Posted on 05/28/2011 4:58:26 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
Seven-year-old Aiyana Jones was killed during a SWAT raid in Detroit over the weekend (more here and here). Police raided a duplex looking for a suspect in a murder investigation. According to Jones' family, the suspect was arrested in the apartment opposite where the little girl was shot. Police thus far are only saying that they had a warrant for the entire building, and that the suspect was arrested in that building.
The family says when police tossed a flashbang grenade through the window of the apartment where Jones was sleeping, the device ignited the blanket on her bed and set Jones on fire. The police initially claimed Jones was shot after her grandmother had an altercation with one of the officers. They now say the contact with the grandmother was incidental and the gun discharged accidentally. According to the family, neighbors warned the officers that there were children in the home, and pointed officers to toys in the front yard.
If police in this case had intelligence that their suspect posed an immediate threat to others, there might be some justification for using a SWAT team to apprehend him. Clearly a homicide suspect presents more of a threat than someone suspected of drug crimes. But it doesn't appear that the suspect was holding anyone hostage or on some sort of killing spree. And unless we learn that's the case, it's hard to understand why you'd send a SWAT team and deploy incendiary flash grenades into both units of a duplex, especially if it's clear there are children and bystanders inside.
If nothing else, Aiyana Jones' death illustrates just how volatile and violent these raids can be, as well as their low margin for error. It shows why they should be used only when such force is necessary to defuse an already violent situation—that is, unless police intervene, there is an immediate threat of further loss of life. That's really the only scenario under which you can justify using tactics that have proven over the years to themselves carry a not insignificant risk of taking innocent lives.
More as we learn more details.
MORE: Sigh.
Film crews with A&E's "The First 48" reality show, which follows police departments nationwide during the crucial 48 hours after a homicide is committed, were taping the [SWAT] team for a documentary.
In light of recent SWAT events in Arizona... posted to show a few here these types of “tragedies” have been occurring all over this country for years now... they do not happen in a vacuum as some want us to believe...
More Militarized Than the Military
http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/14/more-militarized-than-the-mili
Paramilitary Creep
http://reason.com/archives/2010/12/19/paramilitary-creep
Hey, Berlin...
I can’t tell if these folks were black or white but I thought you might want to see this since you are keeping score.
They were black, the little girl was only 7... a baby.
This wasn’t a drug raid. The police went in looking for a murderer, who had bragged that he murdered a child. He was being harbored by a family that lived in both halves of the duplex. They found the murderer there. It’s a tragedy that an innocent girl died, but there is more to this than what the family is telling.
I read the Balko site often because I think he is right on with these unnecessary SWAT raids, and I think he has good points on the war on drugs. But, he bangs the anti-Palin, anti-Cheney drum as well as any brat over at the DailyCos. He writes for HUFFPOST now which is a good fit because he really is a liberal. He also is soft on Israel, and went from being a Ron Paul supporter to a big Obama supporter. A lot of those Reason guys got behind Obama because they were hoping for legalized reefer. They got burned, or should I say smoked!
Flashback ping.
Why do you hate the cops so much? I never see a post from you on a thread where the cops have done a good job.
Here's some excerpts from Florida Statute 316.0083 ,, a statute that allowed camera tickets but restricted them in ways that should prevent us peasants being robbed by the "good cops" you admire..
Needless to say the sections restricting abuse are ignored... here they are..
4. An individual may not receive a commission from any revenue collected from violations detected through the use of a traffic infraction detector. A manufacturer or vendor may not receive a fee or remuneration based upon the number of violations detected through the use of a traffic infraction detector.
(2) A notice of violation and a traffic citation may not be issued for failure to stop at a red light if the driver is making a right-hand turn in a careful and prudent manner at an intersection where right-hand turns are permissible.
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Don't complain , just be a good little MILK COW for your masters.
I dunno about this swat team stuff. Just seems too much like a police state if you ask me. Since this country’s inception the bad guys were surrounded, made an offer to surrender, and then waited out until they got antsy and made a move. Especially in the face of family or children in the house. Was this neighborhood as bad as a war zone?
This ram in the door and cruise in firing 71 rounds of ammo with a potential to kill anything in sight in one flash bang in our neighborhoods just feels creepy to me, no matter how good the intentions of the cops are to protect and defend. And what’s with these flash ban grenades krap?
I dunno about this swat team stuff. Just seems too much like a police state if you ask me. Since this country’s inception the bad guys were surrounded, made an offer to surrender, and then waited out until they got antsy and made a move. Especially in the face of family or children in the house. Was this neighborhood as bad as a war zone?
This ram in the door and cruise in firing 71 rounds of ammo with a potential to kill anything in sight in one flash bang in our neighborhoods just feels creepy to me, no matter how good the intentions of the cops are to protect and defend. And what’s with these flash bang grenades krap?
>> Why do you hate the cops so much?
It’s not about the individual cops, at least not for me. It’s about legitimizing the process that relies on paramilitary methods for apprehending suspects and gathering evidence. Lawmakers, judges, and commanding officers are primarily responsible for unleashing this unnecessary force.
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