by Radley Balko
30. 18 USC § 3109.
31. Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 US 927 (1995).
32. Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 US 385 (1997).
33. United States v. Ramirez, 523 US 65 (1998).
34. G. Gordon Liddy, The G. Gordon Liddy Show (syndicated radio program), August 26, 1994.
35. Ibid.
36. The Ruby Ridge narrative is from Alan W. Bock, Ambush at Ruby Ridge (New York: Berkley, 1996); and US Department of Justice, “Department of Justice Report Regarding Internal Investigation of Shootings at Ruby Ridge, Idaho During Arrest of Randy Weaver” (1996), redacted version available at: http://www.byington.org/carl/ruby/ruby1.htm (accessed October 30, 2012).
37. The Waco narrative is from Tim Lynch, “No Confidence: An Unofficial Account of the Waco Incident,” Cato Policy Analysis 395 (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, April 9, 2001); Bovard, “Flash. Bang. You’re Dead”; and David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman, No More Wacos: What’s Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997).
38. In their book No More Wacos, Dave Kopel and Paul Blackman document numerous other incidents of botched raids, excessive force, and abuse of citizens at the hands of the ATF.
39. The Elián González narrative is from Ed Vulliamy, “Elián González and the Cuban Crisis: Fallout from a Big Row over a Little Boy,” The Guardian, February 20, 2010; “The Elian Gonzalez Case,” PBS Newshour Online, articles and commentary available at: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/elian (accessed November 10, 2012).
40. Clarence Page, “Abuse by Immigration Agents Did Not Begin with Elian Case,” Chicago Tribune, May 16, 2000.
41. Quoted in Will Saletan, “The Elian Pictures,” Slate, April 25, 2000.
42. Ibid.
43. Unless otherwise noted, the Peter Kraska narrative and the SWAT figures are from Peter Kraska and Louis Cubellis, “Militarizing Mayberry and Beyond: Making Sense of American Paramilitary Policing,” Justice Quarterly 14 (4, December 1997); Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units,” Social Problems 44 (1, February 1997); Peter Kraska, “The Military-Criminal Justice Blur: An Introduction,” and “Playing War: Masculinity, Militarism, and Their Real-World Consequences,” both in Militarizing the American Justice System: The Changing Roles of the Armed Forces and the Police, ed. Peter Kraska (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2001); Peter Kraska, “Questioning the Militarization of US Police: Critical Versus Advocacy Scholarship,” Policing and Society 9 (1999): 141–155; and author conversations with Kraska.
44. 4 Logan Herald-Journal, April 23, 2006.
45. Peter B. Kraska and V. E. Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units,” Social Problems 13 (1997): 1–18.
46. Kraska and Cubellis, “Militarizing Mayberry and Beyond,” pp. 661–662.
47. Kraska, Militarizing the American Justice System, p. 12.
48. Megan Twohey, “SWATs Under Fire,” National Journal, January 1, 2000.
49. Neill Franklin, interview with the author, August 2012.
50. Stephen Downing, interview with the author, September 2012.
51. Ed Sanow, “Does SWAT Need to Be Explained?” Tactical Edge (September 2011).
52. Twohey, “SWATs Under Fire.”
53. Peter Kraska, “Playing War: Masculinity, Militarism, and Their Real-World Consequences,” in Militarizing the American Justice System: The Changing Roles of the Armed Forces and the Police, ed. Peter Kraska (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2001).
54. Author interviews with Franklin, Downing, and Haase, all conducted in August 2012.
55. Federal News Service, White House briefing news conference, December 30, 1996.
56. Peter McWilliams, “The DEA Wishes Me a Nice Day” (self-published), available at: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~wbova/fn/earth/2000_6_03.htm.
57. The McWilliams narrative is from R. W. Bradford, “The Life and Death of Peter McWilliams,” Liberty (August 2000); “Los Angeles Drug Case Bars Medical Marijuana Defense,” New York Times, November 7, 1999.
58. Paul Richmond, “True Stories from the Front Line,” PDXS, October 22, 1995.
59. Kraska and Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police,” p. 13.
60. Steven Elbow, “Military Muscle Comes to Mayberry; U.S. Donates Gear, Grenade Launchers,” Madison Capital Times, August 18, 2001.
61. John L. Worrall and Tomislav V. Kovandzic, “Cops Grants and Crime Revisited,” Criminology 45 (1, February 2007).
62. The McNamara narrative is taken from Julie Lew, “What’s Doing in San Jose?” New York Times, April 7, 1991; Peggy Y. Lee, “Violent Crime Up; Homicide Looms,” Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1991; Kathleen O’Toole, “Panelists Play Themselves in Fictitious Drug Raid,” Stanford Report, November 12, 1997; Joseph McNamara, “Changing Police Attitudes in the War on Drugs,” paper presented at the 37th International Congress on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, August 1995; various materials from the conference “Pragmatic Solutions to Urban Drug Problems,” Hoover Institution, November 6–7, 1997; and Joseph McNamara, interview with the author, August 2012.
