Police kill man with $2 of marijuana. Then lie to try and cover it up.

[Jimzz]

Police kill man with $2 of marijuana. Then lie to try and cover it up.
First it seemed like any other drug dealer busted and tried to shoot back and got killed. But a reporter looked into it and he found things that did not add up then the police started to change their story.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...laints-led-up-to-fatal-tampa-pot-raid/2187316


Then it comes out the informant did not say what they said he said, more lies from the police to make this big drug bust.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...blows-whistle-in-jason-westcott-death/2211596

 

[Blanky]

I'm sure the police involved will receive plenty of jail time as a warning to other cops to not do the same *laugh*.

These swat assaults on non-violent drug crimes are a terrible thing. Many innocent people are dying as a result of them.

 

[Smoblikat]

Typical shithole Amerika.

Nothing new.

 

[Genx87]

Isolated incident

 

[soulcougher73]

Administrative leave with pay.

 

[HomerJS]

no true bill

 

[Mai72]

I'm in fear of the police all the time. The way I'm looked as a criminal when I go to the store for a loaf of bread.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Would not happen in NYC.

 

[z1ggy]

This is why I don't leave my house anymore.

 

[senseamp]

Administrative leave with pay.

But if one of them gets killed, they want us to convict, give death penalty, hold a parade for the officer, and generally give a sh!t.

 

[Subyman]

The actual swat team isn't to blame. Its the informant and lead investigator that sent the team in on such bullshit information. They probably had to vacuum the floor to get that 0.2g of weed so they could all pat themselves on the back.

 

[OutHouse]

I'm so glad colorado made pot legal.

 

[BoberFett]

Fuck the pigs. Scumbags, every one.

 

[Jaskalas]

The actual swat team isn't to blame.

Yes they are!

Home invasions have to end. All they had to do was sit back, announce themselves, and wait for the guy to surrender. OR sit back and wait for him to leave his house to go do something.

A little patience and police wouldn't be killing innocent people all across this country. They are directly to blame!

Procedures and rules of engagement need to change. It should NOT be standard policy to bust in doors in the middle of the night. This country needs to riot until this policy changes.

 

[momeNt]

Yes they are!

Home invasions have to end. All they had to do was sit back, announce themselves, and wait for the guy to surrender. OR sit back and wait for him to leave his house to go do something.

A little patience and police wouldn't be killing innocent people all across this country. They are directly to blame!

Procedures and rules of engagement need to change. It should NOT be standard policy to bust in doors in the middle of the night. This country needs to riot until this policy changes.

Policy is to blame, I am not sure what started the dynamic entry and no-knock warrant arrests. My guess is that it was a rash of violent outcomes to old style warrant arrests where the cop and his partner would knock and serve the warrant.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Yay, The War on Drugs. Again.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Policy is to blame, I am not sure what started the dynamic entry and no-knock warrant arrests. My guess is that it was a rash of violent outcomes to old style warrant arrests where the cop and his partner would knock and serve the warrant.

Yes, policy, and Im sure politics, because to get even the smallest little thing fixed or changed is likely a monumental challenge.

It would probably be easier to design a new space shuttle than the untangle the web of power cockblockers that work very hard to ensure nothing ever gets done.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Just one bad apple...The Merg always said cops don't do this.

Anyway, the ATlanta Police Dept says Hi.

Kathryn Johnston (June 26, 1914 – November 21, 2006)[1] was an elderly Atlanta, Georgia, woman who was shot by undercover police officers in her home on Neal Street in northwest Atlanta on November 21, 2006, where she had lived for 17 years. Three officers had entered her home in what was later described as a 'botched' drug raid.[2][3][4] Officers cut off burglar bars and broke down her door using a no-knock warrant.[5] Police said Johnston fired at them and they fired in response; she fired one shot out the door over the officers' heads and they fired 39 shots, five or six of which hit her.[3][6] None of the officers were injured by her gunfire, but Johnston was killed by the officers. Police injuries were later attributed to "friendly fire" from each other's weapons.[2][3][6]

One of the officers planted marijuana in Johnston's house after the shooting.[7][8] Later investigations found that the paperwork stating that drugs present at Johnston's house, which had been the basis for the raid, had been falsified.[3] The officers later admitted to having lied when they submitted cocaine as evidence claiming that they had bought it at Johnston's house.[7] Three officers were tried for manslaughter and other charges surrounding falsification and were sentenced to ten, six, and five years.[3]

And don't forget the SWAT team that threw a flashbang into a crib severely burning the baby in it.

