Opinion/question.
Opinion: There are no grounds for a no-knock entry other than hostages. A dynamic entry prefaced by "POLICE!" is occasionally justified.
Think about it...you're worried someone will flush a bag of weed? For that you'll shoot them or get shot?
You're worried they'll shoot at you? Then back off and try THINKING rather than REACTING. Novel concept, eh? This is why military experts study LOGISTICS and STRATEGY. Amateurs study TACTICS. And what do they call these things? "Tactical" teams. Tactics is what you do after you've screwed up. So calling it that is an admission of failure.
Sure, they work. Against someone asleep, blasted, glared, gassed, outnumbered, outgunned (liberal rhetoric aside, the cops outgun me), by troops in armor. Would you do it one on one? (No criticism there--the only fair fight is one my people win with no casualties...but in a BEDROOM? When the alleged good guys START it?)
Otherwise, what can't be handled with a knock on the door or a bullhorn?
Sadly, my personal experiences as a victim of crime the last two years have soured me on police competence. I will resolve any further dispute myself, and not waste taxpayers' money with a call to the cops--around here, it's a waste of time. They're rude, stupid, pencil-pushing, thuggish jerks, and I want nothing to do with them. And I speak as a victim, not a criminal. Yet we're told that this is one of the better departments. I realize this opinion will eventually cause trouble for me, but I will at least have made an honest attempt at resolution, rather than running to the principal's office to be told I brought it upon myself.
Question: (and the technical questions are for research, so please answer if you can)
As I look around the house right now, there's a dozen Tonka trucks in front of the door, and a bookshelf primed to bounce said door back.
In front of the window is a couch containing two sleeping children, two stainless lamps and several hundred building blocks, some of them round.
In front of another window is a sink full of dishes, a shelf and several large glass jugs for wine.
In front of two others is a bunk bed and dresser.
In front of one is a bathroom, small, tight and with a slick, wet floor (my kids are THOROUGH in their messmaking).
In front of the other two are dressers, boxes and lamps, with some masks and objets-de-art.
Now...which way would you come in? How would you avoid tripping and tangling? Would you come in shooting at anything that moved? Or wait for the first brain bucket to come flying back out the window full of scrambled brains? Because it would. Not because I wish ill, but because I would legitimately fear for my life. How many do you think I'd get, shooting at silhouettes exposed and tangled?
And, extrapolating, if the children, whom I love more than life itself, were killed in the raid, bad feelings, million $ settlements and "honest mistake" diatribe aside, would you really BLAME a grief-stricken, outraged father for hunting down and exterminating the perpetrators like botulism bacilli?
WHY do you engage in no-knock raids? Is it "Just a job"? Because if it is, I am sorry to say I have no respect for you.
Is it something you know is wrong, that you put up with? Because if it is, I am sorry to say I have no respect for you.
Is it something you enjoy and feel justified in doing? Because if it is, I am sorry to say I have no respect for you.
No-knocks are immoral, dangerous, feloniously criminal and are going to get you, or someone else, grievously hurt. Maybe not this week, but eventually. The courageous act here would be to refuse, rather than "just following orders."
Please note: I wish no ill, I offer no threats. The end result of such a "mistake" would involve at least two dead, me one of them. I have no desire to die. But I _WILL_ kill intruders, and keep killing them until unable to, which means dead myself. If I survived, I'd need a heavy dose of therapy myself to deal with the regret of killing other people, who were acting with what they felt were good intentions. (Or, "just a job" to feed the kids...but there's MUCH safer and more moral ways to earn a living.)
Note, though: I'd have no choice. Faced with armed thugs, I would have to fight. You DO HAVE A CHOICE. To terrorize or not to terrorize. You apparently choose to terrorize. Again, why?
There's an easy way to avoid such mistakes: Don't make them. You have sirens, lights, bullhorns. You have radios. You can surround a place. Where are they going to GO? Patience is not only a virtue, it's a tool.
And if the reason you can't be patient is because the evidence might be flushed...it's really not that significant of evidence, then, is it?