Swat raid on house. Kill pets. Your opinion?

[VINMAN]

This is pretty disturbing. I'm not one to bash cops, and I despise drugs. But this bothers me.



Drug raid inquiry is ongoing
Target questions tactics of SWAT.

By Brennan David

Monday, May 3, 2010

A man whose home Columbia police raided in February on a narcotics search warrant has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and is contemplating a civil action against the department for shooting his two dogs during the raid.

Jonathan E. Whitworth, 25, of 1501 Kinloch Court entered into a plea agreement with the state to drop charges of possession of marijuana and second-degree child endangerment for a guilty plea to possession of drug paraphernalia.

Investigators believed Whitworth was in possession of a large amount of marijuana and was considered a distributor, Deputy Chief Tom Dresner said in February. Police, who found a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of marijuana, shot two dogs upon entering Whitworth’s home around 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11.

SWAT team members encountered a pit bull upon entry, held back and then fatally shot the dog, police say. Officers said the dog was acting in an uncontrollably aggressive manner. A video of the raid shows that a shot was fired upon entry, but the pit bull was not wounded until later.

Whitworth was arrested, and his wife and 7-year-old son were present during the raid. Both his wife and child were living in the residence at the time, said Jeff Hilbrenner, Whitworth’s attorney. Dresner previously said that intelligence gathered before the raid did not indicate the child was in the home.

A second dog was shot in the leg but was not killed. The corgi is seen in the video and does not appear to be wounded. There is no indication when the dog was shot, and Dresner previously said he was unsure when the animal was wounded.

“Their focus right now is to get this behind them,” Hilbrenner said of the Whitworth family. “Obviously, this was a traumatic event for his wife and son. A final decision has not been made, but they are evaluating all of their options.”

Hilbrenner previously said the family was concerned with what happened and that they thought police actions were inappropriate.

After the arrest, Dresner said he believed SWAT team members followed protocol and was awaiting an Internal Affairs investigation. Investigations are conducted each time a weapon is used by officers, said spokeswoman Officer Jessie Haden.

The investigation is expected to be completed within the next two weeks and has been prolonged because a SWAT team member is out of town for training. Internal Affairs is conducting the review because the incident involved multiple shots and was inside an occupied residence, Haden said. This allows Internal Affairs sergeants to review the incident independent from the SWAT command.

The Whitworths have not filed a complaint with the department concerning the incident.

[vash]

i just talked to my brother about this. the day before.

SWAT practices prior to raiding a house. this one house, the helicopter survellience showed two pit bulls in the backyard. my bro instructed the guys, "do not shoot the dogs unless they latch on". the flash grenade goes into the backyard. contrary to the movies, no drugs, or hotdog bribes..flash bomb. he says, any and all dogs, forget guard duties, and will crap themselves and run. he said these two pits tried to climb a straight rock wall to escape. one girl pit, gave up and made a run to the gate. a SWAT guy shot her. my bro was pissed. the dog went to the vet, and was given an ok rating. no need to die, but the owners couldnt or would pay for the bills. my bro scrambled to find an adopter. he did, but the vet said the owners had called and order euthanasia. she was a good pit. he rode that SWAT guy. he is going over a new fence with two puppy pits, later.

dog do not need to be shot.

[pwd72s]

Wow...tough call here. Will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

[Schumi]

They had a warrant. Why not just knock on the door, say "hey, we have a warrant to search this place, please step outside." and then search it.

Why hustle in like gangbusters/.

The man could have secured the dogs if he was given a chance to.

That is extremely sad. I almost couldn't watch when the guy found out they shot the dog.

[BGCarrera32]

Originally Posted by Schumi

They had a warrant. Why not just knock on the door, say "hey, we have a warrant to search this place, please step outside." and then search it.

Why hustle in like gangbusters/.

The man could have secured the dogs if he was given a chance to.

That is extremely sad. I almost couldn't watch when the guy found out they shot the dog.

O.k. I'll let you be first man through the door then, looking down the barrel of his shotgun after he's secured his dogs and flushed his drugs.

Then when you're lying on the ground I will remind the team, "hey at least the dogs are alive!"

The perp wasn't very concerned about his son now was he, given the drugs in the house...

