More SWAT team over-use

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally Posted by island911

That was my POV with the Marine recently shot to pieces by SWAT. (people here were outraged by the thought than SWAT might have been justified).

How did that story shake out? -anyone know?

The Pima Sheriff's Dept. is still busily concocting a story while refusing to release any data for "fear of compromising an informant."

[sammyg2]

The outrage was because folks though the SWAT team took a guy down for an unpaid student loan.
Now it appears that is not the case and that the guy was not all innocent as he was pretending to be.
Now it appears it was a felony arrest and I expect more details to come out that will not reflect positively on the arrestee.

I'm not in that line of business but I was under the impression that local city police do not report to or take orders from a federal agency.
The federal agency can ASK for assistance and it's up to the local PD top decide if it is warranted or not.

Hopefully someone more familar with how that works can confirm or ..................

[island911]

Thanks Blue. That is one to watch.

Originally Posted by Brando

Herein lies the problem... SWAT acted on a warrant issued by the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, not a judge or commissioner acting as a judge! The DOE issued the warrant, not the DOJ or a court in particular.

PD should have turned around and said "Needs a judge's signature, not an administrator's signature."

HOLEY CRAP - seriously?

Why does DOE (E for EDUCATION) have a military component?

The Answer Sheet - Education Department buying 27 shotguns

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by island911

Thanks Blue. That is one to watch.

HOLEY CRAP - seriously?

Why does DOE (E for EDUCATION) have a military component?

The Answer Sheet - Education Department buying 27 shotguns

“The Office of Inspector General is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Education and is responsible for the detection of waste, fraud, abuse, and other criminal activity involving Federal education funds, programs, and operations. As such, OIG operates with full statutory law enforcement authority, which includes conducting search warrants, making arrests, and carrying firearms. The acquisition of these firearms is necessary to replace older and mechanically malfunctioning firearms, and in compliance with Federal procurement requirements. For more information on OIG’s law enforcement authority, please visit their Web site at : www.ed.gov/oig”

So, who really made this felony arrest? Was it local city SWAT team? Was it the law enforcement that answers to the inspector general?
Sounds to me like it WAS NOT the city SWAT team, it sounds like it was a bunch of officers working for the inspector general who were probably dressed in armor and other personal protective equipment similar to what SWAT team members wear.
Which leads to the next question, what was this bad guy doing that necessitated such a cautious approach?
I know many of you would like to believe that there is a group of renegade police officers out there making full-on SWAT-style attacks on innocent folks, why that is I have no idea. personal issues I guess.
But I simply do not believe that to be the case. Law enforcement generally does reasonably things.
THEY DON'T MAKE SWAT ARRESTS FOR UNPAID LOANS!

They make SWAT-style arrests against suspected armed felons when they believe there is a reasonable chance of gunfire from the suspect.
This is real life folks, it ain't TV.


BTW just in case anyone didn't know, one of the most powerful men in the United states when it comes to law enforcement is the postmaster general. Yup, the head post office guy is one powerful yahoo.

[id10t]

DOE has a law enforcement branch, and they are armed. The one I spoke to (he visited my office regarding a student scamming financial aid) said that he only qualifies w/ his side arm, and the most action he sees is when the BATFE, FBI, or ICE need extra man power to process an area after a raid

[strupgolf]

Originally Posted by widebody911

I think we're seeing a cycle of escalation.

* Police start buying bigger, badder spoons "because that's what the bad guys have."
* They break them out at every opportunity, "to keep their skills sharp" and "you never know what will happen." "If we don't use 'em, we lose 'em"
* The next fiscal year they say "Hey, we conducted umpteen raids last year, so we should upgrade our spoons again."
* Lather, rinse, repeat.

Nobody has the balls to say "no" to the cops, and the militarization continues.

You hit the nail on the head, great.

[techweenie]

Why the surprise? Did none of you read the link related to the killing of the land owner in Malibu over the suspicion he had marijuana on his 200 acres? (he did not). It was an interdepartmental taskforce of 32 officers... including the Park Service(!!!)

How A 32-man Assault Team Murdered Donald P. Scott At Trails End Ranch

Federal, state and local "authorities" often over-reach and then over-react. Ultimately, we as taxpayers contribute to multi-million dollar wrongful death payouts.

[aap1966]

Originally Posted by gtc

.......the constitution... like it's some kind of quaint anachronism that nobody should be expected to abide by these days.

You mean it's not?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!