Consequences of Prohibition
Drug War Issues
Editor's Note: This year, Drug War Chronicle is going to try to track every death directly attributable to drug law enforcement during the year. We can use your help. If you come across a news account of a killing related to drug law enforcement, please send us an email at [email protected].]
This year's sixth drug law enforcement killing occurred Friday afternoon in Charleston, West Virginia, when officers from the Kanawha County Metro Drug Unit shot and killed a Detroit man after his car hit an officer as he attempted to flee a drug arrest. Police identified the dead man as Stiney Richards, 38.
Drug war takes a life in Charleston (Image via Wikimedia)
Other officers opened fire, or, as WSAZ-TV strangely put it, "fired back," mortally wounding Richards, who managed to drive a few blocks before crashing his car. Police have not said that Richards shot at them, or even that he was armed.
"Because the incident took place in Charleston our detectives are investigating," Lt. S.A. Cooper said. "The officers who actually discharged their weapons do not work for the Charleston Police Department but there were officers from numerous agencies at the scene."
Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants will review the case after police file a report, but he was already hinting at what the outcome of his review will be. "This shooting is like any other shooting in Kanawha County -- I have to look at the evidence and make a determination whether that shooting was justified or not," Plants said. "But these are people who put their lives on the line every day, perfect strangers yet willing to sacrifice their lives. In today's age, violence against a police officer is not that uncommon."
The Metro Drug Unit is a federally funded drug task force that has been in existence since the 1980s. It includes officers from the Charleston, South Charleston, Dunbar, St. Albans, and Nitro police departments, as well as the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department and agents from the DEA.
The killing of Richards was the second violent incident for the Metro Drug Unit in little more than a week. On January 28, a Charleston police detective was shot in the hand when an occupant of a house being raided on a drug search warrant opened fire, shooting through a closed door. Residents of the house had been the victims of a home invasion robbery days earlier.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
TV News is outrageous, they
TV News is outrageous, they report in biased fashion, adding to the story what they please. The news only covers drug deaths and people acting foolishly. They ignore the activism and the medical discoveries about cannabis. Lies, cover-ups, and ignorant and intolerant people, that is how the drug war continues.
And..
Why do the cops just get to open fire and kill people, aren't they supposed to be arresting people? I guess this really is a war, and they seem to prefer execution to taking prisions.
NO HERO
No, Stiney RICHARDS was not armed with a gun, but he did try to use a 4,000 pound vehicle to run over and kill the officers who were trying to arrest him on a valid warrant. If you are looking for a hero in the fight for drug legalization, Stiney RICHARDS is not it. RICHARDS spent most of his relatively brief life in state and federal custody for drug and other crimes. He was a large, intimidating, and violent man who obviously thought nothing of endangering the lives of ordinary citizens as well as police. RICHARDS was not a street corner dealer. He was an interstate trafficker of bulk drugs who specialized in crack cocaine (one of the most harmful and addictive substances). Police had bought ounces of crack from him prior to the attempted arrest and during a search of his house afterwards police found 8 more ounces of crack. If RICHARDS had moved next door to any of you bleeding heart legalization liberals, you would have been calling the police begging to get him off your street. RICHARDS escalated the situation and caused his own death. Officers have no desire to kill/harm anyone. If he had just complied with officer's directions he would have been in custody but also he would still be safe/alive. As the bible says those who live by the sword, die by the sword. RICHARDS lived by the sword, wasted his life selling poison to societies most vulnerable people, and left behind no valid contribution to the world. In short he was no hero.
In reply to NO HERO by MDENT (not verified)
HUSAND<NEPHEW<SON<FATHER
If u don't know RICHARDS as a PERSON than don't speak on what he was doing! Every BLACK MALE that lives in DETROIT,MICHIGAN is not a DRUG DEALER!!!! Now days EVERYONE has a gun!!! RICHARDS was a HUSBAND,FATHER,SON, NEPHEW,and COUSIN! He is not the type of man that you are making him out to be!!! I knew him personally sweetie!!!!! You need to take a LOOK THOUGH OUT UR FAMILY before you start to put comments about someone else!!!! Once you thought about it come back and comment!!!!! That man was a wonderful FATHER/HUSBAND/SON!!!!
NO HERO
Oh I see you edited out the part of the original news reports which detailed that after the crash, the same officers that RICHARDS had just tried to run over spent ten minutes performing CPR on RICHARDS trying to save his life.
Made in the USA
Dear MDENT,
Don't know if Richards was one of them but Yes, there are some absolute monsters involved in the drug trade. They are monsters of our own making however. God, how stupid can we be. End the drug war now.
Rough justice
How many times this year am I going to read a report like this? The suspect(s) fled in a vehicle and ran down an officer. The suspect(s) was/were shot dead. The officer who was run down suffered no injuries and/or did not require medical attention.
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