Overkill
(Liz-S looks over at a temporarily benevolent Old Jim. All photos Socotra).
Maybe slick streets this morning, inches of rain or wintry mix to come as we approach Turkey Day. I don’t have particular place to be, and will let the commute and commuters sort themselves out before I venture anywhere.
We were talking about that, and a bunch of other stuff, at Willow last night. The coming storm and the Holiday had everyone agog, but we edged around to the topic de jour on our way to something else. It was a Blue Ribbon cast at the Amen Corner. Jon-without and John-with were there, along with Old Jim, Chanteuse Mary, and both Jerrys- the senior executive and barrister versions.
Queen of the apex of the bar was Elizibeth-with-an-S, back from government travels as she continues to attempt to burrow into the government by leaping the great divide from “intern” to full-time public service.
Tracey O’Grady stopped by to say that things were nuts- they are expecting 310 people for Turkey dinner, up over a quarter reservations from last year’s record. John-with is in the counter-proliferation business, and he was in fine fettle:
“This is surreal,” he declared, “the whole thing, soup to nuts. Iran beating the hapless Kerry at the bargaining table, the shaming disaster of every policy attempted by the government, all based on frankly loony ideology that was- at least to my perception- discredited years ago both in theory and in practice in the places where it was imposed by force.”
“Well, here is what I think is nuts. If you read the story this morning I think we are in terra incognita. I was thinking about why Culpeper County needs night vision devices, grenade launchers and armored vehicles.”
“Yeah, real tongue in cheek,” growled old Jim, threatening to tell the story about how he met and wooed the lovely Chanteuse Mary.
“Yeah, it is faintly ridiculous that a country Sheriff would need an up-armor assault vehicle, but there are reasons, and I get them.” I took a deep and refreshing sip of the Happy Hour White. “There are meth labs out there on the peaceful lanes under the trees, and there are people who are mentally unstable and some of them armed. I get the whole thing, from the perspective of law enforcement. But like just about everything these days, there is something that is fundamentally lawless about our law-and-order society.”
Then we talked about the seasonal pace of the Choral Arts Society where SE Jerry sings, and the astonishing number of things that are happening at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Then, Jerry the Barrister ordered a filet mignon, devoured it in a couple deft attacks with knife and fork and swept out into the night, bound on some urgent personal business.
We hung out for a while, soaking in the companionship, and talking about the logistics of getting where we all needed to be for Turkey Day. One by one we slipped out into the chill dark, and we all made it home safely. I think. On return to the computer, I saw there was a note from a correspondent in Utah.
My pal is thoughtful, and a retired government official with decades of honorable service. “Here is Ogden this is a huge issue. The Ogden police department has royally screwed this up, with fatal consequences in the past 2 years. They are fully armed to the nth degree with SWAT weaponry and capability. But they lack common sense. They lack foresight. They have discarded past, cautious police practices and gone heavy with their sexy new capabilities. Examples… and you can verify by checking Google, or whatever:”
My eyes bugged out. I lived in Utah a long time ago, and remember the people of that little city are noted mostly for their industry and hard working nature.
“Police invade the wrong address in the dark of night (I’ve forgotten the reason for the raid). No door bell ringing or phone call… just an entry into the home. This woke up the husband/father (in his 30s), who creeps downstairs armed with a golf club. The police see him and shoot him dead, on the spot. And then later discover they had the wrong house. Innocent man. Family permanently robbed of father and husband. Wife and children witness the shooting. And we all know what a frightening weapon a golf club is.”
“Active duty Army member – in his 30s – takes leave from Ft Carson to return to Ogden to be with dying father. His father lingers – but is still terminal – and the enlisted member man did not want to return to Ft Carson until his father had exited this world, couldn’t get leave extended, so went AWOL … staying right here in Ogden, attending to his dying father. In the middle of the night, police SWAT team, looking to capture the AWOL Army grunt – armed with helmets, night goggles, full body amour and weapons to dazzle the gun-addicted person’s soul – invades a home in Ogden. Busts down the door. Terrorizes the family, consisting of husband, wife and young children, knocks the husband around and refuses to listen to man’s protestations of innocence. Causes all kinds of damage to home’s interior. Photos corroborated family’s story… along with photos of husband.”
