Scenes from a militarized America: Iowa family ‘terrorized’

[timsatx]

Watch this video, taken from a police raid in Des Moines, Iowa. Send it to some people. When critics (like me) warn about the dangers of police militarization, this is what we’re talking about. You’ll see the raid team, dressed in battle-dress uniforms, helmets and face-covering balaclava hoods take down the family’s door with a battering ram. You’ll see them storm the home with ballistics shields, guns at the ready. More troubling still, you’ll see not one but two officers attempt to prevent the family from having an independent record of the raid, one by destroying a surveillance camera, another by blocking another camera’s lens.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2014/02/04/scenes-from-a-militarized-america-iowa-family-terrorized/

[stevewfl]

yeah its going to get worse and worse

[gPink]

Homeland Security has been flooding local departments with money and military equipment for years. The leftists say I don't need a semi-auto rifle. What the hell does the local LE need an MRAP or APC for. Very disturbing and a threat to the very fabric of our Republic.

[Miss Silvera]

I think there are parts missing here......I read the story and there are things that don't add up....  I would venture a WAG that the people staying there are not on the good citizens list....

[Rhino]

I think there are parts missing here......I read the story and there are things that don't add up....  I would venture a WAG that the people staying there are not on the good citizens list....

I don't disagree, but unless they have reason to believe they are dangerous, do the knock, give them a chance to come outside and surrender. Otherwise show the judge why they believe the suspects are violent and dangerous and then get a "no knock" warrant. And what is up with covering the cameras? Police do not want to be on video. Well too bad. A free society and a government operating in the dark is not compatible.

[Pokey]

I am sure there is much more to the story, when will we ever learn that about the media?

[Canada-Dan]

A few points;
Disabling surveillance cameras is routine for a dynamic entry. It's called tactical advantage.
One make arrested for drugs and one armed with a hand gun...
Can anyone see why dynamic entry may have been considered ??
I have no opinion. Just input

Dan

[Son of Pappy]

While I am not happy at the militarization of our police forces, I am even more dismayed that it has come to this and often times, is the best course of action.  Just what is the # 1 reason why these kind of raids happen?  Drugs and all that fuels.

[Canada-Dan]

Exactly right SOP !
"Drugs and all that fuels" gobbles up huge resources and tax dollars
The men and women (services of all levels) standing between the "drugs and all that fuels" and the good law biding citizens, MUST go home to their families at the end of their shift.
The good law biding citizens MUST stand behind those men and women who daily put themselves in harms way to keep them safe.
The end. 

Dan

[timsatx]

I think some of you are talking about generalities. In this case there were no known violent persons they were after. They were after someone that used stolen credit cards, hardly a violent crime that demands extreme measures. Not to mention the fact that the people they were after didn't even live there. And why block the camera inside the house? Well obviously that goes to the police not wanting to be filmed. If you are already inside the house then turning off or destroying the camera doesn't do anything towards warning people you are there.

The police nowadays feel they need to use SWAT tactics for virtually anything. I would dearly love to see them reigned in a bit.

[gPink]

Never happen. How can you run a police state if you put undo limitations on the police?

[Canada-Dan]

Timsatx,
Common practice to disable any and all surveillance cameras.  The camera goes to where with who watching? Tactical advantage MUST go to the good guys. 
No known violent persons ?? Obviously the police intell was correct because someone inside was arrested for Possession for the Purpose and another was armed at the time of the entry.
Does this come as a complete surprise and news flash to the naive and innocent normal law biding citizens ? Okay here's the news flash.... Criminals don't want to go to jail.....criminals are violent towards those whose duty it is to take them to jail.  Those individuals on illegal drugs are especially violent and unpredictable.
For that reason police use every advantage available to gain immediate tactical advantage. 
I never support nor condem actions caught on video when I don't know the whole story and we certainly don't know this entire story.  Some of what is depicted in this video is example of police acting swiftly to gain absolute tactical advantage. Anything less puts everyone, police, public, inside and outside the residence, in grave danger.
Your emergency services, at all levels, MUST win every engagement, every single time.

My 5 year old was at school on emergency services day when a police officer came to her class and asked everyone what they thought the job of a police officer was.
Without hesitation she held up her hand and said, "They run to danger to keep the bad people away from the good people"
That about sums it up

[Rhino]

Common practice to disable any and all surveillance cameras.

It's not just about real time surveillance. Try videoing police at a traffic stop and see what happens.

[Rhino]

Never happen. How can you run a police state if you put undo limitations on the police?