63. The North Hollywood narrative is from Rick Orlov, “North Hollywood Shootout, 15 Years Later,” LA Daily News, February 27, 2012; 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out, directed by Yves Simoneau (2003); Peter Prengaman, “10th Anniversary of Infamous LA Shootout That Changed Policing,” Associated Press, February 28, 2007.
64. The Columbine narrative is from David Kopel, “Police Stood Idle,” New York Post, April 20, 2000; Bovard, “Flash. Bang. You’re Dead”; “What Really Happened at Columbine?” CBS News, 60 Minutes, April 29, 2009.
65. J. R. Clairborne, “Members Start Training, Learn New Jobs, Cross Train,” Ithaca Journal, March 15, 2000.
66. Scott Andron, “SWAT: Coming to a Town Near You? Academics Decry ‘Military’ Mind-set,” Miami Herald, May 20, 2002.
67. Seth Koenig, “Portland Police Get New Military Grade Armored Vehicle,” Bangor Daily News, June 7, 2012.
68. Leslie A. Maxwell, “School Shootings in Policy Spotlight,” Education Week, October 11, 2006.
69. Lauren Dunn, “UNC Charlotte SWAT Team—An Asset We Hope to Never Use,” NinerOnline, October 23, 2011.
70. Norm Stamper, interview with the author, August 2012.
71. Kopel and Blackman, No More Wacos; Kraska and Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police”; 2001 estimate from author interview with Kraska, March 2006; Kraska and Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police”; 2001 estimate from author interview with Kraska, March 2006; Edward Ericson Jr., “Commando Cops,” Orlando Weekly, May 7, 1998; Richmond, “True Stories from the Front Line”; Kraska and Cubellis, “Militarizing Mayberry and Beyond.”
Chapter 8: The 2000s—A Whole New War
1. Betty Taylor, interview with the author, September 2012.
2. William Rhodes, Christina Dyous, Meg Chapman, Michael Shively, Dana Hunt, Kristen Wheeler, “Evaluation of the Multijurisdictional Task Forces (MJTFs), Phase II: MJTF Performance Monitoring Guide, National Institute for Justice, February 2009.
3. For a thorough, well-reported account of the Tulia scandal, see Nate Blakeslee, Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town (New York: Public Affairs, 2006).
4. The Hearne narrative is from the author’s interviews with Regina Kelly and ACLU personnel who handled her case; Jay Jorden, “Seventeen Drug Cases Dismissed,” Associated Press, April 4, 2001; American Civil Liberties Union, “In Wake of ACLU Civil Rights Lawsuit Settlement, African Americans Affected by Texas Drug Task Force Scandal Call for Reconciliation at Town Meeting” (press release), June 2, 2005; Nathan Levy, “Bringing Justice to Hearne,” Texas Observer, April 29, 2005.
5. “As the Well Runs Dry, Texas Drug Task Forces Ride Off into the Sunset,” Drug War Chronicle, April 7, 2006.
6. Radley Balko, “Wrong Priorities,” FoxNews.com, April 7, 2008.
7. US D
epartment of Justice, “Overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” available at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/recovery.
8. The Sepulveda narrative is from Rebecca Trounson, “Deaths Raise Questions About SWAT Teams,” Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2000; Ty Phillips and Michael G. Mooney, “How Did the Gun Go Off? Police Report Fails to Answer Question in SWAT Shooting of Alberto Sepulveda,” Modesto Bee, January 11, 2001; Michael G. Mooney, “Boy’s Death Costs Modesto $2.55M,” Modesto Bee, June 20, 2002; Rebecca Trounson, “Suit Could Put Limit on Use of SWAT Teams,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2001; and California Attorney General’s Commission on Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), “Final Report,” September 10, 2002.
9. The drug war–terrorism narrative is culled from Radley Balko, “The Drug War: Throwing Good Money at a Bad Idea,” FoxNews.com, February 28, 2002; “Thailand’s Drug War: Back on the Offensive,” The Economist, January 24, 2008; Ted Galen Carpenter, “How Washington Funded the Taliban,” Cato Institute, August 2, 2002; Dan Kovalik, “The US War for Drugs and of Terror in Columbia,” Huffington Post, February 16, 2012.
10. See Heidi Lypps, “Bush’s Crackdown on Medical Marijuana,” Counterpunch, September 17, 2002.
11. Mitch Albom, “A Serious Look at Wacky Weed and Suffering,” Detroit Free Press, September 22, 2002.
12. Louise Witt, “Bush’s Reefer Madness,” Salon, November 5, 2002.
13. Quoted in Lypps, “Bush’s Crackdown on Medical Marijuana.”
14. See Ronald T. Libby, “Treating Doctors as Drug Dealers: The DEA’s War on Prescription Painkillers,” Cato Policy Analysis 545 (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, June 6, 2005).