“Turns out, police had wrong address. Again. The address, including the mortgage documents relating to this address, clearly showed that this family wasn’t the AWOL member’s family nor even remotely connected. Last names weren’t remotely similar. Granted, the abused family had just closed a month earlier on the house that they purchased from a distant relative of the AWOL member, but they were totally innocent. Police Department took a long time to apologize for that f— up, and it was a weak apology, at best. The family’s young children (all younger than 10 years old) were severely traumatized to witness all of this.”
“And, by the way, later, when the police did a much better job of coordinating with Ft Carson to get the details on the grunt’s Ogden location, they easily found him tending to his dying father, hanging out in the hospital/hospice (I can’t remember which). And the grunt never put up any resistance, difficulties, etc. at being “captured.”
“Matthew Stewart, a single, introspective man in his late 20s (we all learned this later when his journals were revealed) worked the night shift at Wal-Mart. From 11 p.m. – 7 a.m. He owned his own home. And, he liked pot, so he grew his own weed in his basement. He never sold it; it was not for profit. He gardened the pot for personal satisfaction and his own use. His journals were not subversive, terrorist, or anything alarming…. He was a young man pondering the meaning of life, his role in life… the kinds of things that many of us have wondered about. From the excerpts I read, I was very impressed with his ability to articulate deep thoughts. He was working on a BA a course-at-a-time.”
“In January, police storm his home at 8 p.m. The purpose of this storming was to shut down his “pot factory” which consisted of a total of 13 plants in the basement. That is it. Nothing more. Neighbors have all testified there was never a knock. Neighbors never saw “normal” police come to his house to question him prior to the home invasion. The storm troopers showed up – 12 of them – armed to the teeth, and they knocked down the door to his house and piled in. The house is dark. It’s 8 p.m. in January, when it’s dark outside. Matthew Stewart works the night shift, so he doesn’t get up until a little before 11 p.m. He’s asleep and is awakened by the commotion inside his home. No lights are on, and so he assumed he’s being robbed. Dressed in his underwear only, he grabs his gun and asks who’s there. Police admit they didn’t respond. So Matthew Stewart moves from his bedroom down the hall towards the living room and begins firing. All police fire back. It is a hailstorm of bullets flying everywhere. Blood is everywhere. Matthew is shot. Several police are shot. One policeman dies that night.”
“Matthew Stewart is arrested, and growing pot in his basement is now the least of his worries. His neighbors come to his defense, detailing what they observed in terms of police tactics that night, along with the lack of “normal” police visitation and questioning”.
“Matthew Stewart is kept in jail while the police mount a publicity campaign to malign this man. I’ve never seen anything like it. In the end, long before a trial could be held (that Matthew’s family was very optimistic about winning), Matthew Stewart hung himself in the Ogden City Jail”.
“I am appalled at the increasing militarization of our local police forces. I am appalled at their acquisition of such high tech, war-capable equipment and weapons. And I’m truly appalled at the failure to use normal, careful police investigation legwork, and hard detective work before resorting to this sexy new equipment. Here in Ogden, it’s clear to many of us that the local police force believes it is far better to shoot first and ask questions later.”
I wondered about the concentration of mistakes all happening in one relatively peaceful town in a placid state. I searched around to see how common the phenomenon might be. I think you will find this interactive map from the Cato Institute extracted from a larger report entitled “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.”
40,000 raids a year and dozens of deaths- many of them, like Ogden- on civilians who had nothing to do with the ostensible reason for the raids.
My irascible buddy Marlow has got the last word on this one. He wrote early, long before his first drink of the day, but maybe with his first fine Cuban cigar:
“These raid eff-ups are due in large part to a toxic mix of intel failure, poor ROE, lack of patience, pelt/arrest hunting PDs, dumbass conviction hungry & name making prosecutors, boys-n-their-toys issues and confiscation of assets by the cops. The post-911 drive to be safe sacrificed our freedom with easily predictable consequences like these.”
I nodded in agreement, looking at the words on the screen.
“I wonder when/if the people will rise up in revolt. Naaaah, we are looking for the next Miley Cyrus twerking scandal to get incensed over.”
“Perhaps AQ has spiked our water supply?”
Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303
