Police Applaud Themselves For Raiding Innocent People and Killing Dogs
Police in Prince George's County, MD have completed their internal investigation of the botched raid on the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo. Their disgusting, though unsurprising, conclusion is that they did a terrific job:
Except that they could easily have intercepted the package before it was ever delivered, thereby eliminating the need for the violent raid entirely. Killing the dogs was completely unrelated to the goal of intercepting the drugs and it's just supremely dishonest to equate those two outcomes. Radley Balko has more on the fundamental incoherence underlying these latest claims from the PG County Sheriff's Office.
In the end, Sheriff Jackson is making a powerful statement to the public: this could happen to you. He's proud of his officers' actions and he has no intention of trying to prevent this from happening again. Cheye Calvo filed a lawsuit today that will hopefully change that.
The findings of the internal review "are consistent with what I've felt all along: My deputies did their job to the fullest extent of their abilities," Sheriff Michael Jackson said at a news conference.
…
"I'm sorry for the loss of their family pets," Jackson said. "But this is the unfortunate result of the scourge of drugs in our community. Lost in this whole incident was the criminal element. . . . In the sense that we kept these drugs from reaching our streets, this operation was a success." [Washington Post]
Except that they could easily have intercepted the package before it was ever delivered, thereby eliminating the need for the violent raid entirely. Killing the dogs was completely unrelated to the goal of intercepting the drugs and it's just supremely dishonest to equate those two outcomes. Radley Balko has more on the fundamental incoherence underlying these latest claims from the PG County Sheriff's Office.
In the end, Sheriff Jackson is making a powerful statement to the public: this could happen to you. He's proud of his officers' actions and he has no intention of trying to prevent this from happening again. Cheye Calvo filed a lawsuit today that will hopefully change that.
Looking for the easiest way to join the anti-drug war movement? You've found it!
I left a comment at he article
When I went back to copy it, so I could post it here, too, it was not to be found. Anyway, the gist of what I wrote was that I wish he would have filed the lawsuits against each individual who had anything to do with the raid, rather than the county or the LE agency. Those cops should have to pay any monetary award Mayor Calvo gets out of their own pockets rather than out of the taxpayers' coffers.
Why does this site get so many spammers? I don't see this spam problem at other sites I visit.
I'm pro-choice on EVERYTHING!
...
Actually scott, they did intercept the drugs. They intercepted it at the FedEx warehouse then hand delivered it in the hopes to catch the drug dealers on the receiving end. Except that Cheye took it in after he came home from work and well we know how the rest went down.
it talks about it on page 5:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR200901...
This raid wasn't an unavoidable cost of the drug war. It was completely unnecessary.
Right
I know that they intercepted the package. What I meant is that they could have actually kept it.
im proud of him
im glad thats how he feels,cause to be honest they didnt do anything wrong at all.they were just keeping drugs off the street.these people dont need to appoligize they were risking their lives to keep drugs off their streets that mayor should be DAMN PROUD of his law enforcement they did a good job and thank god no officer got hurt
IMNSHO, I'm glad he is suing
If it were me, I'd sue from the top all the way down chain of command -- the planners, the enablers, and the ones who carried it out (especially the ones who shot his dogs) as well as the judge who signed off on the warrant (Do I recall correctly? Was there actually a warrant?). And I would sue them as individuals. He is actually suing the county and the Sheriff's department, but in that kind of suit the taxpayers end up paying the award and the cops learn nothing from it. If he were to sue them as individuals, it would put the hurt on those cops right in their own pockets, then they might not be so quick to do something similar in future.
I'm pro-choice on EVERYTHING!
Cops on the run
Just a hair short of ten percent of all arrests in Montgomery County were for marijuana possession in 2007. Ten percent of the entire police apparatus!
The Money
http://mdsafeaccess.blogspot.com/2009/06/money.html
Recall Sheriff Michael Jackson
People who lack empathy, who consistently show poor judgment, who generally refuse to acknowledge their mistakes, and who have little or no understanding of the consequences of their actions, are people exhibiting the traits that characterize a psychopath.
From the reports, the Calvo raid isn’t the only black mark on Sheriff Jackson’s record. Perhaps the sheriff should be forced to undergo a psychological evaluation to determine his fitness for further duty. Barring that, a citizens’ committee needs to consider a recall petition to remove Mr. Jackson from office. As it stands now, Sheriff Michael Jackson poses a threat to the community he is charged with serving.
Giordano
Re" I'm proud of him" (proud of the super lazy dog killer cops)
You really don't understand that alcohol is a very dangerous and deadly drug, do you? You can die of an overdose or of chronic abuse, it's toxic to fetuses, it can be physically addictive, and worst, it often causes sadistic and reckless violence, but you don't recognize it as a drug. If we don't need to keep alcohol out of our community then we sure as hell don't need to keep cannabis out, it's a safer alternative to alcohol. Don't confuse the damage done by the drug/herb cannabis itself with the much more drastic and violent damage done by the war on marijuana and on the black market it creates.
Where do you get this crazy, bigoted idea that alcohol users have the moral right to call other good people criminals for using cannabis? Get real!
-newageblues
This is disgusting. They
This is disgusting. They screw up then pat themselves on the back for screwing up. They don't care one bit about the damage they've caused. I hope the law suit is successful.
Sick Cops
Yet another example of a drug raid gone wrong. We should all be glad these fine officers are all still on the job to protect themselves. Sheriff Jackson would rather hide behind his badge than admit they made a mistake. I wonder if the sheriff has a dog?
My Response
As an ex-cop, I have just emailed the Prince Georges County Police Department and Sheriff and requested their honorable resignations as a brother officer. There is absolutely no legal or moral justification for either the original raid, or the subsequent attempts of sheriff Jackson to whitewash it. Clowns like these, carrying badges and guns, make me ashamed that I ever carried a badge. In my opinion, they are far worse criminals than the people they arrest.
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