15. For examples of such raids, see Frank Owen, “The DEA’s War on Pain Doctors,” Village Voice, November 5–11, 2003; and Eric Fleischauer, “Physicians Casualties in the War on Drugs,” Decatur Daily News, October 27, 2003.
16. Keene-DHS narrative from author interviews and reporting and Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz, “Local Police Stockpile High-Tech, Combat-Ready Gear,” Center for Investigative Reporting, December 21, 2011.
17. Rob Golub, “City, Police Go on Trial for Response at 2002 Rave Party,” Racine Journal Times, January 10, 2005; “Stories from the Racine ‘Rave Raid,’” ACLU, January 17, 2003.
18. Glenn Reynolds, “Raving Lunacy,” FoxNews.com, July 25, 2002; Will Doig, “Chemical Warfare: The RAVE Act,” MetroWeekly, October 7, 2002.
19. Rashae Ophus Johnson, “Witnesses Say Undue Force Used at Rave,” Daily Herald, August 23, 2005; Michael N. Westley, “Police Raid Rave Party in Spanish Fork Canyon,” Salt Lake Tribune, December 14, 2005.
20. “Drug Raid at SC High School,” CBSNews.com, November 7, 2003; “Principal at Drug Raid School Resigns,” CNN.com, January 5, 2004; Tony Bartelme, “Raid Settlement Gets Initial OK,” Charleston Post and Courier, April 5, 2006.
21. “Profile of Le’Quan Simpson,” ACLU, December 15, 2003.
22. John Stevenson, “All Cheek Road Drug Raid Charges Dropped,” Durham Herald-Sun, July 13, 2002.
23. Maki Becker, “How Effective Is the Drug War?” Buffalo News, May 24, 2006; Vanessa Thomas and T. J. Pignataro, “Three Days of Secret Police Drug Raids Bring 78 Arrests Throughout City,” Buffalo News, April 21, 2006; “Giambra Suggests Discussion on Legalizing Drugs,” WBEN News, April 19, 2006.
24. United States v. Banks, 540 US 31 (2003).
25. Hudson v. Michigan, 547 US 586 (2006).
26. Samuel Walker, Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice, 1950–1990 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 51.
27. Samuel Walker, “Thanks for Nothing, Nino,” Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2006.
28. Commonwealth v. King, 302 S. W. 3d 649, 653 (2010).
29. Kentucky v. King, 131 S.Ct. 1849 (2011).
30. Ibid., Ginsberg dissent.
31. “Brooklyn Couple Haunted by More Than 50 False NYPD Raids Want Answers,” New York Daily News, April 18, 2010.
32. Jim Dwyer, “Police Raid Gone Awry: A Muddled Path to the Wrong Door,” New York Times, June 29, 2003.
33. Rivka Gewirtz Little, “More NYPD No-Knocks; New Yorkers Tell Their Tales of Botched Raids,” Village Voice, June 18–24, 2003.
34. Rivka Gewirtz Little, “More NYPD No-Knocks; New Yorkers Tell Their Tales of Botched Raids,” Village Voice, June 18–24, 2003.
35. The Martins narrative is from John Lauinger, “Brooklyn Couple Haunted by More Than 50 False NYPD Raids Want Answers,” New York Daily News, April 18, 2010; Kate Nocera and John Lauinger, “Computer Snafu Is Behind at Least 50 ‘Raids’ on Brooklyn Couple’s Home,” New York Daily News, March 19, 2010.
