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Lakeland (FL) SWAT Team Puts New Ride Into Action (Blow out windows on house no one was in)
THE LEDGER ^ | Saturday, April 19, 2014 | Stephanie Allen

Posted on 04/19/2014 6:19:28 AM PDT by Sam's Army

Lakeland Police SWAT team officers looking for stolen motorcycles tried out their newest technologies Friday evening while serving a search warrant on a house in South Lakeland.

Police said detectives have been investigating motorcycle thefts in Polk, Hillsborough and Orange counties.

After conducting surveillance and gathering information for a judge to sign a search warrant, LPD called in its SWAT team to execute the warrant at a house on Empress Way in the neighborhood near Kelly Recreation Center, Sgt. Mike Lewis said.

"We did not know if anyone was inside and we had information that the persons involved were armed," Lewis said. "It was a safety issue."

It was an opportunity for police to see how well their newly acquired Lenco BearCat armored vehicle would perform. City commissioners last year approved the purchase of the 22,000-pound bullet-resistant vehicle to replace a 1967 armored vehicle. The BearCat features new technologies, air-conditioning, cameras and seating for 12 officers instead of six.

On Friday, the SWAT team drove the BearCat down Lakeland streets and onto the front lawn of the house. The officers crouched behind and inside the vehicle, unsure of what was inside the house.

The officers used tactical maneuvers to blow out the front windows, leaving curtains lying in the yard, and they gained entry into the attached garage.

After more than an hour of searching, officers cleared the house. No one was inside, Lewis said.

"(The vehicle) completely revolutionizes things because we can bring cover up to a location," Lakeland Police Lt. Mike Spade said. "We went on the assumption that someone could be armed in the house. We needed to be safe."

Detectives were searching the house Friday night.

Lewis said, so far, about 30 motorcycles across Polk, Orange and Hillsborough counties have been identified as stolen. No one has been arrested.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: confrontationwatch; corruption; domesticterrorism; donutwatch; feos; gearqueers
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To: Mouton

Because they had very little actual information, made assumptions on what they had, lied to a compliant judge who rubber stamps warrants, and then of course found out they were hallucinating everything.

Nothing new about blowing up very small bits of information. A guy buys a can of ether, and cops immediately assume it is a meth production operation. They ignore all the legitimate uses for such things.

Anyone supporting cops today is blinded by an ends justify the means mentality. Or just not paying attention at all.


41 posted on 04/19/2014 7:17:55 AM PDT by LevinFan
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To: mountn man

“Must be damn small motorcycles they’re looking for, if they were searching the house for them for an hour. “

Good catch. They were desperate to find ANYTHING to justify their ASSUMPTIONS that allowed them to play soldier.


42 posted on 04/19/2014 7:19:24 AM PDT by LevinFan
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To: Sam's Army

Every law officer in the country,fed,state,local, anyone that wears a helmet needs to have their full name clearly visible printed on the side of it.


43 posted on 04/19/2014 7:23:48 AM PDT by The Toll (e)
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To: Antihero101607
Of course!
Jackboots are all about taking the “war” on Americans, but we can't actually have them use their gay toys on real criminals—illegal aliens, mafia, and violent drug gangs.

Cops these days are ridiculous! Everybody is a suspect and everybody is guilty before proven innocent (and your only declared innocent after they bury you)..,,

44 posted on 04/19/2014 7:25:29 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
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To: Sam's Army
Perfect ambush. Set up across the street from where the cops are supposed to investigate. They have no perimeter set or overwatch.
45 posted on 04/19/2014 7:29:52 AM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: Sam's Army


“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government, lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
Patrick Henry
1736-1799


46 posted on 04/19/2014 7:37:23 AM PDT by EXCH54FE (Hurricane 416,Feisty Old Vet !!)
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To: vetvetdoug
I was thinking the same thing but didn't want to tip the hand. These lunatics are not big on thought. The bigger the toy the more the joy.

Shaved heads, prone to group-think, below average IQ's, unquestioning, losers who take joy in working out their issues on those who must not respond in kind.

These guys are Kent State every friggin day, and the same hippies who cried over it, now employ and take pride in the same.

