Saturday, May 05, 2007

The War on Drugs is War Against American People

From the Cato Institute's report on "Botched Paramilitary Police Raids:"

"The proliferation of SWAT teams, police militarization, and the Drug War have given rise to a dramatic increase in the number of "no-knock" or "quick-knock" raids on suspected drug offenders. Because these raids are often conducted based on tips from notoriously unreliable confidential informants, police sometimes conduct SWAT-style raids on the wrong home, or on the homes of nonviolent, misdemeanor drug users. Such highly-volatile, overly confrontational tactics are bad enough when no one is hurt -- it's difficult to imagine the terror an innocent suspect or family faces when a SWAT team mistakenly breaks down their door in the middle of the night.

But even more disturbing are the number of times such "wrong door" raids unnecessarily lead to the injury or death of suspects, bystanders, and police officers. Defenders of SWAT teams and paramilitary tactics say such incidents are isolated and rare. The map above (click to enlarge) aims to refute that notion."

For more on this topic, read the Reason Magazine article "Atlanta Police Nearly Killed 80-Year Old Woman--Two Months Before Kathryn Johnston."

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