Simple. Several of them got blown away by drug dealers who, having heard the knock and the words, "Police! We have a warrant!" promptly picked up their favorite pieces, put themselves in a good position, and shot the cops either through the door or as they were coming in.
Look, I agree that it sucks that these cops terrorized this family, and I think whoever screwed up the operation needs to be busted for it (I also think they have a right to know who fingered them for drug dealers), but try thinking it through before you assume that the cops come on fully armed and with overwhelming force just for the power rush. They do it so that the other guy doesn't have the chance to even think about firing back, making it safer for all concerned, both them and the suspects.
They were not cops, cops are useful, these were just revenue agents out for a piece of the action.
Why do you think a percentage of what they collect goes to their budgets?
I don't assume at all they do this for the "power rush". No doubt it makes the door bashers feel a lot safer. But, what about the innocent citizens?
My problem is, today it's OK to do it for all drug busts, tomorrow it may be for parking tickets or failure to appear. After all, it is always easiest (and safest) to assume there is armed menace lurking just inside every door.
Look. I'm no fan of drug dealers. But there has to be some sort of proportionality here. Where does this stop?
"It can't happen here", you say? Well, how about the practice of "forfeiture", which is clearly an unConstitutional "taking"? It started small, and now practically funds entire police departments. It started with "drugs" and now people are losing their expensive cars over such things as soliciting prostitutes. You are assumed guilty unless you can prove yourself innocent. That sure isn't American Constitutional Law, although it may be today's jurisprudence.
The abuse of civil liberties tends to accelerate in direct relationship to the "requirement" for safety. Pick any Amendment and try it on for size. You'll find they are all eroded this way.
Similarly, there are more than enough of these dangerous and even deadly incidents of "mistaken identity" happening nowadays. Police departments should only use these techniques when there is a demonstrated threat, not when the case is full of "might be's", much less wrong addresses!
Sure. Policing is a dangerous business. Increasingly, so is being an innocent citizen.
Must be why they used the grenade on the heart attack victim.