The war on drugs is not literally a war, it's just a metaphor. Certain drugs are illegal, and the government uses the police force to make sure drugs are not used and/or distributed. That's just regular law enforcement, nothing anyone can consider to be warlike. It's not like we're sending soldiers, armed with fully automatic weapons, covered in full armor, in to breach the homes of civilians...
right?
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That was heavy. It's kind of ironic that they'd raid the wrong house. They're supposed to be the best of the best, yet they make the same mistakes as a pizza guy. It's kind of wierd that SWAT is just ordinary citizens with training and guns. It only requires about 2 years as a regular cop where you are assessed, then you can get your bulletproof suit, flashbang, M16, Glock, and you're good to go. Of course they have Tazers and rubber-bullet guns, but they rarely use them during raids. They basically are liscensed to kill. They like that right. No one questions it anymore.
Here's a link to "No-knock warrant" on Wiki. Go down to 'examples' under 'controversy'.
It's a plus because they can prevent anyone who is inside the home from fleeing with simple surprise tactics.
It does, however, mean that sometimes they shock the wrong people.
The real issue here is not the tactic, but the reason behind it. Drugs aren't a problem in America, it's the people behind it on both sides. If drugs are legalized and sold like beer, we won't need raids to hunt down criminals that don't exist, because the criminals won't be selling anything seeing as people can just go buy it.
A never ending war that will never be won by the gov't
Got to quote Bill Hicks here:
George Bush says we are losing the war on drugs. You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it. Ha ha ha ha! What does that tell you about drugs? Some smart, creative people on that side.
The real issue here is not the tactic, but the reason behind it.
Agreed
Making criminals outta normal people, makes me feel reeeel angry. Some people would love to lock me up because I smoke and, once in a blue moon, take other stuff. Dont they have better stuff to do? like catch the dangerous people? Guess not, Im easier to catch because I sit in my house, play computer games and smoke a small amount of plant material. Crazy!
It really is upseting. Those are people who probably haven't commited crimes their whole life. But they're treated like criminals. And being treated like a criminal is one of the wost ways to treat someone.
I'm not really all for drugs, but if anything, I'd either have the American army move to the southern border and kill all the drug traffickers and kick the illegals back as they cross, or, I'd just legalize drugs and take them all out of business and that would end all of the violence, too.
But if drugs like those were legal they would be taxed or cost a lot. People would still sell them cheaper, without taxes. If people can get a few ounces legally for the same price as 2 pounds illegally, which one will they take?
I don't t think the SWAT teams or/and the tactic are the problem per se. The problem, in my opinion, are the judges that hand out no-knock warrants like candy and their -often- incompetent commanding officers.
Here's a link to raid on the Iraq War vet, Jose Guerena.
Before the raid, they set off flashbang grenades in his backyard as a "distraction". When his wife approached the window an officer pointed his gun in her face. Due to their clothing, she could not tell that they were police. She woke her husband up. He told her to hide in a closet with their kids. He went to get his gun.
This was not a "No-knock Raid", but the poor execution of this raid led to his... execution.
According to the official report, when they broke down the door, he was sitting on the front staircase with an automatic weapon (AR-15) pointed at the door. Initially the SWAT members claimed to see muzzle flashes in their direction. This was proven false because his rifle had the safety switched on. Some injuries to the SWAT were reported but they were officially caused by eachother's shots. They fired 71 rounds within 7 seconds, hitting Guerena 22 times. A medical team was on standby during the raid, but they were not called in until an hour and 14 minutes had gone by, due to safety concerns. Officers did not find any evidence related to drug trafficking at Guerena's residence. Police did report that three assault rifles, two handguns, body armor, and a US Border Patrol cap were confiscated, though none of these items are illegal to own.
The police claim Guerena had plenty of warning: They put on their siren and shouted "Police!" and "Search Warrant!"
According to the video, the siren was only on for less than 10 seconds. Any fool with a computer and a speaker can play a soundbit. You don't need to be a police officer to shout "Police!"
He thought his house was being invaded by a crime organization. I just looked up how much it would cost to impersonate a SWAT member: about $60 a person for a full prop uniform; or you could buy a real used one for about $100 on ebay.
I don't know why police tactics are so poor. They could do what other countries do and wait until he leaves the house, then stop him on his way to work or something while they look for stuff.
This isn't about drugs anymore. It's about legalizing murder so cops can feel like Rambo and "kick some ***!!!"
Look at the last shot in the video: a good 2 seconds after the rest of the shooting had stopped.
