Rise of the Warrior Cop

by Radley Balko

  55. The Berti narrative is from Wally Lee, “Secrecy Shrouds Sunday Killing,” Eureka Times-Standard, October 5, 1970; “Justice Has Berti Probe,” Eureka Times-Standard, November 20, 1970; and Ezsterhas, “Death in the Wilderness.”

  56. Quoted in Ezsterhas, “Death in the Wilderness.”

  57. Ibid.

  58. Ibid.

  59. Richard Harris, “Agent Arraigned Here for Murder,” Eureka Times-Standard, January 17, 1973.

  60. Richard Harris, “Narcotics Agent’s Case Opens Here Monday,” Eureka Times-Standard, February 4, 1973.

  61. James R. McKittrick, letter to the editor, Eureka Times-Standard, February 12, 1973.

  62. Clifton v. Cox 549 F.2d 722 (1977).

  63. The raid narratives and quotes are from Andrew H. Malcolm, “Drug Raids Terrorize 2 Families—by Mistake,” New York Times, April 29, 1973; and Epstein, Agency of Fear, “Prologue.”

  64. Epstein, Agency of Fear, pp. 221–224.

  65. Interview with Egil “Bud” Krogh Jr., from Drug Wars, PBS Frontline, 2000, transcript available at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/interviews/krogh.html (accessed October 10, 2012).

  66. “Agents Suspended After Erroneous Raid in Illinois,” Associated Press, May 2, 1973.

  67. “No-Knock Law Backfires in Illinois Drug Raids,” Baltimore Afro-American, May 18, 1973.

  68. Epstein, “Prologue,” pp. 17–22; “Third Mistaken Drug Raid Suit Filed,” Associated Press, July 12, 1973.

  69. “Agents Indicted for No-Knock Raids,” Associated Press, August 25, 1973.

  70. Andrew H. Malcolm, “Violent Drug Raids Against the Innocent Found Widespread,” New York Times, June 25, 1973.

  71. Michael J. Sniffen, “Knock at Door Strikes Terror into These Families,” Associated Press, June 26, 1973.

  72. Ibid.

  73. Malcolm, “Violent Drug Raids.”

  74. “Drug Aide Chary on Curbing Raids,” New York Times, July 6, 1973.

  75. US Drug Enforcement Administration, “In Depth History: 1970–1975,” available at: http://www.justice.gov/dea/about/history.shtml (accessed October 15, 2012).

  76. Linda Charlton, “‘No-Knock’ Drug Raids Curbed Under New Federal Chief,” New York Times, July 17, 1973; “DEA Stiffens Regulations on No-Knock Drug Raids,” Associated Press, July 17, 1973.

  77. Quoted in Andrew H. Malcolm, “Drug Law Change Sought by Percy,” New York Times, November 4, 1973.

  78. “Senate Votes to Repeal No-Knock Drug Rule,” United Press International, July 12, 1974.

  79. “Ford Signs Repeal of ‘No-Knock’ Law,” United Press International, October 29, 1974.

  80. Interview with Krogh, Drug Wars, PBS Frontline.

  81. Donald Santarelli, interview with the author, August 2012.

  82. The narrative of the SLA shoot-out is taken from Chris McNab, Deadly Force: Firearms and American Law Enforcement (Westminster, MD: Osprey Publishing, 2009), pp. 122–126; Jon Nordheimer, “Los Angeles Will Pay for Damage in Its Raid on SLA,” New York Times, May 23, 1974; “Shootout Report Quotes Death Threat,” Associated Press, July 20, 1974; Jon Nordheimer, “Coroner Reconstructs Terrorists’ Deaths,” New York Times, May 24, 1974; and Gates, Chief, pp. 150–159.

  83. Ibid., pp. 154–155 (emphasis added).

  84. McNab, Deadly Force, p. 126.

  85. Gates, Chief, p. 159.

  86. Jon Nordheimer, “Tough Elite Police Units Useful but Controversial, New York Times, July 14, 1975.

  87. Ibid.

  88. Russell Jones, interview with the author, August 2012. See also Jones’s book, Honorable Intentions (self-published, 2012), available at: http://www.honorable-intentions.com.

  89. Ervin, Preserving the Constitution, p. 291.

  90. Baum, Smoke and Mirrors, pp. 69–71; Jon Nordheimer, “Tough Elite Police Unites Useful but Controversial, The New York Times, July 14, 1975; “DEA History in Depth, 1975–1980,” Drug Enforcement Administration, available at: http://www.justice.gov/dea/about/history/1975–1980.pdf; “Summary of Findings from the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse,” Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, DHHS Publication No. SMA 99–3328, 1999; Andrew Malcolm, “Violent Drug Raids Against the Innocent Found Widespread,” The New York Times, June 25, 1973.