Absolutely Weird.

47 posted on 04/19/2014 7:38:43 AM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: Joe Boucher

Lol, there are roaches in every FL home... But I digress.


48 posted on 04/19/2014 7:39:16 AM PDT by Afterguard (Liberals will let you do anything you want, as long as it's mandatory.)
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To: Afterguard
As a municipal service, perhaps these warrants can be carried out with pesticide spray mixed in with the tear gas they fire.

Gotta find an up-side to these situations.....Sure they shot the dog, killed gramps cause he had a cane, shouted obscenities at the children while they were face down in ty-wrapped wrists, but at least the other unwanted guests will be gone.

49 posted on 04/19/2014 7:45:24 AM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: mountn man

I caught on to that as well. Must have been a 150,000 sqft home.


50 posted on 04/19/2014 7:51:49 AM PDT by Delta Dawn (Fluent in two languages: English and cursive.)
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To: Sam's Army
we had information that the persons involved were armed

Yeah, sure.

I'm just a few miles from there. You don't want to get arrested in Polk county.

51 posted on 04/19/2014 7:55:15 AM PDT by tbpiper
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To: Sam's Army

So blow the hell out of a house looking for some unnamed suspects. This is insane.


52 posted on 04/19/2014 7:56:15 AM PDT by headstamp 2 (What would Scooby do?)
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To: Sam's Army

This teaches us that if you have a large yard, you might consider building a “tiger trap” pit that would be like an abandoned cesspool. It is a particular vulnerability of such heavy vehicles.

Imagine if they had driven their little toy over just the perfect place for it to be for their purposes. Then, quite unexpectedly, “crack and sploosh”, as the vehicle exceeds the weight limit of the roof of the pit, and descends perhaps ten feet straight down into foul and fetid water.

Which just does wonders for such vehicles. And even their occupants, if they don’t scramble out fast enough.

The resulting headlines would be hilarious. “Homeowner cited after armored police vehicle falls into abandoned cesspool.”


53 posted on 04/19/2014 8:02:04 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (WoT News: Rantburg.com)
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To: Joe Boucher

Hopefully not a palmetto bug, or they’re going to need to bring in some drones.


54 posted on 04/19/2014 8:04:02 AM PDT by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard (The greatest trick the Soviets ever pulled was convincing the world they didn't exist.)
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We mistakenly attacked the wrong village.

Zhivago: Your mistake, their village.


55 posted on 04/19/2014 8:04:53 AM PDT by cutty
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To: Domandred

we had information that the persons involved were armed
Expect to see that phrase a lot, true or not, as justification to use this military equipment for basic warrants arrests that were made fine without them previously.


Yep, and it won’t matter whether someone actually reported that or not. Dan Rather’s secret sources will be spying on everyone.


56 posted on 04/19/2014 8:13:22 AM PDT by Idaho_Cowboy (Ride for the Brand. Joshua 24:15)
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To: Sam's Army
...and we had information that the persons involved were armed," Lewis said. "It was a safety issue."

Boiler plate bull$h!+ to justify getting all the toys out.

57 posted on 04/19/2014 8:29:33 AM PDT by MileHi
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To: sport

“The solution is don’t call 911”

Yes, and if you call 911 for a medical emergency, and then find you don’t need it, don’t call and cancel, because the cops will be on your doorstep instantly. And they will refuse to leave unless you allow them to search your home! It’s all done “in the name of your safety.” Eff Em!


58 posted on 04/19/2014 8:32:55 AM PDT by vette6387
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To: Sam's Army

Lots of people on here with a lack of foresight..


59 posted on 04/19/2014 8:38:35 AM PDT by bike800
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To: liberalh8ter

Most police departments use a risk matrix to decide whether to serve a warrant with a knock at the door by a uniformed officer or using a SWAT.

I know everyone hates to see a truck with armored steel on the sides and policemen wearing black helmets....but typically the SWAT is used when the individuals who live at the location have criminal history that includes credit vocation for violence involving weapons and or ownership if firearms.


60 posted on 04/19/2014 10:07:26 AM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (I am the Tea Party bully who took Mitch McConnell's milk money.)
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