Couple seeks damages after police raid wrong house

Henry Daily Herald ^ | 6-8-06 | By Michael Davis

[traditional1]

Fascist law enforcement "techniques".

Yeah...we have to be sensitive here...take the guns away so nobody gets hurt...

And the Taxpayers who vote on the councilmen, mayor, etc. have NO CONTROL over the Union-directed appointment process in the ranks. How does the taxpayer select the police recruits? How does the affirmative action plan allow the taxpayer to select the police recruits?

How does the TAXPAYER remove an APPOINTED Judge?

[Michael.SF.]

The damages should be assessed against the officers who misdirected the raid. Not the city.

No. They work for the city and the city is then responsible for damages they inflict. The exception my be if it was done intentionally by one individual directing the others. But even that would be a gray area.

[shempy]

I don't think the TAXPAYERS who will fund the lawyer's new BMW would agree with you.

Then the taxpayers should elect competent folks to make these decisions. Otherwise, they will have to pay for the incompetence they tolerate.

[verity]

Seems like you been peeping through locker room walls. lol

[traditional1]

"If actual damages by law enforcement were punished by actual jail time, maybe there wouldn't be as high a civil reward given later." You, Sir, have posted a reasoned response. Jail-time for the guilty is far more effective than TAXPAYER-funded windfalls, while those responsible are not harmed in any way.

As you can see from the Rambo-style posts, some think it's an everyday event that these "assaults in one's own home" are happening, and that overboard rewards to lawyers is the answer (funded, again, by the taxpayer, while the guilty parties are not harmed or penalized in any way).

[GrandEagle]

Union-directed appointment process in the ranks.
You replace the guy who appoints them. It can take time, but change will happen. It happened here in our Sheriff's department about 8 years ago. It took a while, but the smart -a?? deputies got replaced and now we have a pretty good, well respected, Sheriff's department.
Same with the judges. Can't really get rid of them, but you can replace those who appoint them. (Most of our judges are elected though).
I truly wish the officers were held personally liable but that also creates an unworkable situation - given the very judges you speak of. You would have an officer completely afraid to actually carry out his rightful law enforcement duties, for fear of wiping out his family's finances.
As was said before, it isn't perfect, but it is what we have to work with.
Taxpayers can make change, I've seen it happen, but it has to hurt first.

Cordially,
GE

[traditional1]

While the inconvienience, embarassment, and personal humiliation of the circumstance you describe are absolutely a matter of fact; the point is that those people responsible are NOT PENALIZED in the Civil Suit...they don't pay out of THEIR pockets...and have no jail time...and have no incentive not to do the same thing next week.

That's the point: why do taxpayers ALWAYS have to foot the bill for incompetence and stupidity of public "servants"?

[Michael.SF.]

Let me be on that civil jury... I'd start at 20 million

For what?

A broken door, being handcuffed and about 15 minutes of mistaken identity?

Where they permanently injured, crippled, legs broken?

Jury verdicts and awards are all over the map in part because juries have lost perspective.

If this was done intentially, you are right, 20 million would be a starter. If this was an honest error, then 8 million is probably too high.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

In the middle of the night there is a reasonable explanation as to the mix up of addresses involved, and that is most likely what happened.

You're telling me that the police getting the wrong address in a middle-of-the-night raid where they're invading somebody's home at gunpoint is EXCUSABLE?

I don't care how dark it was or how poorly marked the addresses, unless the innocent victims had the wrong number painted on their house this should NEVER have happened. It's not like an officer accidentally hitting a pedestrian in a frantic firefight with twelve armed thugs. They had plenty of time, plenty of administrative and city information resources AND THE RESPONSIBILITY to get it right, not just go, uh, this looks like it's probably the place, let's send in a s***load of guns and take down whoever we find in there.

Somebody needs to be in the unemployment line, and if I were on the jury I'd be very sympathetic to the victims of this completely incompetent raid. We can't treat this crap lightly. And never mind the fact that the victims here were lucky this time -- next time somebody may well get killed. And it could be you or one of your family members.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Bash the door in at my house in the middle of the night and see what happens.

[GrandEagle]

those people responsible are NOT PENALIZED in the Civil Suit...they don't pay out of THEIR pockets...and have no jail time...and have no incentive not to do the same thing next week.
Again, your point is very well taken. It is just the best we have to work with. These guys should be fired a the least, jailed at best. Having officers personally liable is a mixed bag IMHO, for the reasons mentioned in my last post.
Cordially,

GE

I'm really sorry. It seems that I have set a hostile tone for our discussion; that wan not my intent.
This is sort of a hot button for me. My apology for my unsociable tone.

[from occupied ga]

Henry county is south of Atlanta - still considered in the Atlanta metro area

[from occupied ga]

The amount cited however is too much. Nobody died, so the police shouldn't have to pay more than maybe $50k on top of damages. That should be plenty for the couple to pay off a little bit on their mortgage, pay off their credit card bills, and take a nice two week long cruise. Of course, the irony would be if the couple uses some of the money to buy drugs.

No 8 million sounds just about right and first every jbt and admin type involved in the screwup should be forced to put his assets into the pool before it goes into the taxpayers pockets.

[wtc911]

what's with the porn in the side bar?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Trouble is, the millions won't be paid by the guilty parties, because they don't have that kind of money. It'll be paid ultimately by all the innocent citizens of the county.

[VRing]

"For what?"

Let me ask you this.. Do you believe that a man's home is his castle, that he has an absolute right to be free from government searches, except upon probable cause? This is a perfect example of trampled rights and I suspect that the good people of Henry County will pay for the error of the people they chose to "protect" them.

I suppose you are a big defender of the good faith exception as well.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I think the main reason for these types of raids on drug operations is that the operators tend to be well-armed, and often paranoid from meth use as well. They're likely to respond to a knock on the door and a "Police! Please open the door!" request with a hail of gunfire through the door.

[GrandEagle]

Looks like a DUmmy squeaked by.

[VRing]

"Trouble is, the millions won't be paid by the guilty parties"

Very true, but I suspect the only way to change that is....Well, it involves lots of gunfire...

[VRing]

Where?