Anti Federalist
12-05-2010, 11:27 PM
Raid of a home owned by an 84 year old women, with two other women and a 2 year old child in the house, in order to take into custody a cel phone belonging to suspect already in jail and that was not in the home in any case.
And then refuse to pay for damages to the home.
KC police’s raid, use of stun grenade draw probe
By CHRISTINE VENDEL
The Kansas City Star
4 Dec. 2010
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/03/2496073/kc-polices-storming-of-house-use.html#ixzz17J3WV8GJ
Kansas City police have started an internal investigation to determine if tactical officers acted properly when they broke into a home and threw a stun grenade that caught drapes on fire.
Police last month were serving a search warrant related to a homicide investigation when they stormed into the home of a south Kansas City neighborhood leader. Three women and a 2-year-old girl were inside.
JeTuan Jones said the use of force — breaking open her door and throwing a “flash bang” device past her niece’s head — was unnecessary, considering that the search warrant was for a cell phone used by her brother, who had moved out four months earlier and was in police custody.
After barging in, police realized her brother did not live there and left without searching, Jones said.
“All of that could have been avoided,” said Jones, who was not home at the time. “Whatever happened to good old-fashioned investigating?”
Such “police-state techniques” should be reserved for the most extreme cases, said a national expert on criminal procedures.
“What we’re talking about here is police throwing bombs into people’s houses,” said Donald E. Wilkes Jr., a law professor at the University of Georgia. “To use a device like this for a search warrant for a cell phone when a guy is locked up is unbelievable.”
Jones, a former police dispatcher and youth volunteer, has complained to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and the Office of Community Complaints.
Police officials said they could not comment on the allegations because of their investigation.
Police board members expressed concern, saying that such incidents could undermine community relations and cooperation, further worsening detectives’ abilities to solve crimes, including homicides.
A Jackson County Circuit Court judge signed the search warrant that allowed police to enter Jones’ home Nov. 3. But police did not request — and the judge did not grant — permission to barge in unannounced. Police usually give a judge specific reasons for conducted a “no knock” entry.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that police generally must knock and announce themselves to give residents the opportunity to open their doors and avoid property damage. Courts have allowed police to break in unannounced when residents refuse to unlock doors, when police feel threatened or when police fear evidence is being destroyed.
Jones contends that officers did not announce themselves.
Police use flash-bang devices to temporarily disorient people and prevent possibly deadly confrontations, said Kansas City Police Capt. Steve Young, a department spokesman.
Complaints are rare, he said. Police have served more than 430 search warrants this year, mostly for narcotics investigations. The Office of Community Complaints has forwarded three complaints, including Jones’, to the police Internal Affairs Unit.
Jones’ brother attracted police interest after he began using a homicide victim’s cell phone. He told his sister he found the phone Oct. 29 while walking. He used it to call her house.
According to Jones, police began watching her house. They arrested her brother Nov. 3 as he walked to work.
That night, she saw police cars pull onto her street as she left home with her husband and one child. Minutes later, tactical officers charged her front door. Barking dogs prompted Jones’ niece to open the door. Police outside yelled for her to get down.
She held up keys to signal that she could unlock the storm door, but an officer allegedly ordered her to get out of the way, punched out the window screen and threw in the flash-bang device. It landed near a door to the back patio, where it ignited a set of drapes and knocked over antiques.
The loud explosion and blinding light terrified Jones’ 84-year-old, bedridden mother; 68-year-old cousin; 24-year-old niece; and 2-year-old daughter.
Tactical officers broke the wrought-iron storm door, stormed through the house, handcuffed the niece and cousin, and tried to get the elderly woman out of bed.
According to Jones, police later found the homicide victim’s cell phone at the apartment where her brother had been staying. Police did not break in or use a flash bang there, she said.
“I’m just baffled,” she said.
She wants police to pay for the damage to her house, which she estimated at thousands of dollars.
Police say they don’t usually pay for damage if it is considered “reasonable.”
And then refuse to pay for damages to the home.
KC police’s raid, use of stun grenade draw probe
By CHRISTINE VENDEL
The Kansas City Star
4 Dec. 2010
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/03/2496073/kc-polices-storming-of-house-use.html#ixzz17J3WV8GJ
Kansas City police have started an internal investigation to determine if tactical officers acted properly when they broke into a home and threw a stun grenade that caught drapes on fire.
Police last month were serving a search warrant related to a homicide investigation when they stormed into the home of a south Kansas City neighborhood leader. Three women and a 2-year-old girl were inside.
JeTuan Jones said the use of force — breaking open her door and throwing a “flash bang” device past her niece’s head — was unnecessary, considering that the search warrant was for a cell phone used by her brother, who had moved out four months earlier and was in police custody.
After barging in, police realized her brother did not live there and left without searching, Jones said.
“All of that could have been avoided,” said Jones, who was not home at the time. “Whatever happened to good old-fashioned investigating?”
Such “police-state techniques” should be reserved for the most extreme cases, said a national expert on criminal procedures.
“What we’re talking about here is police throwing bombs into people’s houses,” said Donald E. Wilkes Jr., a law professor at the University of Georgia. “To use a device like this for a search warrant for a cell phone when a guy is locked up is unbelievable.”
Jones, a former police dispatcher and youth volunteer, has complained to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and the Office of Community Complaints.
Police officials said they could not comment on the allegations because of their investigation.
Police board members expressed concern, saying that such incidents could undermine community relations and cooperation, further worsening detectives’ abilities to solve crimes, including homicides.
A Jackson County Circuit Court judge signed the search warrant that allowed police to enter Jones’ home Nov. 3. But police did not request — and the judge did not grant — permission to barge in unannounced. Police usually give a judge specific reasons for conducted a “no knock” entry.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that police generally must knock and announce themselves to give residents the opportunity to open their doors and avoid property damage. Courts have allowed police to break in unannounced when residents refuse to unlock doors, when police feel threatened or when police fear evidence is being destroyed.
Jones contends that officers did not announce themselves.
Police use flash-bang devices to temporarily disorient people and prevent possibly deadly confrontations, said Kansas City Police Capt. Steve Young, a department spokesman.
Complaints are rare, he said. Police have served more than 430 search warrants this year, mostly for narcotics investigations. The Office of Community Complaints has forwarded three complaints, including Jones’, to the police Internal Affairs Unit.
Jones’ brother attracted police interest after he began using a homicide victim’s cell phone. He told his sister he found the phone Oct. 29 while walking. He used it to call her house.
According to Jones, police began watching her house. They arrested her brother Nov. 3 as he walked to work.
That night, she saw police cars pull onto her street as she left home with her husband and one child. Minutes later, tactical officers charged her front door. Barking dogs prompted Jones’ niece to open the door. Police outside yelled for her to get down.
She held up keys to signal that she could unlock the storm door, but an officer allegedly ordered her to get out of the way, punched out the window screen and threw in the flash-bang device. It landed near a door to the back patio, where it ignited a set of drapes and knocked over antiques.
The loud explosion and blinding light terrified Jones’ 84-year-old, bedridden mother; 68-year-old cousin; 24-year-old niece; and 2-year-old daughter.
Tactical officers broke the wrought-iron storm door, stormed through the house, handcuffed the niece and cousin, and tried to get the elderly woman out of bed.
According to Jones, police later found the homicide victim’s cell phone at the apartment where her brother had been staying. Police did not break in or use a flash bang there, she said.
“I’m just baffled,” she said.
She wants police to pay for the damage to her house, which she estimated at thousands of dollars.
Police say they don’t usually pay for damage if it is considered “reasonable.”