  Chapter 6: The 1980s—Us and Them

  1. Drug Policy Foundation, “Policy Briefs: Asset Forfeiture,” 1999, p. 3, available at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/Asset_Forfeiture_Briefing.pdf.

  2. Dan Baum, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure (Boston: Little, Brown, 1996), p. 38.

  3. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks Announcing Federal Initiatives Against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime,” October 14, 1982, available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=43127 (accessed October 20, 2012).

  4. Ibid.

  5. Baum, Smoke and Mirrors, pp. 171–173.

  6. Reagan, “Remarks Announcing Federal Initiatives Against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime.”

  7. Trebach, The Great Drug War, p.157.

  8. Baum, Smoke and Mirrors, p. 175.

  9. Philip Hager, “US Launches 50-State Drive on Marijuana,” Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1985; “Raid on Pot Fields/Eradication Program Called Biggest Ever in US,” Associated Press, August 5, 1985; “Officials Raid Marijuana Crops on US Land,” United Press International, August 6, 1985.

  10. Illinois v. Gates, 462 US 213 (1983).

  11. United States v. Leon, 468 US 897 (1984).

  12. Massachusetts v. Sheppard, 468 US 981 (1984).

  13. Segura v. United States, 468 US 796 (1984).

  14. Nix v. William, 467 US 431 (1984).

  15. Ray Raphael, Cash Crop: An American Dream (Caspar, CA: Ridge Times Press, 1985), p. 105.

  16. Daryl Gates, with Diane K. Shah, Chief: My Life in the LAPD (New York: Bantam, 1993), p. 322.

  17. Ibid., p. 323.

  18. Unless otherwise indicated, the Tommie DuBose narrative is from the author’s interviews with Norm Stamper, October 2012; Richard Serrano, “Police Ponder Changes in Tactics in Response to DuBose Slaying,” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1988; Richard Serrano, “DuBose Killing Justifiable, DA Inquiry Finds,” Los Angeles Times, June 21, 1988; Alan Abrahamson, “Southeast SD Man Was Slain by Police: City, Widow Reach Tentative Pact in DuBose Killing,” Los Angeles Times, July 27, 1989; and Richard Serrano, “Shooting by San Diego Police Officer His 3rd in 10 Years on Force,” Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1988.

  19. “7 Arrested in Raid Marred by Wrong Entry,” Associated Press, March 9, 1987; Marcos Breton, “Drug Raid at Wrong House Under Investigation by Police,” Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1987; John Dentinger, “Narc, Narc: Diary of Police Drug Raids on the Wrong Houses,” Playboy (April 1990).

  20. H. G. Reza, “Was Warrant Warranted? Raid Yields No Drugs, Leaves Family Fearful and Upset,” Los Angeles Times, September 8, 1989.

  21. Amy Wallace, “Drug Raiders Broke in Wrong Home, Police Say,” Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1990.

  22. Tony Perry, “Keeping Lid On in San Diego: Police: Department Reforms and a Resourceful Crisis Management Plan Are Credited with Maintaining Relative Calm After Verdicts in King Case,” Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1993.

  23. Ibid.

  24. Kristina Davis, “San Diego Boasts One of Nation’s Lowest Violent Crime Rates,” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 25, 2010.

  25. “San Diego Historical Crime Actuals, 1950–2011,” available at: http://www.sandiego.gov/police/pdf/crimeactuals.pdf (accessed October 22, 2012); see also Keegan Kyle, “How Crime’s Changed in San Diego: 12 Graphics,” Voice of San Diego, October 4, 2012, available at: http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/community/article_869cf294-0e6d-11e2-9072-0019bb2963f4.html (accessed October 22, 2012).

  26. See US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Table 302: Crimes and Crime Rates by Type of Offense: 1980 to 2008,” available at: http://www.census.gov/compendia/stata
b/2011/tables/11s0302.pdf (accessed October 20, 2012).

  27. “Gravely Ill, Atwater Offers Apology,” Associated Press, January 13, 1991.

  28. William Bennett, “Should Drugs Be Legalized?” Reader’s Digest (March 1990).

  29. The Bennett narrative is from Baum, Smoke and Mirrors, pp. 260–266.

  30. Ibid., p. 266. The Bennett quote also appears in his books Body Count: Moral Poverty . . . And How to Win America’s War Against Crime and Drugs (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), and The De-Valuing of America: The Fight for Our Culture and Our Children (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994).

