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SWAT Gone Wild in Maryland
Reason Magazine ^ | July 13, 2009 | Radley Balko

Posted on 07/14/2009 4:28:15 PM PDT by Leisler

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To: sitetest

Please believe me when i say I have no love or respect for guys who use their authority to do whatever they damn well please. They deserve to be in jail for trampling the rights of the people that they have sworn to protect and serve.

Again, my experience is limited to NY and i have seen both good and bad in this situation. But the school of thought that I always thought was best is simply, to treat the people you deal with as you would want your family treated in that situation.

I would say the majority of cops out there (depending on department of course) in NY, try to maintain a professional attitude and do what is right.

It sounds more like Prince gorge County needs to be cleaned out from Administration to patrol. The courts need to be investigated as well.

I suggest that anyone in that area who has any problems with the police there contact the local FBI to report any misconduct. God knows that they don’t do much else that should be done, but they do crucify cops that act in an unlawful manner.


61 posted on 07/15/2009 8:35:48 AM PDT by Munz ("We're all here for you OK? It's a circle of love" Rham Emanuel)
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To: dragnet2
That's true, but it doesn’t make it right for them to get away with the crap they do. It's true that we need some law enforcement, but we do not need what we are getting. Some of the goons nearly beat me to death about 30 years ago, I was just a kid in the wrong place. They beat me AFTER they had my hands cuffed behind my back. What they did later was charge me with assaulting an officer, which can be a felony here in Texas, and then the same day agreed to drop those charges if I didn't pursue charges against them. They knew they had the wrong person, they didn't care. They tried to lock me up after they beat the crap out of me, but the jailer in charge wouldn't accept me and sent them to the hospital with me. I wonder if they'd have just killed me if that jailer hadn't already seen me. There were three of them involved in it, too, not just like one bad cop. Cops are NOT your friend.
The police chief personally was the one who offered me the”deal” that they'd drop charges.
Of course, this was a long time ago, I'm white, I was 18, so I didn't have much “ standing” as we say, Also, I'd never been in any trouble and was scared, so I took their “deal”
It virtually makes me sick to look at a cop. Everyone of them I see I can't help but wonder why they chose that profession.
Having said all that, I have a young friend who is as good a person as you'd ever meet who is already a constable, and wants to continue a career in law enforcement. I try to talk him out of every time I see him, I tell him, You're way too good a guy for this s**t.
62 posted on 07/15/2009 8:46:04 AM PDT by Quickgun
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To: sitetest

“As for “ the drugs [being] disposed of so easily...,” it was 32 lbs. of pot. Unlikely that they’d dispose of it all that quickly.”

I dunno, they might have had an industrial-size toilet.

I think Rosie O’Donnell has one.

/sarc
/humor


63 posted on 07/15/2009 8:46:28 AM PDT by PLMerite ("Unarmed, one can only flee from Evil. But Evil isn't overcome by fleeing from it." Jeff Cooper)
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To: Albion Wilde

Maybe folks ought to keep a flame thrower at their house. Shrivel up their ego inside their armor


64 posted on 07/15/2009 8:53:37 AM PDT by Quickgun
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To: Munz
"The gear, tactics and equipment used is seriously necessary in some cases."

I completely disagree. Far too often the available gear determines the tactics. In the absence of the gear the local LEOs would use more measured tactics. It might take longer and have far less adrenaline and testosterone involved but would probable come to the same conclusion.

"I have the distinct feeling if you ever had to execute a warrant on a real posse or blood / crip gang hold out, having to avoid booby traps, anti personnel devices and face gunfire, you would feel the same way as your statement says."

I experienced too many opposed, hot LZ insertions with the intent of doing far more damage than serving a warrant to appreciate your condescension. If containment and negotiations do not work and breaching a perimeter is absolutely necessary it should be a State function done by an elite force of trained soldiers, not the local LEOs hopped up on Red Bull and Krispy Kremes.

65 posted on 07/15/2009 8:56:54 AM PDT by Natural Law
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To: Natural Law

“There is NO reason, rationalization, or justification for the existence of paramilitary units equipped with black uniforms, face masks, full body armor, assault weapons, explosives, and armored vehicles at the local or county level. If these boys want to play Rambo they should visit their local Army or Marine recruiter and know what it is like to kick in doors with the likelihood of a real armed and trained opponent on the other side.”

The original reason for such units being created was the violent terrorism of people such as the Black Panthers, SLA, Weathermen, and so on, back in the ‘60s, who were usually far better armed than the revolver-armed cops of the day. Odd to find that those very same people, or their ideological allies, would be running our country now, and in charge of those very same units.


66 posted on 07/15/2009 9:00:19 AM PDT by Mr Inviso (ACORN=Arrogant Condescending Obama Ruining Nation)
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To: Leisler

Personally, I hope he sues the bas$#@&* until they day he dies.

There is way too much of this going on.


67 posted on 07/15/2009 9:05:56 AM PDT by alarm rider (My tagline is back from vacation. It had a great time.)
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To: Munz; Albion Wilde
Dear Munz,

My favorite uncle was a decorated NYC police detective, so I started out with a bias toward cops, at least the good ones.

