Officers raid wrong house - Resident says family traumatized

North County Times ^ | 5/7/05 | William Bennett

[Max Flatow]

Did the cops look like this?

[xrp]

We're from the government and we're here to help you.

[xrp]

heh...8 seconds apart!

[Max Flatow]

Beat you to it!

[drt1]

This sort of inexcusable bungling seems to be happening with increasing frequency. The post just preceding this one is about another mistake in a house raid. I had to look to make sure it wasn't a duplicate post. :-)

[Fatigued Mother]

Yikes. There would be hell to pay if that happened in my house.

[A Balrog of Morgoth]

"I accepted his apologies, but I keep thinking what would have happened if one of my kids had gotten scared and tried to run ---- somebody could have been shot," Celis said.

I'd eventually get around to thinking about the armed felon I didn't know I had for a next door neighbor. I'd thank the police and leave the attorney out of things.

[USNBandit]

"They couldn't light it up with a flashlight to verify the numbers, because that would put them at a tactical disadvantage," he said.

So what kind of tactical advantage does one gain by raiding the wrong house?

[pollyannaish]

I take issue with the headline. You know, most of us would read the "Officers raid wrong house" part and pretty much understand that the residents would be a tad bit traumatized.

What they need to be asking is "what steps are being taken to keep this from happening again?"

But hey...that would require solving a problem instead of milking the "outrage."

[supercat]

Asked if the mistake will generate any policy or procedural changes within the department, Davenport said: "We are going to review what happened and make a decision on what to do in the future."

Why should a cop who conducts a raid which is not even facially authorized by a warrant be regarded as anything other than an armed home-invasion robber? Start holding cops accountable and I don't think it will take long before they start insisting upon checking certain details of any raid in which they take part.

[CaliGirl-R]

I agree with you. Murrieta/Temecula are my neighbors and are growing cities. It seems crime is increasing or just being reported on more. Yes, mistakes happen. I'm sure these officers aren't laughing about it. I'm a bit defensive about our law enforcement because of the local news always showing certain groups of people coming down on our officers when they injure a criminal by defending themselves. My local news is all Los Angeles. These officers are damned if they do and dead if they don't.

[Larry Lucido]

Well, at least they knocked this time. Now, if they could only work on the part where they show the warrant, explain why they are there, and double-check the address, folks would be a lot less edgy.

[The KG9 Kid]

"Sorry citizen ...thought you were someone else."

One of these days a SWAT member is going to get one right between the headlights from a homeowner who believes their house is under assault by home-invasion robbers.

I don't know what a distict attorney would do to the poor bastard who unwittingly kills a cop under such circumstances, but I certainly have my suspicions.

[eastforker]

If that happened the DA wouldn't have to worry, the occupants would all be dead.

[supercat]

One of these days a SWAT member is going to get one right between the headlights from a homeowner who believes their house is under assault by home-invasion robbers.

Why are cops who raid a home in a manner which is not even facially justified by a warrant regarded as anything other than home-invasion robbers?

[ambrose]

There was a case in Malibu several years back... Man woke up to hear people busting into his house. He pulled out his gun and went to see what was happening... The intruders wwere cops, serving a warrant based on a bogus claim that there was pot at the house. Cops shot the homeowner dead.

LA District Attorney refused to prosecute. The Ventura District Attorney investigated and determined that the cops raided the home out of a desire to seize it for cash (police departments get to keep the proceeds from drug related seizures)

[The KG9 Kid]

I think I remember that incident. The police were (and probably still are) free to use their SWAT weapons to collect revenue to fund... well, more SWAT weapons for one thing.

This is not the country I grew up in.

[TNdandelion]

The police dept is lucky that noone was injured as a result of their screw up.

Personally, I think a little bit more information than "a black SUV in the driveway" is needed.

How many black SUV's are there in any given neighborhood? My neighbors on both sides each have black SUV's! LOL

Make/model, tag, address. If their family's lives depended on this information being known...they'd find a way to confirm it.

[KingNo155]

A million dollars for everyone in the house is a good start at an apology.