  31. William Bennett, “The Top Drug Warrior Talks Tough,” Fortune, March 12, 1990.

  32. Larry King Live, CNN, June 15, 1989.

  33. Baum, Smoke and Mirrors, p. 280.

  34. Richard Morin, “Many in Poll Say Bush Plan Is Not Stringent Enough,” Washington Post, September 8, 1989.

  35. For a roundup of stories of DARE kids turning in their parents, see James Bovard, “DARE Scare: Turning Children into Informants?” Washington Post, January 29, 1994.

  36. Eric Slater and Sue Fox, “Ex-LAPD Chief Gates’ Son Arrested,” Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2004.

  37. “Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program,” Program Brief, Bureau of Justice Assistance, August 2002. (Available at: http://www.abtassociates.com/reports/byrne-formula.pdf). The grants are named for Edward Byrne, a New York City police officer slain by drug dealers. The grants grew out of a similar program established under the expansion of LEAA in 1968. The grants also fund a number of criminal justice programs other than drug policing and task forces.

  38. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joint Counterdrug Operations, Joint Publication 3-07.4 (2007).

  39 “President’s Anti-Drug Plan Already Embroiled in Dispute,” Associated Press, September 5, 1989.

  40. Robert Wagman, “Anti-Drug Plan Under Fire by Many” (syndicated column), December 6, 1989.

  41. Lynn Norment, “Charles Rangel: The Front-Line General in the War on Drugs,” Ebony (March 1989). The article also includes an amazing ad encouraging Ebony’s mostly black readership to apply for jobs as DEA agents. The ad features a short profile of DEA special agent Michele Leonhart, who would go on to head the agency under Presidents Bush and Obama.

  42. Tony Mauro, “The War on Drugs: Are Our Rights on the Line?” USA Today, November 15, 1989.

  43. Milton Friedman, “An Open Letter to Bill Bennett,” Wall Street Journal, September 7, 1989.

  44. Dentinger, “Narc, Narc: Diary of Police Drug Raids on the Wrong Houses.”

  45. Doris Sue Wong,” Judge Assails Policy on Gangs; Calls Police Searches Unconstitutional,” Boston Globe, September 20, 1989. See also: Peter S. Canellos, “Youths Decry Search Tactics,” Boston Globe, January 14, 1990.

  46. Mike Kataoka, “County settles with man in mistaken drug raid,” Riverside Press Enterprise, February 11, 1994.

  47. Lorine Harris v. Milton Grimes, 104 Cal. App. 4th 180 (2002). “News from Southern California,” Associated Press, June 1, 2004.

  48. Jeffrey Yorke, “Show of Force,” Washington Post, May 18, 1988.

  49. “Police Officer Shot to Death in Drug Raid,” Associated Press, September 1, 1988; Jeffrey Yorke, “A Show of Force; Pr. George’s Unit Strives to Dent Drug Traffic,” The Washington Post, May 19, 1988; “Drug Suspect WoundedBy Pr. George’s Police,” The Washington Post, October 28, 1982; James Rupert and Carlos Sanchez, “Pr. George’s Officer Shot in Drug Raid,” The Washington Post, September 1, 1988.

  50. Joseph F. Sullivan, “Police Gun’s Blast Kills Officer on a Drug Raid,” The New York Times, August 4, 1989.

  51. “Man Innocent of Police Murder During Drug Raid,” United Press International, August 17, 1989; Lynne Bumpus-Hooper, “DiGristine Sues Titusville Over Drug Raid,” Orlando Sentinel, February 15, 1990; Laurin Sellers, “Chase, No-Knock Rules for Police,” Orlando Sentinel, January 2, 1990.

  52. Francis P. Garland, “2 counties sued over Ripon truck stop slaying,” Modesto Bee, July 3, 1990; Stuart Gordon, “Shooting victim’s kin sues; Damages sought from owners of truck stop,” Modesto Bee, October 20, 1990; Frankie Garland, “Lawsuit Likely in Fatal Raid,” Modesto Bee, October 25, 1989; Michael Winters, “Raid’s Shock Still Felt,” Modesto Bee, February 15, 1994.

  53. Florida v. Riley, 488 US 445 (1989).

  54. George Orwell, 1984 (1949; reprint, New York: Penguin/Signet Classic, 1961), p. 2.

  55. The forfeiture figures are from Terrance G. Reed, “American Forfeiture Law: Property Owners Meet the Prosecutor,” Cato Policy Analysis 179 (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, September 29, 1992); the figures on SWAT teams are from Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units,” Social Problems 44 (1, February 1997); the figures on SWAT teams in smaller cities are from Peter Kraska and Louis Cubellis, “Militarizing Mayberry and Beyond: Making Sense of Paramilitary Policing,” Justice Quarterly 14 (4, December 1997).

