Whoops!
- The Cook County sheriff's police apologized Friday to an elderly couple hours after some two dozen gun-toting officers burst into their Southwest Side home late at night in a mistaken search for drugs and guns.
Anna Jakymec, 84, was just going to bed at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when the heavily armed officers broke through the back and front doors at their modest yellow-brick bungalow a few blocks east of Midway Airport. Her ailing husband, Andrij, 89, had already been in bed for hours.
It happens a couple of times a year nationwide. The best you can do is apologize, pay for the damages and hope it doesn't end badly like that one down south (Georgia maybe?), where the elderly female homeowner opened fire, wounding officers before being killed by return fire.
Labels: county
posted by SCC at 12:03 AM
27 Comments:
Hmmmmmm, I bet Rahm and Axelrod sent a phony informant to set the boys up to look like assholes......... anybody think the same?
Apology? I assume that an officer was detailed to guard the residence and protect the inhabitants until it could be made secure and the shattered doors replaced?
Seems only decent.
Seriously, you guys can't get a second opinion? Maybe a reverse look up? A phone call? Something more than the word of a GED challenged informant? For your own protection? Bush gave you a no knock warrant. A little due diligence seems to be in order here. Ooops doesn't cut it. Plus the unintended death of the old lady who was defending herself in Atlanta cost the city millions.
this was only less than one block from Beas condo
"It happens a couple of times a year nationwide. The best you can do is apologize, pay for the damages and hope it doesn't end badly like that one down south (Georgia maybe?), where the elderly female homeowner opened fire, wounding officers before being killed by return fire."
-----------------------------------You're not even NEAR the ballpark on that one, much less IN it.
1. It wasn't a "mistake". Officers lied to get a search warrant, based on the "testimony" of a nonexistent "informant".
2. The woman shot at the apparent home invaders, but didn't hit ANY of them. They shot EACH OTHER.
3. After having discovered that they'd murdered an innocent woman, they planted drugs in her home to cover up the crime. They then tried to suborn perjury from a REAL confidential informant who escaped and ratted them out.
4. Two of the three officers charged pled and are doing hard time. The third was convicted and is doing hard time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Johnston_shooting
It seems that you are letting the sheriff's police off too quickly. I do not know all of the facts, but when I was doing drug search warrents, the word of a " reliable confidential informant" was never enough. You had to verify this through surveillance or some other means. It does not seem that this was done in this case, although I could be wrong.
The incident of the homeowner returning fire adds a twist to the homeowners-with-guns debate. If the entering officers were not in recognizable uniforms (seems pretty likely; such teams dress more like modern-day ninjas) and it was at night and the woman was confronted with an apparent (to her) home invasion, was she justified in shooting at the police? Had she survived, should she be charged? Should the officers be charged with anything?
It does seem reasonable to at least check a tip before smashing in doors. Maybe someone needs to sign off on such raids whose ass in in a major sling if it turns out to be a mistake, as opposed to a passive voice "mistakes were made."
I am personally in favor of the right to have firearms in the home, but I don't know the answers to such questions.
It seems that you are letting the sheriff's police off too quickly. I do not know all of the facts, but when I was doing drug search warrents, the word of a " reliable confidential informant" was never enough. You had to verify this through surveillance or some other means. It does not seem that this was done in this case, although I could be wrong.
First of all learn how to spell warrant, and yes you are wrong, surveillance was done, for about 7 hrs.and everything that had to be checked was, It was just a bad address, it happens, nobody is perfect. Unless you work foe CPD I guess. May I AM WRONG.
That's what happens when you don't do your homework first when doing search warrants. That's what happens when you cut corners. That's what happens when your boss "demands" more search warrants for you and your team and pressures you to rush things. I've executed probably more than 500 search warrants in my career and I just don't do them anymore. Too much a pain in the ass. The G.O. is ridiculous and obviously written by somebody that has no clue. You can't get your signed up C.I.'s paid on time and when you do eventually get them paid, OCD wants to low ball them each and every time. The nimrods down at headquarters are never there either. They make their own hours. If your tour is on afternoons or midnights, their is nobody at OCD around to approve your C.I. payment. Swat or Canine must be called - yeah right. I'll just wait around 2-5 hours while they get around and show up. Swat, so they can drive by and take pre entry photo's of my target house and get busted and burn my SW. Asa's that have no clue when approving your warrant. They even want to burn your informant in the gutts of the warrant. No thanks - I'll stick to my on-views or hot calls.
