"That means 68 percent of the time, we're getting guns or drugs off the street," said Maj. Kevin Martin, who called the numbers a success.

And therein, lies the problem. One of the worst things about the War on (some) Drugs is that it places such an emphasis on numbers. We'll never make any progress until we focus on people, not numbers.

As usual, great reporting.

                City of Lima Vision Statement

"We must make the City of Lima THE place to live and work in Northwest Ohio.  Every decision, every effort, every attitude determines Lima's future."

Yeah, right.  Lima’s (pronounced like ‘lima’ bean) vision statement on their city blog site (pasted above) doesn’t seem to consider any vision beyond Northwest Ohio.  I would call that a very limited vision statement.

I don’t think I’d want to live in a city with a population of 40,000+ where 50-or-so residents get randomly raided by SWAT teams every year for no legitimate reason.

Once you consider that Lima is part of the rust belt, and an industrial manufacturing town on the list for cities with economic problems, the city's vision totally fades.  To me, it sounds like the perfect formula for alternative income schemes such as prostitution and drugs.  In fact, according to Wikipedia the FBI confirms it:  “[Lima] has the highest crime rate for a city its size (20-60,000) in Ohio and also the 9th highest per capita in 2006, according to the FBI.”

So I’m surprised that we don't hear that Lima has some slick little law firm handling people’s complaints about unproductive SWAT team raids.  If 50 residences per year are the targets of botched drug raids, that means settlements of, say, $25,000 each, would add up to legal penalties of $1,250,000 per year, or a tidy $417,000 in legal fees for as long as the Lima cops pull this kind of crap. No lawsuits?  C’mon you lawyer guys, where’s the greed we know and love?  Clean up Lima by cleaning up SWAT.

Giordano

...according to the Lima .com's commentary,seems to be racism.Same as ever...hiding under the phony "drug free" rock.

After contacting Jesse Lowe, President of Drugs Bring Deaths and in a long email attempting to clearly explain to him that the drug war is what causes the problems that have inspired him to start his campaign in Lima, this is the email I received back from him:

"FIRST OF ALL THE SLOGAN IS DRUGS BRING DEATH.IT IS THE TRUTH,PERIOD! MENTALLY*PHYSICALLY*SPIRITUALLY ARE THE THREE WAYS THEY KILL.THINK ABOUT THAT FIRST BEFORE YOU CAMPAIGN TO MAKE THEM LEGAL. THAT"S THE BOTTOM LINE-------YOU CAN LIVE DEAD.PEOPLE DO IT EVERYDAY IN MY CITY. 6FT UNDER IS THE EASY DEATH.YOU GOT TO THINK BIGGER THAN WHAT YOUR SPEAKING OF.-------WORD-----"

It's a shame that the general public seems too closed minded to overcome their brainwashed opinions and look into what's really happening. It's really all quite straight forward.

About Prohibition on History Channel, and it was very interesting. THE EXACT SAME THINGS that were going on back in the 1920's, and for the 200 years before that are happening now. I take what Jesse Lowe said to mean as "the death we'll give you will be better than any death you might die from the "bad" drugs." He sounds just like what the show called "moral crusaders." It would be kind of laughable, if so many people weren't dying from prohibition, that these ignoramuses learn absolutely NOTHING from history. You know what they say about those who don't learn from history...I guess there aren't enough of us who have learned yet, so we're doomed to repeat the same stupid, harmful policies so some idiot can feel a little better about himself...

Here in Schenectady, NY a blue collar city of 65,000 there was a SWAT style raid done where the family dog was killed over some marijuana(less than an ounce) being sold at that residence. The town's newspaper, the Daily Gazette wrote two editorials strongly condemming the raid, It's local columnist, Carl Strock interviewed the family and pressed the Mayor for answers. But in what may have been the most embarassing moment for the Schenectady Police was a cartoon on the editorial page mocking the Police Chief and the press conference that defended the raid.

I don't know if the Lima print media was as critical for a much more severe raid where a Mother was killed and her baby wounded, however, the fact that officer was undercharged by the prosecutor and acquitted by the jury is troubling and the SWAT raids in Lima appear to go on business as usual.

In Schenectady the Vice squad was disbanded and there haven't been any reports of these kind of raids since. So the media can play a significant role in shaping the public's view on these horrific raids.

...beware of people that end their sentences with the word PERIOD! Displays a self righteous,closed minded, authoritarian ,everytime...period.

That is one strange story. I don't know what the heck is going on there but how about a little accountability. A mother of six and A BABY! Horrible!!

WOW, almost 200 raids, and most came up empty handed? Something stinks in Denmark, or well in Lima anyway. What happened to things being justified because there was evidence pointing to it? Now they don't need that?
Deb

Look what happened to this poor guy!
http://tonycreed.com/taskforceraid.html

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With just less than one week until the election, controversies surrounding both the Democrat and Republican camps continue to emerge. The most recent media storm has focused on the $150,000 that the Republican National Committee spent on new clothes for Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin. Even though the story has generated a mountain of negative publicity and anti-Republican attacks, I refuse to let it sway my opinion. One has to consider that both Palin and Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama have spent thousands on clothing, and it shouldn’t change the direction in which the vote is cast. I mean, we live in a society based on image and possessions; if a candidate didn’t spend money on her wardrobe I can only imagine the criticism she would receive then. If one candidate donned designer outfits and the other dressed in frumpy clothes, Americans would have much less respect for the latter candidate. Plus, look at the amount of attention Sarah Palin is receiving from her wardrobe! It doesn't seem like such a bad political move because in the end, publicity is publicity. When it comes down to it, Americans should base their votes on the qualifications of the candidates, not the clothes they choose to wear. We should vote for the candidate that will protect our personal financial freedoms and the continued rights to no fax payday loans.
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