SWAT team destroys house, won't pay to fix it.

[Gogar]

Discuss this!

Here in Denver, the cops chased an armed shoplifting suspect into a random home (not the suspect's home),

had an extended standoff with the suspect,

Brought in all that free paramilitary gear they've been itching to use for years,

And went full agro on the house. Caught the shoplifting suspect!!!!!

Now the city is remaining strangely silent on whether or not they will make the innocent homeowner whole.

I think it is a little early in the story and I hope the city will help the guy out. That house is a mess!!!!

[Bugsinrugs]

Claim it on homeowners and let them sue the City.

[Joeaksa]

Sue them and never work again after the settlement...

[HardDrive]

Absurd. Sue the city. The situation could have clearly been resolved with A) Another 48 hours of waiting, or B) a well placed .308 round.

[GWN7]

The amount of damage is incredible.

[chocolatelab]

What the hell did the guy shop lift?

Gum, a t shirt, good lord

[GWN7]

We shared space with the local bomb/swat guys. They had "entrance frames" that they used to make a door in a wall where there was none. Shaped charges. It looks like the police there used something like that on every room in that house.

[dennis in se pa]

The police clearly over reacted and misbehaved. That is the result of the pursuit of a shoplifter? Are you kidding me? If I lived in that city I would be moving out now.
An easy and painless solution would have been to use the element of time. Sooner or later the perp would need food. Turn off the water and electric.
Whoever made the decision to take this action needs to be relieved of his duties and receive mental evaluation.

[widebody911]

For the record, has any municipality ever paid appropriate damages when their toy soldiers destroyed someone's house?

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

The police clearly over reacted and misbehaved. That is the result of the pursuit of a shoplifter? Are you kidding me? If I lived in that city I would be moving out now.
An easy and painless solution would have been to use the element of time. Sooner or later the perp would need food. Turn off the water and electric.
Whoever made the decision to take this action needs to be relieved of his duties and receive mental evaluation.

This!

Unless he "shoplifted" a child and was about to harm the child that is just nucking futs.

There is zero reason for any of that destruction for a shoplifter. The homeowner was wearing a shirt with a Ferrari logo on it. Hopefully he has the financial resources to hire a quality attorney and sue the city. He deserves 100% compensation and some punitive damages. That city needs a total change in rules of engagement for criminals. If they were after some ISIS terrorists with hostages that might be reasonable damage, not for shoplifting. I wonder if he jaywalked as well?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The funny (or sad) thing is that right now on some cop forum there's a lot of "hoo-rah" cops virtually back-slapping and high-fiveing one another about how "high speed" that went and how awesome they are.

This over-militarization of local Roscoe P. Coultraine types needs to end before (more) innocent people get killed.

I hope that property owner sues the pants off the city and wins. That's the only way we'll start seeing change - if the bonehead politicians who enable this stuff start getting hit in the wallet.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

This over-militarization of local Roscoe P. Coultraine types needs to end before (more) innocent people get killed.

The chief of the eight cop police force on my parents' no-crime, resort island wanted camouflage uniforms for his men. The town council shot that down right away. I told my mom he should be fired for even suggesting such a thing. That mentality has no place in civilian policing. I'd start by not allowing any cop to wear a buzzcut either. Want to play soldier and break things? Join the military. Want to be a cop? Look like the avg. respectable citizen in the community where you work.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

This over-militarization of local Roscoe P. Coultraine types needs to end before (more) innocent people get killed.

This is a side effect of the "war on drugs," and once you've given Roscoe all of these extra powers (no-knock warrants, asset forfeiture) and hardware, good luck getting them back. And he's going to look for any excuse to bring them out to play.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

..Want to play soldier and break things? Join the military. Want to be a cop? Look like the avg. respectable citizen in the community where you work.

[widebody911]

snopes.com: Kern County Sheriff

[onewhippedpuppy]

I bet that homeowner has a line of attorneys out front right now. The city of Denver will quickly find out that they should have offered reimbursement up front, because actual plus punitive damages will be a LOT more money.

[vash]

i think it was LESS important that he was a shoplifter, and MORE important that he was armed.

dunno..i'm guessing. if there was any overkill, it was the shoplifter taking a gun to hoist a pack of gum.

so, what would you guys have done? scenario: armed guy holes up in a house.

i dont know, so i would love to hear the answers.

ME? i would find the guy's mom. get her outside on a bullhorn, pleading for him to turn himself in. or. shut off the homes gas and electricity. get the home super warm. wait him out. or, snipers on the adjacent rooftops. caps turn backwards, and the main guy has this habit of biting a straw all the time. cool squiggly wire coming out of his ear to some earbud..talking to the teams. looking thru scopes that turn everything green hued...big command center in an EZ up outside with.........

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by vash

so, what would you guys have done? scenario: armed guy holes up in a house.

i dont know, so i would love to hear the answers.

I don't know either, but this is what the professionals came up with after 18 hours of brainstorming.

[flipper35]

These guys seemed to have some restraint and it was in LA.

[wayner]

I love how they didn't taze him or even tackle him. They used force when called for and then used reason