View Single Post
Old March 9, 2009, 10:40 PM   #15
JuanCarlos
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 22, 2006
Posts: 2,459
Quote:
How about, would they "true cops" be willing to stand down the hallway, with you armed and covered in your room while you called 911 to check with dispatch if they are actually supposed to be at your house. Seems to me that is the only way to resolve a no-knock search at the wrong house. Frankly I know the police have no reason to search my house, especially a no knock raid, and I would be reluctant to drop my weapon for suspicion they are not real cops. It only takes one BG to get the idea then recruit a few other guys, then they're kicking in doors and meeting no resistance to their robbery. It is not hard to fake an SWAT/officer's uniform, so I would want to call and make sure they are supposed to be at my house. If confirmed I will comply, otherwise I'm pretty sure they have the wrong house or they are BGs. Putting my weapon on the floor is bad news if they are BGs.
Unfortunately this defeats the entire purpose of "no-knock" warrants, which is to use overwhelming force to entirely secure the location so as to prevent the occupants from destroying evidence (flushing dope, wiping hard drives, whatever). If they were willing to let you call 911 to get things sorted out, they'd just have knocked.

As for what the consequences would be for shooting an officer in such a situation...well, depending on your state you might theoretically be covered under self-defense laws, but you're certainly going to have to argue your case in court. It will be a grossly unpleasant experience even if you win an acquittal.



As for instances of residents being injured or killed by such raids, it's a long list. Many were never convicted of crimes (assuming they were merely injured), and many were wrong-address raids. We're not talking about a statistically significant number, but it happens more often than I think most of us should be comfortable with.
JuanCarlos is offline  
 
Page generated in 0.03037 seconds with 8 queries