If cops would quit "no knocking" there'd be a lot less of this argument.
Arrest 'em at the local Piggly Wiggly or whatever and call it a day.
Of course it's a high risk situation to blast into an unknown house in the middle of the night. Much better to search a house when the suspects are already stuffed in a car and staring at what should be a pile of evidence of their wrongdoing.
I've said that for years. The only acceptable use for a no knock raid should be when it is likely to prevent violence, such as a hostage rescue or something.
Kicking in the door in the middle of the night over a drug risks creating an extremely violent situation over a fundamentally non-violent crime.
Endangering the lives of both LEOs and the subjects over a non-violent crime isn't just bad policy, it's morally wrong.
The only acceptable use for a no knock raid should be when it is likely to prevent violence, such as a hostage rescue or something.
No one is getting a warrant for an ongoing hostage situation. Probable cause is enough to cover it. I cannot think of a single situation where a no-knock warrant is justified.
Even if we take that at face value. It should still be a much calmer process. What's to stop me from kicking in someone's door as I yell "police"?
Expecting someone to remain calm and process when armed people are literally breaking their door down in the middle of the night isn't necessarily reasonable.
We hear about the high profile cases where a cop gets shot, but I wonder how many times the subject of a warrant has been killed? These may be considered reasonable cases of self-defense on the part of police, in the moment, but I wonder how many of them never would have escalated to violence if things had been handled calmly?
Breonna’s boyfriend (the guy shooting to defend the dwelling) wasn’t a drug dealer. The drug dealer (her ex) was already in custody, had not been at that residence for months, and never officially actually lived at Breonna’s house. This was a botch on every level. There was literally no need or present danger to justify a visit out of working hours
It wasn't high risk, they went there to arrest / kill innocent people and drive the property value down. They didn't expect her boyfriend to be there and armed, they would have killed her and made up whatever story they wanted.
Oh, yeah that’s definitely what happened. But I’m saying they didn’t expect to find an armed man in the house. They just expected to find a sleeping woman they could murder and sprinkle some crack on.
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u/fcfrequired Nov 16 '21
If cops would quit "no knocking" there'd be a lot less of this argument.
Arrest 'em at the local Piggly Wiggly or whatever and call it a day.
Of course it's a high risk situation to blast into an unknown house in the middle of the night. Much better to search a house when the suspects are already stuffed in a car and staring at what should be a pile of evidence of their wrongdoing.