“All I see is guns pointed at me, officers coming through the door. I hear, ‘boom, boom, boom,’ two to three times,” reports wftv.com. That’s how King Baker described being awoken Thursday by members of the Kissimmee, Florida SWAT team, “bursting through his door and the sight of a gun to his head. It turns out the officers were in the wrong apartment…. When I told them my name and they was like, ‘Oh (expletive), we have the wrong house.'” Fortunately for all concerned, no one was hurt. But give the KPD some credit. You don’t usually hear admissions like this after a wrong-address un-announced visit . . .
“Unfortunately a huge mistake was made and our SWAT team went into the adjacent apartment,” said Stacie Miller, with the Kissimmee Police Department.
And perhaps because the victim is royalty, they didn’t just leave him with a busted-up apartment and a half-hearted apology.
Police broke some windows and a door jamb during the raid. They quickly made repairs to Baker’s residence…. The Kissimmee Police Department paid for a hotel room for Baker and his family overnight.
That’s a lot more consideration than most wrong-house no-knock victims seem to get. Still, given the potential danger no-knock raids present to both occupants and officers, how hard can it be to double-check an address before they go kicking in doors and waiving carbines around?
Not news: SWAT team raids wrong house.
News: PD apologizes and pays for repairs after raid on wrong house.
Absolutely! Succinct and poignant!
Another War on Drugs success story.
Where in the article did it say the raid had anything to do with drugs?
You’re right, let’s not jump to conclusions. It may have been for selling raw milk, student loan fraud, or overdue library books.
Or maybe he was harboring a baby deer.
Baby deer killed by SWAT team: Lawsuit in bizarre government take down of fawn
http://www.examiner.com/article/baby-deer-killed-by-swat-team-lawsuit-bizarre-government-take-down-of-fawn
Luckily, he didn’t have a dog.
Or an innocent baby sleeping in the front room, so they could blow it’s face off with a flash bang grenade, and then refuse to pay for treatment.
Exactly right. It doesn’t make it any less wrong, but it’s like when somebody pulls out in front of you in traffic and then does the “oh, shit, I’m an idiot” wave. You’re still pissed, but you maybe don’t want to light his car on fire any longer.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t handle forgiveness very well.
And once again, we learn that the policy of hiring low-IQ people into police departments (with attending illiteracy and innumeracy issues) results in Bad Things Happening[tm].
With just a couple more IQ points, they could have become school administrators.
A couple less and they quit being an astronaut to start up an anti-gun campaign…
Hmmm. Deservedly cynical and derisive lampooning of some current gun-grabbing talking heads.
Yes, yes, but who? Who, damn it…
It’ll come to me. Give me a minute. 🙂
Well this is typical.
Wonder why people hate cops.
We don’t hate cops.
It’s just that cops need better obedience training.
Obedience school: Where dog shoots you!
Too many laws. Too much so called law enforcement.
He was probably guilty of something anyway, just look at him!
/sarcasm
Yes, that hairdo is a crime all by itself.
That’s a Hair Don’t, not a hair do.
Are those snakes in his hair?
I just wonder what the guy in the right apartment did. Grow a few pot plants, or was it just unpaid parking tickets?
He had an overdue library book. I think it was “Dreams of My Father.”
If his old man was a sailor the title could have been “Wet Dreams of My Father”
I trust it wasn’t King’s Audacity of Hope to believe the po-po wouldn’t shoot?
At least they should have taken that pole lamp in the corner with the feathers into custody. Just for BEING.
How do you know the lamp was made in Poland?
It’s solar powered.
You win, good sir
What I always want to ask is, except for high risk felony fugitives, why do they do these no-knock raids in the first place? If they’re devoting this many police force resources to the case, why not spend some on surveillance and just nab the guy when he stops for gas or goes to the grocery store?
Surprise raids mean no time to flush or dispose of evidence.
Probably would be better if the cops came in yelling “SURPRISE!” and blowing cazoos. Fewer dogs would end up in a plot in a pet cemetary.
“Surprise raids mean no time to flush or dispose of evidence.”
That’s the lame justification the police give, but any quantity of illicit drugs that can be so quickly flushed doesn’t warrant a no knock raid IMO. For drugs, there sure to be residue, scales, and other evidence for intent to distribute or one of the other gajillion laws on the books. Besides, if they flush the shi7, then its off the streets and the dealer is on the hook to his supplier.