 

[Canada-Dan]

Video taping a traffic stop is an entirely different subject.  However; the act of snipping a quote and transplanting it out of context is a good example of the point I will make about that.
Criminals and the media like to capture quotes and use them out of context to portray the police in a bad light. Do you never watch Saturday Night Live and see quotes from Presidential speeches taken completely out of context ?? Hilliarious...not so funny in the form of a serious complaint
Tens of thousands of tax dollars are spent on false and/or completely fabricated complaints against police  often times complaints made for no greater reason than to get off on a ticket at a traffic stop. And to answer the next question.... News Flash... Yes it happens every single day. Now imagine what wild stories criminals cook up in an attempt to divert attention or seek revenge on a society that sends police to put him in jail to keep society safe. 
Would it surprise you to know that most major police forces record audio and/or video every interaction between police and public. This can be done by any number of recording devices on the officer or in the car. The main role of this is to spoil false complaints   
And to answer the next question....Stand by for another News Flash...police services don't release the results, names and details of the thousands of false complaints because its thought to discourage good law abiding citizens from making valid complaints.   
How many times have you seen front page wild allegations against police..... But no one ever pays attention months later to page 45 in the paper which states that the officer had been cleared of that complaint with no reason given.
I for one am very happy to be searched and scrutinized going through air port security. It just tells me that someone is taking my safety and security seriously. I'm always puzzled when normal innocent law abiding citizens feel they need to protect themselves from the very men and women who they pay to protect them. 
Lt Col Dave Grossman speaks on the idea of society being not unlike a flock of innocent sheep while the bad guys amoung us are like the wolves wanting to prey on the sheep.  Then there are the sheep dogs. The sheep hate and detest those sheep dogs because they keep the sheep in line and nip at them now and then.  But by God when the wolves come hunting those sheep do they love the sheep dogs who come to their rescue every time.
I encourage anyone who questions their emergency services or military to YouTube even a few of the many lectures by Lt Col Grossman 
 He talks about every living creature on the planet having the sense and survival skills to duck, cover and run from the gun shots and monsters.  Except your police and military.  They run to the sounds of those gun shots and they run to engage those monsters to keep you safe
Sounds a lot like how my 5 year put it doesn't it really ??

[Miss Silvera]

When needed, the police are just minutes away...when seconds count.....  

I'm trying real hard not to interject my comments into this...as now a "civilian" I "don't do that anymore"......

As a inside view looking out......based on the info....Much more we don't know....of course as I said  in a earlier post.  As far as the cameras, I would probably cover them or push them out of the way if I felt threatened.....I would not destroy them unless absolutely necessary.   

There are NO SUCH things as NO KNOCK WARRANTS! PERIOD.    They are actually "Discretionary " warrants and....not a written rule but in high risk SW's it may give cause to knock a little softer.     Remember that the Amendment is.... Unreasonable search and seizure....and then the "rules" that go with that....so what is unreasonable is to be defined and subject to change as you arrive.....honestly in  my career, there was never a No Knock warrant....we ALWAYS knocked (in some manner).   SW's have to be signed by a judge that is aware of the exigent circumstances of the danger and the danger to everyone, LE's and residents AND the surrounding area.  Some states/locals have a strict "wait period" and   those are very tense seconds when you are basically telling the bad guys...."we are here, get you gun"

A noticeable trend too is that there are fewer and fewer "cops" who were prior military and as such...I tend to see them wanting to be more militarized ..(depending on the agency too)....I know there are advantages to the look, equipment, tactics, and presence, but I do think it is carried a little far sometimes....BUT with that said...look at the availability of equipment to ANYONE with a credit card.......makes you think.

It's better to have it and not need it than that in reverse......

For some reason that agency felt it necessary to do the dynamic entry as they did.....justified?? Who knows....Which none of this is known by the information given in this story.

I DO believe that there are many times that SW's are served with a lot of police presence and show of force when they could go "reluctant" and carry out the same mission.....I would much rather make the contact to that person(s) on the street in a non threatening place/situation,  than to wake them in their crib.

My final thought is...if the po-po crashed in on me  my first thought other than taking armed cover would be WHY!....I KNOW I haven't done anything for them to be serving ANY kind of a warrant....I would probably be going into a VERY defensive reaction.

[Canada-Dan]

Miss Silvera,
We are not very good at not intervening sometimes are we

I'm done now.

Dan

[Miss Silvera]

Miss Silvera,
We are not very good at not intervening sometimes are we

I'm done now.

Dan

adrenaline baby,   adrenaline!   

[Canada-Dan]

I'm just coming off of 7 midnights in a row and a little bit testy hahahaha

[Rhino]

My final thought is...if the po-po crashed in on me  my first thought other than taking armed cover would be WHY!....I KNOW I haven't done anything for them to be serving ANY kind of a warrant....I would probably be going into a VERY defensive reaction.

Exactly my point. Anyone crashes into my house I'm going to defend myself. If it's the police I'm going to loose and probably be dead. If the police for any reason rings my door bell and announces themselves, I'm going to come out un-armed with hands in plain sight and talk it over.