Swat raid Kansas home. Couple spends $25k to find out why.

[planetdoc]

http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/...o-familys-home

Full story at the link. Summary with excerpts below.

SWAT raids a leawood couples home with guns drawn. Put them and their young kids on their couch. Find nothing illegal, and seize nothing. Kansas law prevents them from finding out why they were raided.

After the raid, the couple thought they could access public records to find out why law enforcement suspected drugs were in their home. They told 41 Action News they were shocked to find out they could not access any of those records under Kansas law.

Turns out they were raided because they made a LEGAL purchase from a Legal buisness that was under LEO observation.

Records show on Aug. 9, 2011, a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper observed a man leaving the Green Circle hydroponics store in Kansas City, Mo., in a KIA with his children and a small bag.

Bob said he had been to the store to get supplies for a science project he was working on with his son: a basement hydroponic garden.

LEO performed field tests of tea leaves in the couples trash, prior to the swat raid, that was a false positive for marijuana. They only sent those samples in to the crime lab AFTER the swat raid that indicated they did not contain any illegal substances.

The embarrassing misstep for deputies would have remained hidden if the Hartes had not had the means to spend money to gain access to the records. The family has also been contacted by people across Kansas trying to figure out how to access records about themselves. Addie said many of the people who have reached out to her do not have the same resources financially to fight to get records released.

“This not what justice in the United States is supposed to be. You shouldn't have to have $25,000, even $5,000. You shouldn't have to have that kind of money to find out why people came raiding your house like some sort of police state,” Addie Harte said.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by crazycoffey

PTSD? Really?

Well... the system has left victims with very little avenue to seek justice for wrongdoing. As evidenced by the story in the OP of victims having to fork up $25k of their own money just to get info on their own incident. Perhaps if law enforcement didn't try their damnedest to take away any other options for justice, it wouldn't be necessary to hit them in the pocketbook with questionable charges of PTSD.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

The taxpayers are going to foot that bill.

Our rights get violated and we get to pay for the punishment? I don't hardly ****ing think so...

We need to go Singapore for this stuff...

Completely understand. It's one way to wake up legislators to what that cost/benefit is for these tactics. Of course, cities and law enforcement are insured for these risks, but it's one avenue of recourse.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Yea, the PTSD angle is bad, but I liken it to "cops/firemen put their life on the line every day".

Maybe from eating high fat diets, but certainly not from the job.

[Randallflagg]

Originally Posted by oldandslow

When those agents stop acting like 12 year olds with machine guns, things like this are bound to decrease.

Until then, well....

....arrested for bottled water. Good grief.

When I first read that, I honestly thought it was a joke. The ABC!?!?! Now THEY are carrying on like SWAT teams!?!?! And yet there are those that attempt to tell me that "police" organizations aren't out of control.

For the love of God!! It's the Alcoholic Beverage Control folks....You know the guys that go into liquor stores to check the owner's licenses?

Hell, I'm mildly surprised that they didn't shoot the two girls. Unbelievable.

[crazycoffey]

Originally Posted by BiStateNo

When I first read that, I honestly thought it was a joke. The ABC!?!?! Now THEY are carrying on like SWAT teams!?!?! And yet there are those that attempt to tell me that "police" organizations aren't out of control.

For the love of God!! It's the Alcoholic Beverage Control folks....You know the guys that go into liquor stores to check the owner's licenses?

Hell, I'm mildly surprised that they didn't shoot the two girls. Unbelievable.

They're lucky they didn't pull out a pair of cuticle scissors, pedicures are pretty relaxing in a tensed situation, but those girls would've deserved what they got then, never trust a woman with a sharp instrument.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

"cops/firemen put their life on the line every day".

Maybe from eating high fat diets, but certainly not from the job.

Whoa, that's not being fair in the least, I will be the first one to call police brutality on people of any color, and have already done so in this thread... but reducing them all to careless, fat slobs isn't right. In spite of these things we see on the news, there are thousands of cops out there trying to do right... I honestly believe that.

Heres a simple, honest story from last year... it was Fathers day and I took my daughter fishing way out on the fringes of a tiny little town 20 miles from here (because that's where dem good fishies are!)... well apparently, some typically small town nosy people drove by us on this TINY dirt road barely fit for a 4x4 truck and called the cops.

So WAY out of their way comes not just any cop, but a STATE cop, known the world over for being huge pricks... even city and county cops get hairlipped by these guys being douchebags.

Anyway, the kid and I are fishing and here he comes... I had a fishing license and she didn't, why? because we were going to the middle of nowhere and didn't think we'd need one for her... so he pulls up and I tell the kid to let me talk.

I calmly came right out with the truth, she doesn't have one sir, figured it wouldn't matter way out here, could you give us a break?... he thought about it for a few seconds, grinned and said "I recommend you head back to town and get her a license, I'll be back to check in 5-6 hours..."

