purpose of "officer safety." The real, federally financed purpose of this outrageous assault on the very spirit of our Constitution is to condition the public to accept oppression by aggressive agents of the State!

And it is working!

Indeed it is when we have apologists for it in our midst.

And not to leave out Reagan's VP-turned-President who inspired the "drug testing in the workplace" craze, a remake of Red Scare, which any and all adherents of Liberty ought to be flatly refusing to enable.

"When they came for the drug users I said nothing...."

 

[Pogo]

Why couldn't they just wait for the perp to leave the house and arrest him/her?

Not enough drama that way. You don't get to play Super Action Hero He-Man Tough Guy.

 

[MikeK]

Why couldn't they just wait for the perp to leave the house and arrest him/her?

That's no fun. Arresting David Koresh, which they easily could have done, would have avoided the Waco Massacre. But dressing up in combat gear and landing like Iwo Jima is much more satisfyingly macho. And the rest is history. Too bad the public is too dense to realize the truth about that outrage.

There is a reason why narcs and vice cops are known as the scumbags of law enforcement. They give good cops a bad name.

 

[KissMy]

Okay, first of all, I think it's already been determined that the cops acted badly. Second of all, if you are going to do a no knock entry of a drug house, are you going to stick your head in first before you throw the flash grenade? You'd get it blown off.

There are many ways to determine the occupants of a house without entering.

Really, without looking through a window? Without have a helicopter flying over head giving the bad guys a heads up? Care to tell me what those many ways are?

There are many devices SWAT has. Such as XAVER™ 100 or a Prism 200c

 

[Quantum Windbag]

A kid was hit here by a cop who had a green light and the kid enter the intersection on a bike. It is sad, but not the cops fault.

the cop bears some responsibility for it

you are supposed to be in control of your car at all times

having the green light does not absolve his failure to control his vehicle

No, the driver bears no responsibility and will not face any repercussions.

You know this because you have all the facts, right? After all, cops never lie about whether or not they have a green light, or anything else.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Not too many people have that kind of reaction skills, maybe Superman?

Told you these guys would find a way to blame the cop.

Meanwhile...here is what happens when you don't err on the side of caution:

Officials: No criminal record for shooter who killed cop - CNN.com

Huh?

He thinks cops should respond to all routine calls by shooting everyone in sight.

 

[Nutz]

the cop bears some responsibility for it

you are supposed to be in control of your car at all times

having the green light does not absolve his failure to control his vehicle

No, the driver bears no responsibility and will not face any repercussions.

You know this because you have all the facts, right? After all, cops never lie about whether or not they have a green light, or anything else.

Yeah...you have all the facts too...knowing that the cops lied and all.

You think cops can do no right and you fear a police state. I don't agree we are in a police state and I will give the police the benefit of the doubt over a criminal drug dealer any day. I happen to believe in law and order...what about you?

 

[Nutz]

Told you these guys would find a way to blame the cop.

Meanwhile...here is what happens when you don't err on the side of caution:

Officials: No criminal record for shooter who killed cop - CNN.com

Huh?

He thinks cops should respond to all routine calls by shooting everyone in sight.

Are you really that pathetic? Where did I say that or even give that impression? Nonsense hyperbole by you in no way proves your point.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

No, the driver bears no responsibility and will not face any repercussions.

You know this because you have all the facts, right? After all, cops never lie about whether or not they have a green light, or anything else.

Yeah...you have all the facts too...knowing that the cops lied and all.

You think cops can do no right and you fear a police state. I don't agree we are in a police state and I will give the police the benefit of the doubt over a criminal drug dealer any day. I happen to believe in law and order...what about you?

Actually, I don't have any of the facts. I don't even know if the story is true, especially given the source. If there was a link I might figure out that the cop is telling the truth, or I might find out he is lying.

You, on the other hand, jump to defending the cop because he is the government, and the government is never wrong.

That said, anytime you throw a grenade simply because you can't see you are wrong.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Huh?

He thinks cops should respond to all routine calls by shooting everyone in sight.

Are you really that pathetic? Where did I say that or even give that impression? Nonsense hyperbole by you in no way proves your point.

What was your point then?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Actually, I don't have any of the facts.

Well. That's certainly quotable.

So is the rest of the post, but I am not surprised your bigoted ass left that out.

 

[Nutz]

He thinks cops should respond to all routine calls by shooting everyone in sight.

