Councilwoman criticizes action by constables (3 Dogs Shot by Police)

Mcall.com ^

[blackdog]

Allentown is also the place where politicians and powerful LEO's drug search kids lockers. If a dog smells a ham sandwich, they check the kid's house out. If it's really nice and in a good location, they get a warrant from a judge to go search it. Presto! Asset forfeiture takes place.

In the cases I read about, nobody home....no witnesses....and just the right amount of pot is found each time. They even took one kid's grandparents house. It just happened to be on a tract of land that was being developed and was an obstacle in the project. It's gone now!

[circles]

I remember similar shenanigans involving police in SW Louisiana.

They would stop cars at random, and if say, a large some of money was found, they would automatically seize the money and car because "it just had to be for drugs."

[Cap'n Crunch]

It all boils down to speculation because we only have one side of the story.

[Cap'n Crunch]

I don't think mixing the stories proves anything.

The media could have run a story like this one on us:

"Police shoot three dogs while serving warrant" 'Animal rights groups horrified at conduct of SWAT team, shooting two dogs yesterday.'

"The police didn't need to shoot those dogs" said Joe Neighbor. "This is an outrage."

The Police SWAT team entered a house at 1212 Such and Such St. to serve a warrant on the owner. When they went in they shot the mans two dogs and gave no account of themselves. Two other dogs were taken from the house and taken to the pound.

See, I just created a media story that reflected one side of an incident that happened here in my city and that I was a part of.

We served a warrant on a nuisance crack house last year. There were several shootings by rival drug gangs because of the drug wars going on between them. The police dept. got criticized for not acting soon enough for some citizens.

These guys lived in a side by side duplex. We knocked at the back door and they barricaded it. We broke the door down and went in. We were told that they had pit bulls in the house that they had specifically for the police. When we went in a couple of the pit bulls attacked our guys and they got shot.

Unbeknowst to us, the drug dealers knocked a hole in the wall in the basement between the two duplex's and fled into the other side.

The dogs that did not get shot were taken to the pound. We found in the garage that the drug dealers had been letting their pit bulls tear other dogs apart trying to make them vicious.

But, a newspaper story like the one I made up could come out and people would be pointing fingers at the police saying how evil they are.

[Stat-boy]

Sinkspur wrote:

“In Texas, a chief constable is elected, then he appoints his crony friends to be deputies. None of them have to be law enforcement officers when elected, and they're given some cursory training.
IOW, they have no business carrying weapons. Stories like this illustrate why. And why does it take more than one to serve a warrant for parking tickets?
Constables are political hacks, not lawmen.”

Actually, what you said about Texas constables is not exactly true.

1. Constables are elected (as are sheriffs). An elected constable who is not a licensed cop has a certain amount of time to get that license (meaning, attend an academy and pass the state test—this is not cursory training; it’s the same training as every cop in the state). The same rules apply for a sheriff. I do not have a problem with this—citizens should be able to elect law enforcement; and the alternative can be worse. For example, the Houston Police Chief is appointed by the Mayor, and look who we have! Also as an example, some cities still have the concept of an elected Police Chief, often called the Town Marshall.

2. All deputy constables and deputy sheriffs must be licensed before being hired.

[Cap'n Crunch]

The media can print anything they want and cast a good light or bad light on anybody they choose. My point is, there is only one side to this story.

[Cap'n Crunch]

I don't know why people base opinions when they only have one side of the story. I know how the media operates. I've seen police reports of mine in the paper that are so distorted I could hardly recognize them.

[sinkspur]

attend an academy and pass the state test—this is not cursory training; it’s the same training as every cop in the state.

Well, that's changed in the last ten years. "Process servers" (as constables are sometimes called) have always been political spoils jobs, and some of the constables I've seen were so fat they had trouble getting in and out a car.

Of course, I've seen sheriff deputies similarly endowed.

[ActionNewsBill]

We served a warrant on a nuisance crack house last year. There were several shootings by rival drug gangs because of the drug wars going on between them.

There's a big difference between raiding a crack house, and serving a warrant for a parking ticket.

Look, I know you're a cop, and from the majority of your posts I've read on the donut watch threads, you've usually spoken out against bad police, and I've always thought that you you seemed to be one of the "good guys'.

But shooting the dogs while trying to serve an arrest warrant for a parking violation is just a bit of overkill, so to speak.

[Jonx6]

ping

[FreeReign]

I don't know why people base opinions when they only have one side of the story. I know how the media operates. I've seen police reports of mine in the paper that are so distorted I could hardly recognize them.

I know what you mean Cap'n.