Cops executing search warrants on the wrong address have been in the news again because of the search by Chicago police of Anjanette Young's apartment. Well and the cover-up attempt by CPD and City Hall. It wasn't quite the wrong address. Their "John Doe" informant gave them the wrong apartment number. The person they were looking for was in that building, but in a different apartment. Still, it begs the question, "How incompetent are they?"
Search warrants executed on the wrong address, or executed on bad info generally, (informants get paid for info, NOT valid info) found quite a few entries.
Here are a few examples....
We will start in Chicago. Cops pointed guns at 4-year-old, autistic man during improper raid of Back of the Yards apartment: suit
Within moments, Chicago Police officers came through her door with their weapons drawn, ordering everyone to get on the ground. Hofeld said the police never announced their office before coming inside. The warrants they had were to search the first- and second-floor apartments for cocaine and heroin, though no narcotics were found in the building. [SNIP]
The officers who executed the warrant — which did not name a suspect, only an address — had neglected to perform surveillance of Lyons’ home or conduct undercover narcotics purchases before the search, Hofeld said.
Because informants are NEVER wrong. Or something.
I really love this one from Detroit. DPD execute search warrant at wrong address in credit card fraud investigation. Right house. Wrong unit.
"Uber Eats, nobody gets the address wrong, but I get a SWAT team get the address wrong," said Allen.
Mississippi: This is how these things usually end. Police Serve Warrant to Wrong Address, Kill Man Who Lives There
Police were looking to serve an arrest warrant for an assault that had occurred earlier that day. Only after Lopez had died did they realize their mistake: they had gone to the wrong house.
And it isn't only the good guys, at risk from the insanity. Maryland police shot entering "wrong address" on warrant in Prince George's County
Two Maryland police officers were shot while serving a drug-related search warrant at the wrong apartment late Wednesday, according to law enforcement officials. The resident shot the officers as soon as they opened the door, thinking they were home invaders, authorities said. No criminal charges will be filed against the man, Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said Thursday.
Lying? Not following procedure? Say it ain't so... Melbourne detective resigns after search warrant served to wrong address
According to the documents, Hawk did not keep a proper record of his investigation and it was later determined that Hawk had not definitely observed a confidential informant purchase drugs at an address across the street from where the warrant was served. [SNIP]
During an interview with internal investigators, Hawk said he used a Google maps image of the house to determine the address based on a description from a confidential informant.
Because Google is NEVER wrong.
Here's a story about mulitiple issues from Chicago. CBS 2 Investigators: Multiple Police Raids Gone Wrong; ‘This Is Just Irresponsible’
First one in the wrong apartment.
Chicago Police body cameras give a rare glimpse inside a police raid – at the wrong apartment.
Then later in the story... Cops realize they are in the wrong place, but keep searching anyway.
Despite officers saying they were in the wrong place, they still kept searching in the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.
“At this point, they know they’ve got no legal basis for being in the apartment,” said Sheila Bedi. “I imagine that they were hoping to find something that would allow them to have some sort of justification for continuing the search.”
The Rule of Law? Follow Procedures? Treat people with Respect? Admit they were wrong and cut their losses? These are COPS! The RULES don't apply to cops! Rules are for Little People.
There is more of course, I could probably go on for a very long time, but I have to get back to doing more productive stuff.
"The officers who executed the warrant — which did not name a suspect, only an address — had neglected to perform surveillance of Lyons’ home or conduct undercover narcotics purchases before the search, Hofeld said."
ReplyDeleteA judge signed off on that??
It seems that in some jurisdictions, judges will sign off on just about anything.
DeleteThe problem is not that nobody is named, it's that they didn't have enough probable cause. It's enough to establish that drugs are being dealt out of a residence. Many drug dealers use false/street names anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that cops are not doing their jobs.
DeleteSurveillance is time consuming. The informant is probably right.
I don't have time to verify an address. I will use Google Maps and guess. (What could go wrong?)
etc.
Oh, and the judges, "If you say so, the police would never lie to me, or cut corners, or ..."
Also, why are they sending a SWAT team for a credit card scamming operation?
DeleteSWAT teams and "no knock warrants" were SUPPOSED to be for drug raids, because they were afraid that evidence would be flushed down the toilets. Are you going to flush a bunch of credit cards down the toilet?
You can delete computer data, but if done right, all they have to do is kill the power, and you will not retrieve anything on the computer. (Full disk crypto anyone?)
And what you see on TV shows is not true. (which is why the authorities hate cryptography.) You will not break thru decent cryptography at rest in the next 100 or 1000 years. What you mean CSI, and NCIS and all the rest are lying to me? Yes.