 

[Darwin333]

Another case of "officer safety" trumping public safety. Two shotgun slugs went through the exterior wall of the house and could have easily killed a neighbor. On top of that a kid died that didn't need to die if

All over some low level pot seller that they could have knocked on his door and he would have peacefully surrendered. People willing to shoot cops don't call the cops when one guy threatens to rob and kill him, a bigtime drug dealer willing to kill a cop would have been willing to kill that guy and damn sure doesn't want the cops involved in anything.

Stick a friggen unmarked car outside the house, wait for him to come out to go to work or buy some munchies and arrest him without issue. Instead they use the friggen swat team and someone loses their life, the first option is not only cheaper but a better use of resources. Hey, they got the toys and the officers got their adrenaline rush and that's what it's all about right....

 

[Darwin333]

Just one bad apple...The Merg always said cops don't do this.

Anyway, the ATlanta Police Dept says Hi.

Ten, six and five years for falsifying evidence leading to the raid, all kinfs of conspiracy charges, planting evidence after the raid and killing an innocent person.

People get five years for friggen possession of cocaine.

 

[Darwin333]

Policy is to blame, I am not sure what started the dynamic entry and no-knock warrant arrests. My guess is that it was a rash of violent outcomes to old style warrant arrests where the cop and his partner would knock and serve the warrant.

The recent trend of even small PDs forming SWAT teams and then needing to use them as justification for having them.

 

[Jerem]

The recent trend of even small PDs forming SWAT teams and then needing to use them as justification for having them.

Training in vacant buildings only goes so far. Need some real life training and what better than a couple guys selling nickel bags to their friends. Gotta justify all the government surplus hardware and vehicles too.

There was a case a while back where an old guy was killed with one of these warrants. First the police claimed he was in the hallway and when that was shown to be untrue they started changing stories. No drugs were ever found and the informant was never found either. Maybe somebody here remembers and can check on the outcome of that one

 

[Ns1]

this part angers me the most

She said the informer had a "track record" of success and "provided reliable information about dealers," a rare compliment for a snitch from a high-ranking law enforcement official.

After Coogle went to the FBI, however, Castor took a different view of the man whose truthfulness she had endorsed. "I don't believe him at all," she said.

In an interview with the Times several weeks after Coogle met with federal investigators, Castor and her chief spokeswoman, McElroy, savaged the credibility of their one-time "reliable informant." But only to a point.

They said they still believed the information he had fed to narcotics detectives about Westcott. They said it was only his recantation and accusations against his handlers that were untrue.

"You really think that this guy is in a position to question the integrity of police officers?" McElroy said. "A C.I.? Really? I mean, come on, C.I.'s are not upstanding citizens. It's a joke."

McElroy said Coogle's allegations were a routine instance of a snitch going south. She said detectives often have to part ways with informers, inherently unstable people who are usually drawn from the ranks of the criminals they help pursue.

"A C.I. is credible, and their information is verifiable, until they no longer are," McElroy said.

 

[Fern]

Meh. IDK. It says the cops knocked on his door and announced themselves. It was at 7:30 PM, no reason to think they were asleep at that hour.

Needs more facts. The boyfriend says they only sold a blunt here and there to friends. The article says the police drove the informant there to buy $20-60 of pot. Did the cop driving the informant there confiscate the pot? One would think so. A blunt shouldn't cost $20-60 (right?). Somebody ain't telling the truth.

The informant should have been the one shot.

Fern

 

[BoberFett]

The whole thing is a goddam joke. Too bad it's not funny.