Militarize Police And They'll Act Like There's A War On -- In Your Living Room
Absolutely disgusting use of force by cops in Evansville, Indiana, blogged by Radley Balko at the WaPo:
The video ... is footage from a June 2012 SWAT raid in Evansville, Ind., on 68-year-old Louise Milan and her daughter. The raid came after someone had threatened local police officials on an Internet message board. I'd submit that people post threats on the Internet all the time. Certainly they should be investigated. But it's far from clear to me that it merits a SWAT response.But it's actually worse than that. As it turns out, neither Milan nor her daughter made the threats. They were made by a neighbor who had accessed their open wireless connection. This isn't the first time police have rushed to raid the wrong home under such circumstances. It seems like the sort of thing that, again, might be prevented with a little investigation before you go shattering glass doors and scaring the hell out of 68-year-old women.
Listen to the cops' joking at the end after destroying a woman's home -- because some dimwit didn't have the imagination to guess that anybody can use anybody's unprotected Wifi signal.
I would have been utterly terrified if, all of a sudden, my door was shattered and armed men burst in yelling.
They're lucky the older woman didn't have a heart attack and that something terrible didn't happen to either one of them.
I can't believe how calm these women are in the clip. Wow.
Jen at August 16, 2014 7:48 AM
I have to disagree. The cops aren't "lucky", they're fully aware that they'll get away with it.
Google the phrase "cops raid wrong house" and you'll get a string of hits going back years - to read about wrong-way cops shooting dogs, handcuffing children, threatening the innocent, destroying property.
The DA and the chief and the judge have a giggle in the back room of the courthouse and then all is forgiven.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 16, 2014 8:01 AM
The cops seem competent and courteous, even comical in a Jethro Clampett sort of way. They're just wildly mis-used. Whoever is directing them thinks this is a good use of police resources. The cops in this video are not decision makers. So Evansville, what do you have to say for yourself?
Canvasback at August 16, 2014 9:01 AM
Jen, I kinda thought the same thing - wow, those women are remarkably calm; but, then I wonder if they aren't just in a state of shock?
Amy says that she would be "utterly terrified" if armed men broke into her house that way. But, I think we all deal with "terrified" in different manners.
Yes, some of us would be screaming and yelling, etc. While others would be absolutely silent. It doesn't mean that they aren't terrified; it just means that they show it in a different way.
And, yea, it is very lucky that no one was killed here.
Charles at August 16, 2014 1:38 PM
I'm wondering what the threat was, partially because it didn't seem they were looking for anything besides people.
Joe J at August 16, 2014 2:34 PM
Amy, lefty Kevin Drum at Mother Jones agrees with you. :-)
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/08/we-created-policing-monster-mistake
qdpsteve at August 16, 2014 5:04 PM
Read Solzhenytsen's Gulag Archipelago-- he describes how "the search" has nothing to do with FINDING anything. It's merely an excuse to legally vandalize someone's home.
jefe at August 17, 2014 1:55 PM
Balko: "But it's far from clear to me that it merits a SWAT response."
They don't use a SWAT team because the situation merits a SWAT team. They use a SWAT team because they have one, and as long as they're pretty certain there's no dangerous bad guy on the other side of the door the individual cops enjoy taking part in raids like this. If they actually thought there might be someone armed and dangerous inside, they wouldn't have entered the house at all, even if there were hostages in immediate, serious danger. They would have surrounded the house, hidden behind barriers and shouted with bullhorns for the bad guy to stop hurting the hostages and give himself up. And if the bad guy pointed a gun or potato at them things would go downhill fast for any hostages in the area.
You'd think a police department staffed with people better than assholes would have a vested interest in conducting their activities in a way that wouldn't give reasonable citizens moral justification to shoot them.
Ken R at August 17, 2014 8:53 PM
The two women in the house were sure a lot cooler headed than the dorks and dweebs on the SWAT team. The Evansville PD should disband their SWAT team and hire those two women.
Ken R at August 17, 2014 8:58 PM
What Gog and jefe said. The purpose of the raid was to send a message to the community. And the message was: "We can fuck you up. Think about that before you criticize us."
Cousin Dave at August 18, 2014 7:04 AM
Also, I wonder if they are now going to sic the civil forfeiture machnery on her: "Her house was used to commit a crime."
Cousin Dave at August 18, 2014 7:06 AM
Leave a comment