Are you really that pathetic? Where did I say that or even give that impression? Nonsense hyperbole by you in no way proves your point.

What was your point then?

I see you truly are that pathetic.

Carry on. I choose not to play with dishonest idiots who think disagreeing that cops should err on the side of caution equates to shooting everyone in site on routine calls.

Pathetic...absolutely pathetic.

 

[Pogo]

You, on the other hand, jump to defending the cop because he is the government, and the government is never wrong.

I have to observe, QW throws this same line ^^ at me indiscriminately -- which must make reading my posts in this thread extremely awkward. Not to mention those in the older thread I linked.



File under: Department of Thinking Things Through Before Posting...

 

[MikeK]

(Excerpt)

The ACLU is generally considered a left-leaning organization; many members hail from the liberal side of the political spectrum. The fact that their champions in the Obama administration have continued the alarming trend of police militarization may get a pass from its supporters, but the ACLU has finally woken-up to the quiet Rambofication of our nation’s police departments . . .

On March 6th, ACLU affiliates in 23 states filed over 255 public records requests with law enforcement agencies and National Guard offices to determine the extent to which federal funding and support has fueled the militarization of state and local police departments. Stay tuned as this project develops.

The website lists ten chilling examples of police militarization gone wild:

> Police mistakenly shooting and killing a sleeping nine-year-old girl after they became confused by their flash bang grenade.

> A South Carolina county sheriff’s department whose equipment includes an armored personnel carrier complete with a belt-fed .50 machine gun

>Two SWAT teams who shut down a Colorado neighborhood for four hours searching for a man suspected of stealing a bicycle from Wally World.

> Police in Arkansas who planned to patrol streets wearing full SWAT gear carrying AR-15 rifles.

> New York Police admitted to using “counter-terrorist” methods to remove Occupy Wall Street Protesters

Obviously, the list of police abuses goes far beyond this. And no matter what you think of the ACLU’s defense of seemingly indefensible behavior, credit where credit’s due: the organization is like a dog with a bone. They will uncover previously hidden information about police militarization. Question is: what happens next?

ACLU Investigates Police Militarization | The Truth About Guns

(Close)

The force behind the wholly unnecessary and clearly intimidating militarization of our state and local police agencies is the billions of dollars in federal money channeled for this highly suspicious purpose. Why do civilian police agencies need clearly redundant weaponry -- such as the .50 machine guns and armored vehicles given to them by the federal government? And why the increasingly familiar military-style combat clothing and tactical gear, including special boots, special gloves, knee and elbow guards, special leg holsters -- and balaclava face masks? What the hell is that about? I was in the Marine Corps and we didn't have that kind of gear!

Evidently the federal government isn't satisfied with the National Guard for emergencies that call for such equipment. They aren't content with the available SWAT teams. Instead they seem determined to transform all police, at all levels, into one great big omnipotent SWAT team. And for what purpose? Obviously to protect and serve -- the One Percent and their puppet government officials.

America's civilian police have been turned into an army in service to the ruling class. And the real purpose of these unnecessary door-busting raids is both practice and an indoctrination exercise to condition the public to accepting such outlandish police state activity.

Those who remain oblivious to the unmistakable implications of this threat to their birthright liberties are urged to give some thought to why our pimp of a President has made it "legal" for him, or anyone he appoints, to quietly and secretly arrest any American citizen and detain him or her indefinitely without explanation. So we are looking at the suspension of Habeas Corpus and federalized militarization of state and local police, two steps in a very menacing direction.

Those who have been sleeping through this insidious metamorphosis of the American culture are urged to please wake up!

 

[Againsheila]

There are many ways to determine the occupants of a house without entering.

Really, without looking through a window? Without have a helicopter flying over head giving the bad guys a heads up? Care to tell me what those many ways are?

There are many devices SWAT has. Such as XAVER™ 100 or a Prism 200c

That would be great, if they had one, I'm betting they didn't or they would have used it.

 

[tinydancer]

Are you really that pathetic? Where did I say that or even give that impression? Nonsense hyperbole by you in no way proves your point.

What was your point then?

I see you truly are that pathetic.

Carry on. I choose not to play with dishonest idiots who think disagreeing that cops should err on the side of caution equates to shooting everyone in site on routine calls.

Pathetic...absolutely pathetic.

I'm old. I go way back to Black Panther days. Do you know why the BP formed? Because the cops at the time became the army. They ruled. And people suffered.

I believe we are beginning to witness this again.