And that was it, dude could've ruined our whole day with a $75 fine but he didn't... I came clean up front and he more than likely was going to feel bad ticketing a guy for taking his kid fishing on Fathers Day.

That's just one small example, but yeah, these guys SHOULDNT be our enemies... a little give from US and a little give from THEM goes a long way.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Whoa, that's not being fair in the least...

Tell it to the judge actuarial tables.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

didnt want to start a new thread for this, but still think its important people read it. Maybe we need a general "Cops behaving badly" thread. I dont know.

Here is the summary: guy gets beaten by a bunch of cops and thrown in jail for 15 months unjustly. Internal Affairs exonerate the cops. Video shows perp was innocent, that cops lied in reports, cops talking to other cops to turn off cameras. DA refuses to prosecute the cops. Guy beaten gets $1.1 million settlement by the city (taxpayer pay for police misconduct).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas police dash camera video shows incident that led to man's $1.1M settlement with city

Most cops are decent people.. But I think the citizens need to start requiring all cops to be recording at all times.. dash cam, and lapel cam.. If any part of the recordings are missing the arrests, then charges are dropped and possible charges against the officers depending on what happens..

I also believe all cops should have a degree of some sort before they are even allowed to become a police officer. A required minor in the study of the constitution. With this also gets them a pay raise so they do not have to work some much OT or other jobs..

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

Alchy Beverge Control. When I was a young drinker, ABC seemed to have a more passive role. They checked ID's and made sure the bar/club owners were compliant with licenses.
Now, they jump out like ****ing FBI.
Start at 40$ mil and negotiate down.

I see them all the time at the stadiums.. So far they have been very nice when busting kids.. They were going to give away all the kids beers but ended up having to pour them out so the kids that did not get arrested would not keep drinking.

Then on snake saturday all of the police officers were friendly, even got pulled over and we just bull shitted for a bit before he let me go.

Tons of good cops, but man these bad ones are sickening.

I have talked about it on here before. I was at the Quaff years ago. A black man was playing pool with some people. Seemed nice, never heard any yelling or arguing when I was playing shuffle board a few feet by them. Well we were heading out and this guy was leaving at the same time to go smoke. He either accidentally bumped the bouncer or tripped. Bouncers grab him while he is apologizing slam him on the ground and start kicking him.

Cops come out of nowhere, or were already parked nearby. I tried to talk to the non arresting officer. That the guy did not do anything and the bouncers just started beating the shit out of the guy as I saw it all. I was told immediately to shut the **** up and leave or they will find a reason to arrest me. My friends grabbed me and yanked me into the cab.

That shit ruined my night.

[planetdoc]

Memo reveals traffic stop quotas set for Kansas City police officers

excerpts below

A new police memo having to do with the number of stops officers are being asked to make has started raising eyebrows.

Kansas City Police Department officers are now required to conduct a certain number of stops during their shifts, according to a memo obtained this week by KCTV5 News.

KCPD Patrol Bureau Staff Meeting memo sent out on March 26 said that, effective Tuesday, patrol officers will be "expected to conduct two self-initiated events and one hazardous moving violation each work day."

"It screams that there is going to be a pressure on police officers to do more stops then are reasonably required in the course of their day," said Doug Bonney, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas.

Bonney says other cities, like New York City, have police stop quotas that have been challenged in court. He feels setting a number on police stops does more damage to civil rights than helps protect the community.

"If you have a well-trained and conscientious police force, you're going to protect the public. Imposing quotas will not do anything to protect the public," Bonney said.

The memo not only puts requirements on street officers but higher-ranking offers in command. This includes developing a "scorecard" that will be "readily available and observed by peers" when dealing with performance expectations.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

Memo reveals traffic stop quotas set for Kansas City police officers

excerpts below

All police departments have quotas (they usually just don't write them down). If revenue is down or crime is up, city councils talk to their contact with the PD and then the brass get the rank and file on the job.

KCPD has had unofficial quotas for decades (my mom is a civilian employee and has been since the early 80's).

[planetdoc]

Originally Posted by KC native

All police departments have quotas (they usually just don't write them down). If revenue is down...

Law enforcement should not have an incentive to generate revenue.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

Law enforcement should not have an incentive to generate revenue.

You're preaching to the choir here.

Unfortunately, city governments that don't want to set proper taxation policies or keep spending within tax collections are the cause of these problems.

[planetdoc]

Veteran KC officer, accused of forcing women to have sex, found guilty

A veteran Kansas City police officer who was accused of forcing two women to have sex with him was found guilty of acceding to corruption Friday.

The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office said a jury found Jeffrey Holmes guilty of a single count of acceding to corruption and sentenced him to 15 days in jail and a fine.

[CoMoChief]

honest question how to police protect the public?