Plus the unintended death of the old lady who was defending herself in Atlanta cost the city millions.
10/09/2010 04:42:00 AM
CCSP did a warrant in Atlanta? And Crook County had to pay out millions? That damned Stroger...
If the entering officers were not in recognizable uniforms (seems pretty likely; such teams dress more like modern-day ninjas) and it was at night and the woman was confronted with an apparent (to her) home invasion, was she justified in shooting at the police? Had she survived, should she be charged?
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I cannot envision any possible logic that would support charging an honest citizen for defending their home against what amounts to such a grave fuckup by cops. This is why the onus is on the police to do everything in their goddamned power to ensure this shit never, never, never happens.
Not "only happens once in a blue moon". Like, never.
If someone kicks in my door, they're getting shot 100% of the time. I don't care if they're wearing police uniforms with priest collars and tooth fairy wings. I'm a law abiding citizen, I have absolutely nothing illegal in my home and my reward for living this upright lifestyle is that I can safely presume anyone kicking in my door is coming to harm me and my family and summarily do everything in my power kill them dead.
What we have here is not a simple 'mistake'. It's gross negligence with potentially lethal consequences, no different than driving down a highway after having drank two bottles of whiskey.
But yeah. Charges should result here, just not against the person who didn't do anything wrong.
It happens a whole lot more than a couple of times a year.
Happens damn near daily somewhere in the U.S.
This guy is a libertarian who skewers politicians, prosecutors, and cops from a libertarian perspective. He particularly skewers prosecutors who continually use discredited forensic experts. Guys like "bite mark" experts.
http://www.theagitator.com/
His commenters are largely cop hating assholes, but some of the stories he links to are mindboggling.
There's a black guy down South in prison for 8-10 for killing a cop who entered his house on a bad warrant. Working guy just trying to defend his family. He thought the cops were home invaders. Since he was not involved in any illegal activity that might be a reasonable inference when a group of guys break into your house in the early AM.
It's a horrible situation for all involved. He's in jail. His family is suffering. A cop is dead and his family is suffering and a whole lot of people have to feel like shit over this.
Various groups are defending him, parts of the NRA, and others are calling for his head saying he should have known it was cops.
The only thing I'm sure of is that if drugs were legalized then that cop would be alive and that man would be at home with his family.
There was some ex governor on Colbert the other day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_E._Johnson
Republican, libertarian, calling for the end to the drug war. I wish the guy were running for Mayor here.
My guess is that Tom Dart is the least dishonest of the major pols running for Mayor. I wish one of these idiots would be truthful about the costs of the drug war.
I dread him as mayor because I have no doubt he'll have cops running around doing pissass stuff just like he does with the CCSPD. Expect awards for taking three or more bags off the street. Maybe immediate promotion to exempt ranks.
Mrs. L said...
Seriously, you guys can't get a second opinion? Maybe a reverse look up? A phone call? Something more than the word of a GED challenged informant? For your own protection? Bush gave you a no knock warrant. A little due diligence seems to be in order here. Ooops doesn't cut it. Plus the unintended death of the old lady who was defending herself in Atlanta cost the city millions.
10/09/2010 04:42:00 AM
Did you read the article? It was the CSSP, not you guys. CPD had nothing to do with this, though it has happened in the past.
Too much headaches doing search warrants when you get the same results from doing a simple street stop or traffic stop.
OT --
Another possible "whoops" --
The father of Lynwood, Ill. police officer Brian Dorian, now being held on murder charges for shootings in Illinois and Indiana, was out on the front lawn yesterday with the TV cameras, saying that his son could not have committed the crimes because of a disability (paraphrasing) "that left him unable to even hold a gun or pull the trigger."