But even he would go ballistic when I'd suggest that police officers would be better off exposing the bad cops than covering for them.

In any event, I've lived in Maryland nearly all my life, and only have experience with Maryland, DC and Virginia police.

I used to think that perhaps only 10% or 20% of cops were bad guys. As time goes on, my experience and what I see suggest that it's the wicked and evil 90% of cops that give the other 10% a bad name.

Okay, okay... maybe only 87%.

But even “good” cops are pretty much bad cops a lot of the time. In my county, which is next door to Prince George's, I've had a few positive experiences with the police when I've called them, but I've seen the very same officers act callously and with disregard for the citizens that they're supposed to serve.

The cops in DC are probably much worse than average, if for no other reason than that the pool from which they draw comprises a high percentage of bad people. At one point, it was found that 20% of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department sworn officers had felony records. That's very inspiring.

Albion Wilde reports rightly that many jurisdictions here in Maryland have quotas for traffic citations. Every ten years or so, old memos are leaked showing that high officials in the Maryland State Police were instructing supervisors on the whys and wherefores of the then-current quotas.

Of course, it seems that the memos that are leaked are always five or ten years old, and the police then tell us, “Well, it was a problem then, but we've cleaned that up.”

But when you see this repeated over the course of the decades, you can figure out what's happening right now.

From what I've observed, the police in Northern Virginia aren't much better. They pick on the folks who can fight back least, and leave alone folks who might be more powerful. In this way, though, they're at least smarter than PG County cops, as evidenced by PG’s assault on a town mayor and his family.

As for the FBI, they're worthless. In Maryland, they're often part of the problem, like when one of these jackals stopped a couple near Baltimore a few years back, for no apparent reason, drew his gun, and shot the man, the driver, in the face. He lived, but the FBI has never to this date explained adequately why they were stopped and the man shot.

In Pure Garbage County, folks are routinely murdered by police, or beaten senseless. One fellow who was suspected of killing a cop a few years back was rousted from bed at o’dark thirty in the morning. Six Pure Garbage County porkies beat him to within an inch of his life, claiming that this sleeping fellow was “resisting arrest.”

Later, they figured out he wasn't the guilty one. They caught up with the guilty one and killed him in a shoot-out in a nearby shopping center parking garage.

No cop was ever charged, or even disciplined, and certainly not charged by federal prosecutors after an FBI investigation, for nearly killing the first guy.

More recently, a man was arrested for allegedly killing a cop. He was put alone in a single cell in the county jail. The only folks with access to him were Pure Garbage County porkies and jail guards. He wound up hanged. The coroner ruled out suicide, said it was a homicide.

The local state's attorney investigated.

No charges. No disciplinary actions, no nothing. I guess you could call it the immaculate murder. He was murdered, but no one who could have actually done it did it.

The feds are looking into it, but I expect the same white-wash.

In my own county, which has a relatively good reputation for our county police, a couple of years ago, the assistant police chief's daughter ran away from home. A bunch of his cop buddies went out and found her teenage, under-age boyfriend, kidnapped him, and held him hostage for hours, denying him access to attorneys, parents, or anyone else, and physically assaulted him, hoping to get information about the runaway’s whereabouts.

No charges, no discipline.

Sorry - I see too many eyes winking at too much evil at all levels, from the low-ranking patrol officer right to the top, to believe that cops are generally good and decent folks.

I think that they think that they're good and decent folks, but that they're justified in acting like thugs and criminals when they think circumstances require.

I think that abuse of police authority should draw a sentence of death. In all cases. If we hanged a few of these sons of bitches, maybe the others would get the idea and straighten up and fly right.


sitetest

68 posted on 07/15/2009 9:06:59 AM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Mr Inviso
"The original reason for such units being created was the violent terrorism of people such as the Black Panthers, SLA, Weathermen..."

Bravo Sierra!. The Black Panthers, SLA, Weathermen were NEVER local law enforcement issues. The existence of paramilitary SWAT teams in every middlesex, village and farm is a result of the war on drugs and the prospects of high value property seizures.

69 posted on 07/15/2009 9:08:19 AM PDT by Natural Law
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To: Repeal The 17th
just another reason why i hate cops

I am normally one of the knee-jerk police supporters here but given this department’s record of unprofessional misfeasance all I can say is that they need to be sued.

Mistakes can happen but this pattern clearly demonstrates a complete lack of leadership which if left in place will lead inextricably to a fatality.

70 posted on 07/15/2009 9:18:13 AM PDT by usurper (Spelling or grammatical errors in this post can be attributed to the LA City School System)
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To: sitetest
I have to agree. I once was ordered to wait in my car for over 45 minutes in 90 degree weather while a female MD cop issued me a traffic citation. My crime? I had rollled my car gently to a stop near her as she was standing by the side of the road talking to another motorist, in order to ask her for directions. I had just arrived in the state and was a stranger here. I had to take a day off work and explain it to the judge, who dismissed the ticket; but it set the tone.

