The War on Drugs

[Moiraine]

I have purposely not delved into the full details of Breonna Taylor’s death but I watched a re-enactment video on it yesterday.

 

 

Quote

The police had been investigating two men who they believed were selling drugs out of a house that was far from Ms. Taylor’s home. But a judge had also signed a warrant allowing the police to search Ms. Taylor’s residence because the police said they believed that one of the men had used her apartment to receive packages. Ms. Taylor had been dating that man on and off for several years but had recently severed ties with him, according to her family’s lawyer.

 

Basically what happened for anyone who also doesn’t know a lot about it, is the police officers (there were several in the hallway and more outside) pounded on the door waiting for an answer. Breonna and her boyfriend yelled a couple times asking who it was and they were scared s#!tless and the police didn’t answer. Then the police broken down the front door with a battering ram. It was basically dark and the boyfriend fired one shot and hit an officer’s leg, then a couple officers fired about 15 shots and killed Breonna.

 

 

My reaction to the quoted paragraph, even ignoring that someone got killed, is... can’t we come up with a better way than this to combat drugs? Why do we send 10 armored men with battering rams and guns in the middle of the night because we think someone inside *might* receive drug shipments there? If you really stop and think about it, it’s crazy.

 

And ya, I know people kill each other over drugs, but I still don’t think this is the way to go about it. I don’t have an answer but this can’t be the best way. 

[Nebfanatic]

6 hours ago, Moiraine said:

 

And ya, I know people kill each other over drugs

Ever heard of Murder Point oysters? They are absolutely delicious, but there is a story behind the name. I won't delve too deeply but the moral of the story is people will kill each other over just about anything, especially if money is involved. 

[teachercd]

6 hours ago, Nebfanatic said:

Ever heard of Murder Point oysters? They are absolutely delicious, but there is a story behind the name. I won't delve too deeply but the moral of the story is people will kill each other over just about anything, especially if money is involved. 

I once killed a man just to watch him bleed. 

[knapplc]

Just imagine what could have been prevented if the police had gotten a similar warrant in 2019 after credible reports from the Nashville bomber's girlfriend & an attorney that he was building bombs.

 

Why didn't they get a warrant and knock his door down?

[DevoHusker]

1 hour ago, knapplc said:

Just imagine what could have been prevented if the police had gotten a similar warrant in 2019 after credible reports from the Nashville bomber's girlfriend & an attorney that he was building bombs.

 

Why didn't they get a warrant and knock his door down?

 

Likely would have ended up under ATF purview, but exactly right.

[Moiraine]

To add to what I said in the OP... I think if the police are going to do this kind of thing they should at the very least suspect the person they are going after has killed someone.

[BigRedBuster]

11 hours ago, Moiraine said:

To add to what I said in the OP... I think if the police are going to do this kind of thing they should at the very least suspect the person they are going after has killed someone.

So, if our local police know that a certain house is a meth lab and they are selling it to the local kids ruining lives.  They also know the residents are known to be somewhat violent....how do you suggest it's handled by the police?

[SECHusker]

On 12/31/2020 at 10:33 AM, BigRedBuster said:

So, if our local police know that a certain house is a meth lab and they are selling it to the local kids ruining lives.  They also know the residents are known to be somewhat violent....how do you suggest it's handled by the police?

 

Posession or even trafficking doesn't carry the death penalty in most states. So law enforcement should be extra cautious when they enter an unknown environment guns a blazing.

[Moiraine]

55 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

So, if our local police know that a certain house is a meth lab and they are selling it to the local kids ruining lives.  They also know the residents are known to be somewhat violent....how do you suggest it's handled by the police?

 

 

I’m saying in the post you’re quoting to only use the method they use if they suspect the person/people have killed someone. I’d be ok with changing that to attempted to kill someone or assaulted someone. The evidence should need to much stronger and the wrongdoing more nefarious before you send 10 guys with a battering ram in the middle of the night. That said, I’m not sure I understand the need to do it this way. It doesn’t seem like it’s safer for any parties involved. I’m guessing the logic is to try to catch the perps by surprise but I’d think that’d be more likely to lead to shooting, not less. 

[Archy1221]

18 hours ago, knapplc said:

Just imagine what could have been prevented if the police had gotten a similar warrant in 2019 after credible reports from the Nashville bomber's girlfriend & an attorney that he was building bombs.

 

Why didn't they get a warrant and knock his door down?

Good question. 

[deedsker]

 

Interesting persepective from an undercover cop. He was British, but I think he draws pretty good parallels.

[BigRedBuster]

15 hours ago, deedsker said:

 

Interesting persepective from an undercover cop. He was British, but I think he draws pretty good parallels.

Wow….