  Chapter 7: The 1990s—It’s All About the Numbers

  1. James Bovard, “Flash. Bang. You’re Dead,” Playboy (March 1, 2000): 201.

  2. Tom Hundley, “US Drafts Military in Drug Battle,” Chicago Tribune, February 11, 1990.

  3. Brad Knickerbocker, “Military Drafted in Effort to Find, Eradicate American ‘Pot’ Growers,” Christian Science Monitor, August 27, 1990.

  4. Figures are from Herb Robinson, “Disturbing Duty for National Guard,” Seattle Times, August 6, 1990; and “Tackling Illegal Drugs,” The ONGuard (newspaper of the Army and Air National Guard) 22 (11, September 1993).

  5. John Painter Sr., “Police Launch Massive Drug Raid,” The Oregonian, July 22, 1989.

  6. Ann Everest, “Putting Dealers Out of Business,” The ONGuard 22 (11, September 1993).

  7. Michael Isikioff, “Interest in Grateful Dead Was Not Musical,” Washington Post, August 14, 1990.

  8. Jerry Harkavy, “BIDE Tactics Help Drive Marijuana Legalization Effort,” Associated Press, April 8, 1992.

  9. Ed Vaughn, “National Guard Involvement in the Drug War,” Justica (December 1992), quoted in Bovard, “Flash. Bang. You’re Dead,” p. 201.

  10. Bovard, “Flash. Bang. You’re Dead,” p. 201.

  11. The Donald Carlson narrative is taken from Carlson’s prepared testimony before the House Legislation and National Security Committee hearing, “Review of Federal Asset Forfeiture Program,” June 22, 1993; Bill Moushey, “The Damage of Lies,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 29, 1998; Phillip J. LaVelle, “Excesses Blamed in ‘Bad’ Raids,” San Diego Union-Tribune, December 13, 1992; and Valerie Alvord, “Drug Agents Say Informants Are an Essential Weapon in the War on Drugs,” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 29, 1995.

  12. Myron Orfield Jr., “The Exclusionary Rule in Chicago,” Search and Seizure Law Report 19 (December 1992): 9.

  13. Russell Jones, interview with the author, August 2012.

  14. Richard Van Duizend et al., “The Search Warrant Process: Preconceptions, Perceptions, Practices” (Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts, 1985), quoted in David E. Steinberg, “Zealous Officers and Neutral Magistrates: The Rhetoric of the Fourth Amendment,” Creighton Law Review 43 (June 2010): 1019.

  15. David Migoya, “Judges Rubber-Stamp No-Knocks; Easy Approval Among Flaws in Process, Records Show,” Denver Post, February 27, 2000.

  16. “Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department,” Warren Christopher, chairman (1991), available at: http://www.parc.info/client_files/Special%20Reports/1%20-%20Chistopher%20Commision.pdf (accessed October 10, 2012).

  17. The Gallup Organization, Inc., reprinted at Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online, “Respondents’ Perceptions of Police Brutality in Their Area” (table), available at: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t200012005.pdf (accessed October 10, 2012).

  18. Norm Stamper, Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Exposé of the Dark Side of American Poli
cing (New York: Nation Books, 2005), p. 162 (emphasis in original).

  19. The narrative of Norm Stamper’s demilitarization proposal in San Diego is from the author’s phone interviews with Stamper, September 2012, and from Stamper’s book, Breaking Rank, pp. 162–165.

  20. Tom Gabor, “Rethinking SWAT—Police Special Weapons and Tactical Units,” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (April 1993).

  21. Quoted in Steven Elbow, “Hooked on SWAT; Fueled with Drug Enforcement Money, Military-Style Police Teams Are Exploding in the Backwoods of Wisconsin,” Madison Capital Times, August 18, 2001.

  22. Timothy Egan, “Soldiers of the Drug War Remain on Duty,” New York Times, March 1, 1999.

  23. Christian Parenti, “SWAT Nation,” The Nation, May 31, 1999.

  24. New Haven Department of Police Service, “Crime Trends: 1990–2000: A Ten-Year Snapshot.” For a comparison with Connecticut crime rates, see US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Reported Crime in Connecticut.”

  25. Kit Miniclier, “Critics Say ‘No-Knocks’ Dangerous, Unnecessary,” Denver Post, January 27, 1995.

  26. Egan, “Soldiers of the Drug War Remain on Duty.”

  27. US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, “Department of Justice and Department of Defense Joint Technology Program: Second Anniversary Report” (February 1997).

  28. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New York: New Press, 2012), pp. 141–145.

  29. The ABC World News Tonight episode, which aired March 28, 1996, is summarized in Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units,” Social Problems 44 (1, February 1997).