36. See Radley Balko and Joel Berger, “Wrong Door,” Wall Street Journal, September 2, 2006.
37. Robert F. Moore, “Cops Smash Wrong Door—$2G Missing,” New York Daily News, May 20, 2007.
38. The Spruill narrative is from Austin Fenner, Maki Becker, and Michelle McPhee, “Cops’ Tragic Grenade Raid; Storm Wrong Apt., Woman Dies,” New York Daily News, May 17, 2003; William K. Rashbaum, “Report by Police Outlines Mistakes in Ill-Fated Raid,” New York Times, May 31, 2003; Fernanda Santos and Patrice O’Shaughnessy, “Snitch Had Shaky Rep,” New York Daily News, May 18, 2003; Leonard Levitt, “Focus on Kelly, Race After Raid,” Newsday, May 19, 2003; Graham Rayman, “Tracking Errors; Board Asked to Focus on Wrong-Door Raids,” Newsday, June 12, 2003; Karen Freifeld, “Warrant Policy Under Scrutiny; Spruill Raid Prompts Record-Keeping Review,” Newsday, June 4, 2003; “Judge Keeps Documents Sealed in Fatal Police-Raid Case,” Associated Press, June 11, 2003; Karen Freifeld, “Media Denied Spruill Info,” Newsday, June 11, 2003; Al Guart, “‘Spruill Effect’ on Drug Busts,” New York Post, January 25, 2005; Graham Rayman, “Cops in the Clear: Board Policy Absolves Police in Bad Raids,” Newsday, June 9, 2003; Barbara Ross, “Judges to Be Tutored on Drug Warrants,” New York Daily News, August 6, 2003; Larry Celona, “NYPD Brass Back to School,” New York Post, October 13, 2003; Florence L. Fincle, executive director, New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, “Police Recommendations Memorandum: Recommendations That the New York City Police Department Develop a Database to Track Search Warrant Executions,” New York City, January 2003; C. Virginia Fields, “Report and Recommendations on the Execution of No-Knock Warrants: In the Aftermath of the Death of Alberta Spruill,” Office of Manhattan Borough, June 2003; and Andrew Case, director of communications, New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, interview with the author, December 2005.
39. Christopher Koper, “An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994–2003,” Report to the National Institute of Justice (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, 2004).
40. Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Selected Findings,” in US Department of Justice, “Guns Used in Crime” (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, July 1995).
41. Edie Gross, “SWAT: ‘Be Safe, Be Strong, Be Mean!’” Palm Beach Post, June 8, 1997.
42. Edward Ericson Jr., “Commando Cops,” Orlando Weekly, May 7, 1998.
43. David Doddridge, interview with the author, August 2007.
44. Eric Morgan and David Kopel, “The Assault Weapon Panic: ‘Political Correctness’ Takes Aim at the Constitution,” Paper 1291 (Denver, CO: Independence Institute, October 10, 1991).
45. Joseph McNamara, “50 Shots,” Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2006.
46. Fox Butterfield, “When the Police Shoot, Who’s Counting,” New York Times, April 29, 2001.
47. Ibid.
48. Alan Maimon, “National Data on Shootings by Police Not Collected,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 28, 2011.
49. Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost, “FBI Agents Speak Out on Injuries from Faulty Grenades,” CNN.com, November 17, 2008.
50. “NC SWAT Officer Killed at Home by Flash Bang,” WSOC-TV, February 26, 2011.
51. Lou Michel, “FBI Agent Remains Hospitalized,” Buffalo News, December 7, 2001.
52. Clay Conrad, interview with the author, February 2010.
53. Carol Comegno, “Judge: ‘Flash Bang’ Grenade Unnecessary,” Courier-Post, August 28, 2008.
54. Zach Benoit, “Grenade Burns Sleeping Girl as SWAT Team Raids Billings Home,” October 12, 2012.
55. Mara H. Gottfried, “St. Paul to Pay Record-Tying $400K in Police Violence Case,” St. Paul Pioneer-Press, November 6, 2012.
56. Donald E. Wilkes, “Explosive Dynamic Entry,” Flagpole, July 30, 2003.
57. Lenora Menai, “Rap Group Denounces Police Raid,” St. Petersburg Times, June 14, 2001.
58. Ric Kahn and Zachary R. Dowdy, “‘Iron Fist’ of Police; SWAT Team Use Questioned,” Boston Globe, May 11, 1998.
59. Joseph McNamara, interview with the author, August 2012.
60. Spradley v. State, 933 So.2d 51 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2d Dist. 2006).
61. For a list of such cases, see the page maintained by University of Georgia law professor Donald E. Wilkes Jr., “Explosive Dynamic Entry,” available at: http://www.law.uga.edu/dwilkes_more/46explosive.html.
62. Boyd v. Benton County, 374 F.3d 773 (2004).
63. The Culosi narrative is from author interviews, research of court documents and materials, and reporting.
64. Tim McGlone, “Beach SWAT Team Cleared in Shooting; Family Spokesman Cites Guard’s Dying Words, Says Report Contradictory,” Virginian-Pilot, November 13, 1998.
65. Justin Fenton, “Baltimore Co. Police Bust Illegal Poker Game in Edgemere,” Baltimore Sun, February 16, 2011.
66. Meg Kinnard, “Is It Skill or Gambling? Poker Players Watch as SC Judge Considers Legality of Texas Hold ’Em,” Associated Press, January 29, 2009.
67. “Texas Close ’Em,” Reason.tv, December 3, 2007.
68. Gene Smith, “Oh No! It’s a Raid!” Fayetteville Observer, April 7, 2007.
69. Radley Balko, “Poker Game Turns into Gunfight,” Reason.com, November 5, 2010; “73-Year-Old Sentenced for Poker Raid Shootout,” WYFF.com, October 25, 2011.
70. Jeff Weiner, “Criminal Barbering? Raids at Orange County Shops Lead to Arrests, Raise Questions,” Orlando Sentinel, January 4, 2013.