I don't think that will make a good defense --
From the Southtown Star --
"Neighbors said they knew Dorian was on some sort of leave from his job but didn't know it was for medical reasons. Several said they had seen him playing basketball in his driveway, doing yard work and riding his motorcycle."
http://www.southtownstar.com/
news/2786834,101010shootermain.article
(This is a good, well-written story overall, explaining what is known about the whole thing.)
A TV story also said that Dorian "had been out like everone else, enjoying the beautiful weather and riding his motorcycle."
?
Sad, confusing, and, like so much else we see, ultimately inexplicable. A tragedy all the way around.
God bless all who were hurt by this.
Did they hit the house next door?
It happens sometimes
It sucks
But it happens
must suck to be the affiant on that warrant!
Why are police officers serving warrants.
Don't you realize that the people of Cook Co do not want criminals arrested.
These officers will learn. They will pay handsomely for failing to realize what they should have known.
Anonymous said...
Hmmmmmm, I bet Rahm and Axelrod sent a phony informant to set the boys up to look like assholes......... anybody think the same?
10/09/2010 12:22:00 AM
No.
this jack ass want to be mayor.what a joke.anybody but dart!!
It seems that you are letting the sheriff's police off too quickly. I do not know all of the facts, but when I was doing drug search warrents, the word of a " reliable confidential informant" was never enough. You had to verify this through surveillance or some other means. It does not seem that this was done in this case, although I could be wrong.
+++++++++++++++++++++
No you don't know all the facts, so STFU.
All you know is what you read in the papers. The same papers that everyone on here always says are full of shit and always write anti police articles. But now it's the police who made a mistake and suddenly those same never to be believed newspapers are printing gospel. Why don't you get off your high horse and sign up a CI and do a warrant of your own, mr or ms expert. Then all of us out here in copper land can benefit from your years of police experience and your never made a mistake in your life attitude.
Oh wait, no need for a cubicle dweller to write a warrant now is there?
This should never happen. The fact that it did is because someone did not bother to do their job. Its easy to be an arm chair, Monday morning quarterback but when you are going in on a no knock warrant, you better have your shit in one bag. If I were the judge that wrote my name on that, whoever brought it to me is going to have a lot of explaining to do before I dedcide if I am going to lock him up on a contempt citation for a couple of days. And he should not bother coming to me for a signature on another warrant again. You have no cred.
one would think that a search warrant for an offender at his home would be the best case to prosecute a person. I mean, better than a drop case or a custodial search incident to an arrest or a field interview turned into an admission which leads to an arrest or even better than a consent to search arrest. But and unfortunately but, if the target isn't home, the case is a loser, if you have no paper proof of residence, the case is a possible loser, if the target has friends or family over when you hit the crib, possible loser. If dude doesn't have the gun in his hand a the jab in the other, good luck winning your case. The whole entire system is f**ked
Sheriffs police? What do you expect? That is the best spot on the county that money can buy. You think CPD is political. Sheriffs police is all merit. No shot at making it legit. So consider the source. Bunch of 19th warders and political hacks playing police.
That's the problem with no-knock warrants.
First of all learn how to spell warrant, and yes you are wrong, surveillance was done, for about 7 hrs.and everything that had to be checked was, It was just a bad address, it happens, nobody is perfect. Unless you work foe CPD I guess. May I AM WRONG.
10/09/2010 10:34:00 AM
So what happened in those 7hrs.? Just curious-any activity? If not, this would have led you to believe this MAY be false info?
No, I do not sit in a cubicle and I do not consider myself an expert, and Yes, I did hundreds of warrents, although years ago, and yes, I did make a mistake. I did discuss this with many former officers who are friends of mine and they all smell a rat.So, no,I do not have to STFU, not on your sayso. And, i do know how to spell warrant, just a typo. But to slam a spelling error is just way of hiding your weakness in accepting any comments that might hurt your feelings. If everything was done properly, this would not have happended. There should be an investigation into the complaint for search warrent and not by the county.
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