Video of SWAT raid

[iago]

http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/05/video-of-swat-raid-on-missouri

Absolutely horrible.

The cops busted down the door, shot the dog, and arrested the parents (in front of a 7-year-old child), and the parents had a small amount of marijuana. Then they charged the parents with "child endangerment" -- I'm sure what the police did was about 1000x more endangering than having a small amount of marijuana.

I'm glad the father was smart enough to say nothing and immediately ask for an lawyer, refusing to answer any questions. Good move there.

[rabbit]

-.-

I thought Obama stopped the DEA from shutting down marijuana dispensaries...and yet cops are raiding casual users with a SWAT team?  Ridiculous.

[Furious]

http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/05/video-of-swat-raid-on-missouri

Absolutely horrible.

The cops busted down the door, shot the dog, and arrested the parents (in front of a 7-year-old child), and the parents had a small amount of marijuana. Then they charged the parents with "child endangerment" -- I'm sure what the police did was about 1000x more endangering than having a small amount of marijuana.

I'm glad the father was smart enough to say nothing and immediately ask for an lawyer, refusing to answer any questions. Good move there.

They knocked on the door for ~10s, no response.  They weren't quiet.  They don't show the dog doing anything, but you don't know that it wasn't being hostile ( all you can hear is barking ).  The kid was in the bedroom and the dog was on the opposite side of the house.  I don't think the dad saying "fuck" 100 times was any better than the officers being loud.  They don't show anyone being arrested in front of the child ( he's near the front door and dad is down the hallway, you can hear an officer outside asking if she has a coat anywhere so I doubt she's still inside with the kid ).  Seems like there are a lot of assumptions.  And yes, getting high is endangering your child as much as getting drunk is, go be a hippie somewhere else?

Moral of the story:  Don't do illegal things and you won't get in trouble?

[Joe]

And yes, getting high is endangering your child as much as getting drunk is

No. Also, I'd like to see a SWAT team arrest a father who has beer in the house.

[Blaze]

And yes, getting high is endangering your child as much as getting drunk is

People need to do something more than just getting drunk to be 'endangering your child', why is it not the same for drugs, if they're equally as endangering?

I disagree why drugs were banned.  I don't do drugs, either, before you go pull that card.  

This is an issue of stupid double standards that don't make sense and waste a lot of money, gets too many people killed and is just a waste of time overall.

[iago]

They knocked on the door for ~10s, no response.  They weren't quiet.

It was the middle of the night, I sure as hell don't answer my door in 10 seconds at that time. If they WERE awake, the cops never would have found any drugs.

They don't show the dog doing anything, but you don't know that it wasn't being hostile ( all you can hear is barking ).

Perhaps, but the father asked, over and over, why they killed his dog and kept saying it was a nice dog. He likely would have been less surprised if it was known to be mean.

Of course, a group of men busting into the house is the kind of thing that'll freak out most dogs, who tend to be territorial, so who knows?

The kid was in the bedroom and the dog was on the opposite side of the house.

There's no evidence to support that.

I don't think the dad saying "fuck" 100 times was any better than the officers being loud.

Nobody said anything about the officers being loud. Nor do I blame the guy for being pissed off.

They don't show anyone being arrested in front of the child ( he's near the front door and dad is down the hallway, you can hear an officer outside asking if she has a coat anywhere so I doubt she's still inside with the kid ).

The difference between the official "you're under arrest" and the officers busting down the door and shooting a family pet is pretty fuzzy. Even if the actual official "arrest" didn't happen in front of the kid, it's still a rough situation for him.

Seems like there are a lot of assumptions.  And yes, getting high is endangering your child as much as getting drunk is, go be a hippie somewhere else?

The other responses about this were good, but something to add: they didn't say anything about whether they were using the marijuana in front of the child. Maybe they WERE going somewhere else?

Moral of the story:  Don't do illegal things and you won't get in trouble?

There's a huge gap between "getting in trouble" and what happened here (and, apparently, happens to 150+ American families every day).

[deadly7]

Moral of the story:  Don't do illegal things and you won't get in trouble?

Okay. I'll make sure the cops bust down your front door in the middle of the night and shoot your pet in earshot of your daughter because you pirated Miley Cyrus' latest album.

[Furious]

And yes, getting high is endangering your child as much as getting drunk is

No. Also, I'd like to see a SWAT team arrest a father who has beer in the house.

Yes.  Aside from the fact that marijuana is illegal and beer isn't.

