NJ: officers raid wrong house...again

[kbr80]

NJ: officers raid wrong house...again

NEWARK, N.J.(AP) Federal and state authorities are trying to determine how armed officers raided the wrong house, smashing doors and frightening residents earlier this week, a state police spokesman said Thursday.

"We are investigating what went wrong," said Sgt. Gerald Lewis Jr. "For some reason, whether it was erroneous information or supervision, we actually hit the wrong house."

He said the address on the state search warrant was correct, but that the team of state police SWAT officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents went to the wrong street and raided a home with the same number on Tuesday.

An assessment of the damage had not been completed, Lewis said, "but of course we will work with the attorney general's office and other agencies to make restitution."

Residents of the four-family home in Newark said officers cursed at them while ripping through two upstairs apartments and asking where guns were for 15 minutes before realizing the mistake.

"The investigator said they were looking for bad people and they were in the wrong place," homeowner Cedelie Pompee told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Thursday's newspapers.

"That's a bad mistake they made," said Pompee, noting that several doors would not close properly.

Pompee, 59, has owned the house for 27 years, and shares it with her two sisters and their children, as well as a family that rents an apartment.

State police also hit a wrong house in May, raiding the home of a retired truck driver in Woodbridge while looking for a prostitution racket.

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Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/starledger

Good think for all that no one was killed.

 

[Joejojoba111]

At least they didn't massacre the family, as could easily have happened. cleaning guns in living room, door kicked in).

 

[Kim]

Someone who has more computer skills than me needs to set up a Web Site to monitor and shed light on stories like these and the bad outcomes of no knock raids. I'm getting tired of reading these stories. They scare me to death. Someone needs to monitor this activity.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

THis is one that scares me to death, because it would get me killed. No other outcome unless I don't wake up. I've never even had so much as a parking ticket. So if my door comes crashing down at 3:00 AM there will be absolutely no quarter given, I'll be outnumbered and outguned.....and DEAD.

I'll post not the rest of my rant. It's long and I'm tired and cranky. But you can see were this post is headed.

 

[R.H. Lee]

"We are investigating what went wrong," said Sgt. Gerald Lewis Jr. "For some reason, whether it was erroneous information or supervision, we actually hit the wrong house."

 

[Jet22]

They raided a house in a town near me after a robery occured nearby. They picked that house because "known drug dealers lived there" . Turned out a family lived there and the "drug dealers" had moved out 1 1/2 years earlier. They keep a close eye on drug dealers in my area. :banghead:

 

[Robert Hairless]

Excellent project for the Internet!

Kim--

Someone who has more computer skills than me needs to set up a Web Site to monitor and shed light on stories like these and the bad outcomes of no knock raids. I'm getting tired of reading these stories. They scare me to death. Someone needs to monitor this activity.

That's one of the best ideas I've seen on any Internet forum, Kim. This worthwhile project could have truly important, truly useful benefits for ordinary people who get hurt badly by such tactics.

The more I think about the project the more important it seems to be. I hope that the information on it would be organized by state, with the ability to search for specifics such as department, city, county, years, and other points that could be useful to voters, legislators, judges, and--most important--attorneys.

 

[Art Eatman]

"Dyslexics of the world: Untie!"

Kim, I've seen such a website. The listing of "Oops! Wrong guy!" shootings is more than I expected. (This was a few years back...) I know of at least three in California.

Art

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Let's see: Warrant had the correct address ==> Officers went to correct number on wrong street.

So either the officers need to attend mandatory remedial reading classes, or they need to be assigned to the local Boy Scout troop for a year until they can qualify for a Map Reading merit badge.

This kind of thing scares the willies out of me, too. Clear-cut example of why there should simply never, ever, be a no-knock warrant issued.

 

[Robert Hairless]

Hawkmoon --

This kind of thing scares the willies out of me, too. Clear-cut example of why there should simply never, ever, be a no-knock warrant issued.

I agree. Like many other people I know and understand the arguments offered in support of no-knock warrants. Those arguments are themselves offensive and antithetical to the idea of a republic.