On the other hand, out here in the outer boonies, there are some nice officers who have responded well to neighborhood issues. But the highway cops are outrageous. Once, one of them in plain clothes and an unmarked car followed me on the highway for 10 miles until I started to panic and pulled off to a side street, where he attempted to arrest me for speeding. I was outraged. I have a clean driving record for more than 30 years. I told him to go check it; then I lectured him about stalking a female driver on the road, and how I would testify against him and lodge a complaint of harassment. He let me go. I think only because when he actually saw me, he could see I'm not a young chick like he may have thought when following me. B*****d.

71 posted on 07/15/2009 9:20:36 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (If ten percent is good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for Uncle Sam. --Ray Stevens)
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To: Natural Law

I experienced too many opposed, hot LZ insertions with the intent of doing far more damage than serving a warrant to appreciate your condescension. If containment and negotiations do not work and breaching a perimeter is absolutely necessary it should be a State function done by an elite force of trained soldiers, not the local LEOs hopped up on Red Bull and Krispy Kremes.


Outstanding reply, and thank you for the service. The statement you replied to is the exact problem with their thinking. They want to play military, but without the threat you saw.


72 posted on 07/15/2009 9:25:48 AM PDT by kenth
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To: Hardastarboard

I’m polite to them. No use creating a situation. Doesn’t change how I feel. Maybe most of the good ones you see on tv. They may be able to force themselves to act rationally for stint in front of the tv camera. Self gratification is what most of ‘em are about anyway.


73 posted on 07/15/2009 9:31:06 AM PDT by Quickgun
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To: Leisler

Oh yeah, these were the just and brave law enforcement officers who heroically shot those dangerous black labs!

Where’s the medals and ticker tape parades for these paragons of virtue?!?!


74 posted on 07/15/2009 9:55:09 AM PDT by Nate505
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To: DCPatriot

Only in The Peoples Republic of Maryland.....

Unfortunately, it’s not only in Maryland, it’s happening all over.
Jack


75 posted on 07/15/2009 10:07:05 AM PDT by btcusn
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To: angkor
They never showed up.

They never showed up because too many officers are assigned to SWAT ... sitting around waiting for an emergency ... even a mistaken emergency will do .... when they get to use all their super cool ninja gear, mail ordered at great expense from SWAT Catalogs, and featured in SWAT Magazines.

Every government agency now has a SWAT, every small town PD, every Sheriff's Dept, every Housing Authority, every transit authority, every airport authority ... soon I suspect the Public Library will have one, breaking down the wrong doors, shooting dogs, and ransacking houses for overdue library books! Instead, cops, especially sheriff's deputies, should be out there busting the many violent criminals with outstanding warrants that infest rural counties and urban areas everywhere. But the donut boys are not stupid. These real criminals are tough guys who might shoot back ... despite the cool gear and black kevlar accessories SWAT boys glory in.

76 posted on 07/15/2009 11:14:28 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Congratulations Obama Voters! You are not prejudiced. Just unpatriotic.)
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To: Albion Wilde
......real dealers have loads of cash and other materials that can be seized by the Department. Bling, tricked-out high-end vehicles, all the trappings of the dealer’s life can be confiscated and SOLD AT AUCTION.

ROTHFLMAO. Yeah right. A lot of the junk does get to auction. One must not look too closely at where the cash and bling go, although a look a the cops' girlfriends might shock you.

77 posted on 07/15/2009 11:21:00 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Congratulations Obama Voters! You are not prejudiced. Just unpatriotic.)
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To: Kenny Bunk
...a look a the cops' girlfriends might shock you.

Would not shock me. Nor the nickel bags.

78 posted on 07/15/2009 11:55:09 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (If ten percent is good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for Uncle Sam. --Ray Stevens)
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To: morkfork

>>> Some just down right mean. Luckily where I live, the bad cops are gotten rid of over time. <<<<<

I recall one PG County cop who was an absolute scourge in the community. A nasty piece of work who specialized in harassing teens including beating one kid (about 14 or 15 years old) to a pulp for no apparent reason. A genuine sadistic bully.

We finally “got rid of him” after many infractions and complaints after he ran a red light at high speed and T-boned and killed an innocent driver. He was not in pursuit, he just like to drive fast with his lights on.

The guy was a psycho, but it took several years and much collateral damage for him to finally disqualify himself from the Prince George’s County Police Department.


79 posted on 07/15/2009 12:34:16 PM PDT by angkor
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To: woollyone; Leisler

More to the Baltimore County story:

“He did conceded that Charles Noel had been convicted of second-degree murder 30 years ago stemming from a fight with other teens. He said he left for the army but returned to plead guilty when charges were brought “and he served his time. It’s been a matter of shame for him.” He now works a waste station at the Fort George G. Meade Army base in Anne Arundel County, and has for the past 13 years. Matthew Noel also had problems — he had recently shot a man in the foot with a .45 caliber handgun, an incident that Roberts described as fight among teens.”

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2009/03/police_shooting_lawsuit.html


80 posted on 07/15/2009 12:45:23 PM PDT by angkor
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