And yes, getting high is endangering your child as much as getting drunk is

People need to do something more than just getting drunk to be 'endangering your child', why is it not the same for drugs, if they're equally as endangering?

I disagree why drugs were banned.  I don't do drugs, either, before you go pull that card.  

This is an issue of stupid double standards that don't make sense and waste a lot of money, gets too many people killed and is just a waste of time overall.

It's irrelevant as to why they're banned.  It's obviously for more than the average drug user/desk jockey would notice/know.  I'm glad [insert person's name] hasn't killed someone or done something
incredibly stupid while (s)he was high, but that's not the point.  They're illegal for a reason - the only people who say they should be legalized and have no real negative effects are the people who use or the people who think that they legally deserve to do them if they wanted to.

Personally.  I did my whole pot / drinking stage in high school, I grew out of it.  People should do the same.

@iago because I don't feel like re-quoting everything:

- Pretty sure if you watch the video again you'll notice a guy walk off to the left of the living room ( which I assume is the kitchen ) and you hear the shots and the dog whine.  The kid was pulled out from the same direction the father was to the right and around the corner ( which I'll assume is where the bedrooms are ).

- If I heard someone beating and yelling on my door in the middle of the night I'd be up in a heartbeat and prepared to smack the shit out of someone.  In his case, they were yelling that they were the police, pretty sure again that I'd have been moving fast.  I know that when I hear my daughter cry in the middle of the night I'm in her bedroom across the hall within ~10s.  Maybe that's what parents who don't get high are like?

- Again, the whole shooting of the family pet.  Whether the dog is friendly to the family or not is irrelevant.  The officers aren't family ( I know several dogs like this - doesn't help that it's an aggressive breed ) and it's a bit of a pain in the ass to subdue a dog in general, feel free to try and wrestle a pitbull to the ground without getting injured.

- I don't see *much* wrong with what happened.  The dog got shot, but again that could be cased as self defense.  They busted down the door when he didn't say anything or get to the door. ( it was exactly 10s btw ).  And what conspiracy site are you pulling your numbers off of?

[Furious]

Moral of the story:  Don't do illegal things and you won't get in trouble?

Okay. I'll make sure the cops bust down your front door in the middle of the night and shoot your pet in earshot of your daughter because you pirated Miley Cyrus' latest album.

I don't pirate anything.  Again, illegal activities and all.

[Joe]

Moral of the story:  Don't do illegal things and you won't get in trouble?

Okay. I'll make sure the cops bust down your front door in the middle of the night and shoot your pet in earshot of your daughter because you pirated Miley Cyrus' latest album.

I don't pirate anything.  Again, illegal activities and all.

But you do go 56 in a 55 zone, right?

[iago]

And what conspiracy site are you pulling your numbers off of?

The page I linked to (I guess you didn't read the context?) -- it has a reference to another site, which contains a 100+ page research paper, complete with piles of references and everything.

I have no plans on reading the paper, though, but if you do let me know how it goes.

[rabbit]

[snip] I'm glad [insert person's name] hasn't killed someone or done something incredibly stupid while (s)he was high, but that's not the point.

You said you've had experience with marijuana...and yet this statement makes me think you haven't.

They're illegal for a reason

Not any good ones

the only people who say they should be legalized and have no real negative effects are the people who use or the people who think that they legally deserve to do them if they wanted to.

Quite a large generalization there.  And it sounds to me like you have no idea what you're talking about.  Please cite credible sources and research that conclusively shows any negative effects of marijuana.

[Joe]

Forgive me for being in the wrong decade to say what I'm about to say:

Marijuana, like OTC drugs, can be used as a medication, but are often used for recreational purposes. For example, my brother (who isn't the smartest person I know - quite the other side) often steals "cold cough and congestion" drugs from Walgreens because they get him high. People drink cough syrup because it gets them high. People drink so much cough syrup that they overdose and die. Please cite me one person who's died from marijuana overdose.

If medicine for chronic back pain (marijuana) is illegal, medicine for a simple sore throat should be too, considering the latter can be fatal and the former can't.

They're illegal for a reason

Not any good ones

QFT.

[iago]

So, some other details from another source I was reading:
o The dog was allegedly caged at the time (and the police said after that it was aggressive and "deserved" to be shot)
o No actual marijuana was recovered (only a pipe with resin)
o They weren't suspected of selling, only of possession -- does that seriously qualify for a raid in the US?

[rabbit]

o They weren't suspected of selling, only of possession -- does that seriously qualify for a raid in the US?

It's like a witch hunt down here.  Accusing someone is usually enough.