One of the fundamental concepts in the common law of both England and the United States is the simple principle that William Blackstone, the English jurist and commentator, stated as "It is better that ten guilty escape than one innocent suffer." No-knock warrants turn that basic principle on its head, perverting it into "It is better that ten innocent suffer than one guilty escape," and make ordinary citizens completely helpless against the frightening power of governments.

There is no way to prevent the abuse of no-knock warrants because no-knock warrants are inherently abusive. And there is no way to remedy the harm caused to innocent victims of no-knock warrants because no government has the ability to restore a sense of security or to erase the fear caused by its indifference to the rights of individuals. The concept of a no-knock warrant breeds mistrust of government, the judiciary, and law enforcement.

 

[Coronach]

Minor point:

Was it a no-knock?

That's hardly a safe assumption. many of the raids we assume to be no-knocks are not.

The point remains...if you're gonna kick a door, you must make sure it is the right door.

Mike

 

[El Tejon]

Cor, you must check for the right door unless you are a law enforcement officer. It's all about the "good faith."

 

[geekWithA.45]

while ripping through two upstairs apartments and asking where guns were for 15 minutes before realizing the mistake.

....


State police also hit a wrong house in May, raiding the home of a retired truck driver in Woodbridge while looking for a prostitution racket.

I dunno, man. If a bunch of guys burst into my house shouting "Where are the guns and whores?", my first assumption would be that my old college buddies were playing a joke on me.

 

[Jet22]

Seems to me there was a warrent(?) executed in Detroit(?) a few years ago (10 or 15) and it turned out to be a bunch of off duty police officers having a loud card game. The police claimed they announced themselves and then kicked in the door. The officers inside said there was no announcement and the other officers just kicked their way in. Even though the officers inside were screaming that they were police officers and some had badges out, there was quite a shootout. I seem to remember that a few were killed. Does anybody else remember that? I don't know if anything became of it. Probably all got swept under the rug.

 

[Byron Quick]

If they come into my house and it's the wrong house...if I get my hands on a weapon...my response will be,"It's not the wrong house, anymore."

Which is why I consider this type of entry to be very stupid, public policy without regard to legality or constitutionality.

It's like LEA administrators are sitting around having a powwow and considering;"Gee, how can we make the largest number of LEO supporters distrust and hate us? Wow! Here's how!"

I've been pulled in by the sheriff. He gave me a phone call. I drove down to the station. He could send the 70 year old lady who handlees the records department over with a search warrant and a pair of handcuffs. I'll open the door to her. If she finds what she considers to be contraband then I will submit to arrest, Break my door down and, God forbid, I get the upper hand. Yelling that we got the wrong house is not going to do you any good.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Was it a no-knock?

That's hardly a safe assumption. many of the raids we assume to be no-knocks are not.

I know you are a legal beagle and that this distinction means something to you, but as I have expressed before (as have others): When the courts have ruled that a "reasonable" wait time after knocking before breaching the door by force may range from 15 SECONDS to 30 SECONDS, and it takes me longer than that to wake up and even register that there is someone at my door -- there is effectively no difference.

 

[Jet22]

If they come into my house and it's the wrong house...if I get my hands on a weapon...my response will be,"It's not the wrong house, anymore."

I've thought about the same thing. I sleep with a 357 on my bedpost, a 22 revolver on top of the bookshelf, a 12 gauge 8 shot pump gun in my closet and my 38 snubie is aways close by. And as Jeff Cooper once put it: "Of course it loaded...its a gun!". If I feel threatened by somebody breaking down my door in the middle of the night I will go down shooting.

We live in a rural area and our 911 service calls the wrong county just to help slow things up. Its my DUTY to protect my family. To use an old quote, "We don't dial 911, we dial 357".

 

[JJohnston015]

Was it a no-knock?

That's hardly a safe assumption. many of the raids we assume to be no-knocks are not.

Answer me this, then:

If they did knock, did they listen, or bother to check, when they were no doubt told by the homeowners they had the wrong house?