Radley Balko is a political analyst at the Cato Institute (a libertarian think tank). This report describes the increase in SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams and forced entry when police execute drug warrants.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476
The white paper also details accounts of botched drug raids, where officers enter the wrong home.
I'm sure we could use this in an argument about the Drug War.
Also, there is the case of Ryan Frederick out of Chesapeake, Va. Last year he shot and killed a police detective who was entering his home to execute a drug warrant. They suspected Frederick was growing marijuana in his garage. However, they only seized enough pot to charge him with misdemeanor posession.
Last week a Virginia jury convicted Frederick of voluntary manslaughter, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The prosecution was originally pushing for the death penalty.
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yea, i think this is a huge issue, i saw on the news how LA County uses a tank pretty much to just fuck people's houses up on suspicion of marijuana trafficking.
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