[Rikao4]

I watched a few of the other vid's..
Vash, I know your brother tried..
please thank him..

these guys are thugs.
.
and I would not shed a tear should some not go home tonight..
yeah some will tell me it's just dog..
and I would tell you..
big deal ..it's just a kid, a mom, a dad..

Rika

[Moses]

Kristallnacht? They got the helmets right.

And all this is over some marijuana? The officer who shot the dog should be fired and prosecuted.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

I watched a few of the other vid's..
Vash, I know your brother tried..
please thank him..

these guys are thugs.
.
and I would not shed a tear should some not go home tonight..
yeah some will tell me it's just dog..
and I would tell you..
big deal ..it's just a kid, a mom, a dad..

Rika

he already asked me if i wanted a pit puppy...er NO.

[VINMAN]

Vash, that was very cool of your brother. Thats the stuff I like to hear.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by BGCarrera32

The perp wasn't very concerned about his son now was he, given the drugs in the house...

Really? REALLY?

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Police, who found a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of marijuana...

[nostatic]

Cops were pretty agro and seemed out of control (listen for the team leader telling them multiple times to cool it, etc).

So the cop breaks into a guys house, then says he has a "right to know your name"? WTF.

[Gogar]

At least they got that evil marijuana pipe off the mean streets.

Sorry about scarring your kid for life, ruining your marriage, and shooting your dogs.

[vash]

i cant see the video on my work machine. one dog was a CORGI! amazing.

the homes my bro raids are mexican drug cartel guys. big raids..bulldozer thru the front door level of stuff. (bull dozer was my idea)

[dhoward]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Cops were pretty agro and seemed out of control (listen for the team leader telling them multiple times to cool it, etc).

So the cop breaks into a guys house, then says he has a "right to know your name"? WTF.

+100.
Unprofessional. Adrenaline junkies. I know them here in my town. Get 'em all together and it's unbeliveable some of the **** they say. This 'militarization' of police departments is for the most part unnecessary. If they belived he had a 'large amount of marijuana' why didn't they pick him up going to his car at work, at the gas station, whatever. I do a few ridealongs a year. Some of these guys are itchin' to draw a weapon.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by vash

i cant see the video on my work machine. one dog was a CORGI! amazing.

the homes my bro raids are mexican drug cartel guys. big raids..bulldozer thru the front door level of stuff. (bull dozer was my idea)

Considering the bust, it sure looks like overkill. But, the cops didn't know what was inside until they were inside?

[dhoward]

But that doesn't justfiy it Paul. They don't do good investagative work anymore.

[BGCarrera32]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Cops were pretty agro and seemed out of control (listen for the team leader telling them multiple times to cool it, etc).

So the cop breaks into a guys house, then says he has a "right to know your name"? WTF.

Executing a legal search warrant is not breaking and entering.

[Burnin' oil]

The cops had a warrant to search the house, which means that someone presented to a judge an affadavit with facts establishing probable cause to search and a judge signed off on it. The search was at night, which usually requires a special showing of need.

The cops knocked and announced at least twice and I saw no indication of cooperation. As BG implies, the cops cannot wait until someone lets them in.

If the cops are entering the house of a suspected drug dealer, they cannot pussyfoot around. That's how they get killed.

Shooting the dogs sucks, but I would rather the cops shoot a dog than get bit and I am sure the cops feel the same way.

The father is the one responsible for what happened. He is the one bringing drugs, and all that drugs entail, into his home and exposing his family to all kinds of negative outcomes.

And Rika, calling the cops thugs and hoping they don't make it home is pretty harsh.

[BGCarrera32]

Originally Posted by Moses

Really? REALLY?

Yes, did I studder?

[Lazarro]

Originally Posted by Schumi

They had a warrant. Why not just knock on the door, say "hey, we have a warrant to search this place, please step outside." and then search it.

Why hustle in like gangbusters/.

The man could have secured the dogs if he was given a chance to.

That is extremely sad. I almost couldn't watch when the guy found out they shot the dog.

Ever watch the tv show cops? Well I have watched a fair number of shows over the years. It's pretty usual for a cop to talk about why he became a cop. You hear them say they like to serve the community, get drugs off of the street, keep the streets safe, etc etc. A fairly large percentage seem to mention the rush and or adrenalin high they get. The woody factor.


Knocking on a door rates very low on the ''woody factor scale''.