More SWAT team over-use

[widebody911]

When SWAT Teams Attack Over Your Estranged Wife's Student Debt

At 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Kenneth Wright of Stockton, California had his house door busted down by a SWAT team, who dragged him out of his house, held him down and handcuffed him, searched the house, and then took Wright and his three kids to a police station. The interesting thing about this: He had done nothing wrong! The SWAT team was just acting on a search warrant from the Department of Education to find Wright's wife, who'd defaulted on her student loans. But they're estranged, and she doesn't live there.

[911Freak]

Let me get this straight....They are sending in SWAT for defaulted student loans? WTF!?

[URY914]

Don't the SWAT guys at anytime just say, "WTF are we doing this for?".

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Nope. More like "boo-yah!" and "git sum!"

The paramilitarization of every two-horse town PD in America is shocking and should be downright disturbing to every Constitutional liberties type out there. One of those "war on drugs" consequence things...

[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.

[island911]

Gotta love living our new-found "Hope & Change"

Really, SWAT has better things to do. ...like hitting on all of those people thumbing their noses at CA's new 'green' building codes. --the whole hope for planetary survival rests on the compliance of these new laws.


. .. 'student loans; pfft

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by 911Freak

Let me get this straight....They are sending in SWAT for defaulted student loans? WTF!?

They sent in a SWAT team (at Apple's behest) to recover a "stolen" iPhone

Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's house raided, computers seized (updated) | ZDNet

[GH85Carrera]

That is an amazing story. Unless that dude had a LONG rap sheet as a bad guy it was a total waste of time and money. You know there will be a lawsuit. More money wasted.

All for a student loan. Amazing.

[island911]

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.

It's more like, Nobody has the balls to say "no" to the lawyers directing the cops. That is, it is control freak lawyers all the way to the top. ...no 'common sense' people in that chain, other than, as some have hoped, the cops themselves.

So +1 to URY914

Don't the SWAT guys at anytime just say, "WTF are we doing this for?".

[island911]

I suppose that in this sluggish economy, the SWAT guys will do anything they are told, else be out of a job and no high-perk early retirement pension plan.

[daepp]

In my home town even the motorcycle cops carry HK5 machine guns. In a two horse town with no murders in a decade.

[Burnin' oil]

There has got to be more to this story. I cannot believe a warrant was issued by a Federal Court to collect on a debt. Something is missing.

Please, let there be something missing.

[vash]

dayum!!! how much $$ did she owe?

my brother said most of his SWAT call outs are military guys just back from the desert having a difficult time adjusting. something snaps and they think it is a great idea to hole up with the family with a gun.

then alot of time is chasing drug cartel types back over the border. one thing for sure, my brother is armed to the gills. my favorite piece is a custom silenced .22 rifle. super accurate, and i can throw rocks louder. i wanted to steal it.

i agree with burnin..there has to be more to this story. any beat cop would or should have the sense to know better. why not just sit it out, until you laid eyes on her?

my brother has a fun job.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by widebody911

When SWAT Teams Attack Over Your Estranged Wife's Student Debt

There are probably some college students and post-grads with outstanding debts reading this and getting scared like the dickens.

The real reason.

[gtc]

You're right, it is disturbing.
What's I also find scary is that most people look at me like I'm some kind of whack job when I mention the constitution... like it's some kind of quaint anachronism that nobody should be expected to abide by these days.

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Nope. More like "boo-yah!" and "git sum!"

The paramilitarization of every two-horse town PD in America is shocking and should be downright disturbing to every Constitutional liberties type out there. One of those "war on drugs" consequence things...

[gtc]

Sounds to me like they're in spin mode now, with the "unspecified criminal investigation" explanation.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

There has got to be more to this story. ...
Please, let there be something missing.

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?

[sammyg2]

What is disturbing it that something gets posted that is not accurate and others gobble it up without thought because they WANT it to be true.

Others who are not as much driven by emotion see it and say, "huh. that doesn't seem right. I think I'll do a little research and find out what really happened before I knee-jerk into a conclusion."

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Education is disputing a local news report that it sent a S.W.A.T. team to knock down the door and search the house of an individual because he defaulted on student loans.

Stockton, Calif. resident Kenneth Wright told the local ABC affiliate that on Tuesday, approximately 15 officers stormed into his home at 6 a.m., placed him in handcuffs and kept him in a squad car for nearly six hours while his three young children remained inside the house.

Wright said one of the individuals grabbed him by the neck and led him outside to his front lawn.

"He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there," Wright said.

The initial report said the U.S. Department of Education "issued the search and called in the S.W.A.T for his wife's defaulted student loans," although that story has since been taken down and replaced with an updated version that did not contain the claim about the raid being connected to student loans.

Department of Education Press Secretary Justin Hamilton confirmed to The Huffington Post that the agency's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) did indeed order the action, although he said it was not about an issue over student loans in default.

"While it was reported in local media that the search was related to a defaulted student loan, that is incorrect," Hamilton said. "This is related to a criminal investigation. The Inspector General’s Office does not execute search warrants for late loan payments."

"Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we can’t comment on the specifics of the case. We can say that the OIG’s office conducts about 30-35 search warrants a year on issues such as bribery, fraud, and embezzlement of federal student aid funds."

Wright said all he wants is an "apology for me and my kids and for them to get me a new door.

Department Of Education: Raid Of California Man's Home Was Not Related To Defaulted Student Loans

[Brando]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

There has got to be more to this story. I cannot believe a warrant was issued by a Federal Court to collect on a debt. Something is missing.

Please, let there be something missing.

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."

[Burnin' oil]

Mr. Wright was waiving a warrant issued by a Federal judge.