No knocks raids are for the lazy that don’t want to have to do any real police work like, developing an investigative plan, conducting surveillance, organizing and analyzing case data, employing strategic targeting…..
Reading… Writing…
Let’s not forget…Thinking.
I believe there are sewage traps to catch any flushed evidence anyways. And as you mentioned, any amount of drugs to justify a no-knock raid couldn’t be easily flushed quick enough anyway.
Traps can be placed on the sewers to catch the drugs. Other than, say, hostage situations, there is almost zero need for no-knocks.
You do not EVER do a no-knock to resolve a hostage situation. The hostages are the first to go.
Oh good, the internet commandos are out.
Shitty example, whatever. The meat of the comment was that no-knocks for drugs are pointless. Let’s get back to that, eh?
Hannibal,
Explain “Oh good, the internet commandos are out”
I don’t know what Hannibal was thinking, but certainly no-knocks are done in hostage situations. Rarely performed by police, they are often undertaken by specialized hostage rescue teams.
I’m not an internet commando, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn last night.
It’s an excuse for them to don the ‘Tacti-Crap’ uniforms and practice room-clearing exercises…
For finding over-due library books…
Hey, at least his dog survived.
Often the raids do seem to be the 30-year-old wannabee-a-soldier equivalent of the make-believe tea parties of which little girls are fond. What I mean: If there was REALLY a violent group of perps inside just waiting to open up with the big guns, the SWAT team absolutely would not enter. Instead they require two conditions. One is that they think they’ll get a good collar. Two is that they feel very sure they’ve got the pot dealer/numbers operator outgunned. If the team is truly afraid of what’s in the house, they employ the Symbianese Liberation Army Shutdown approach.
You mean every SWAT team isn’t Seal Team Six, and every alleged “perp” isn’t Osama bin Laden?
Because during that time that they are surveilling the suspect, more things could go wrong that would hinder his arrest. For example, a leak, or he could get suspicious.
As opposed to raiding the wrong house? Disfiguring an infant? Shooting a 7 year old in the head?
Well I have respect for them making the mistake right. All too often these events end with a pissed off homeowner and people saying that it’s ok if they make mistakes as long as they catch that one drug user.
You’d think the half dozen people standing outside his door would have looked at the house number though.
It’s funny, CEOs and CFOs of publicly traded companies must certify, under penalty of fines and prison, that the financial records they report to the public are legitimate.
Yet, police can get away with not even proofreading a warrant to ensure the address is correct before they rain death and destruction down upon some innocent person’s home. Curious, that.
It’s his own fault.
Who told him he was allowed to be black?!
Livin’ in an aparmen’ no doubt.
Shannon clapped upon hearing the news. . . . no room for them Coloreds. . . .
Very surpised they apologized.
At least they admitted it.
It would be interesting to know what the intended raid location had present (allegedly) to warrant a no-knock-raid.
Like some of the above comments said probably not enough to make it worthy of a flash banging-door busting-dog killin’ raid.
It’s just scary to think I could be raided next week with from USDA storm troopers with their new HK UMPs probably just for a paperwork mistake.
Oh man you guys took my lines. Guilty of something…seriously does the king have a basis for a lawsuit Ralph? Shoulda’ had a tomahawk 🙂
I would like to see Judges who sign no-knocks be required to be on-site with the responsibility to rescind the warrant if anything is discovered which does not match the sworn statements used in the warrant application. Add to that a requirement that the Judge be one of the first three people through the door…
/end fantasy mode
You mean have public officials take actual responsibility for their actions? What a concept!
Did they use all toys that the NRA supports them having?
You mean DHS. Drunk again I see.
Maybe he meant EPA…or SSA…or USDA…or the Department of Education…
Education Department buying 27 shotguns
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/education-secretary-duncan/ed-department-buying-27-shotgu.html
…because the guy who just had his house broken into and assaulted would have felt better, and would have been facing less unjustified deadly force, if the SWAT team were pointing 40SW service pistols at him instead of AR15s?
Clearly no. The NRA insists that they first acquire a copy of the U.S. and State constitutions.
This story would have turned a bit different if the dude had couple of really big, really nasty, pit bulls, and they attacked and severely chewed on the cops before they offed the dogs!
And for probably the millionth time: no-knock raids are absolutely unconstitutional, and a violation of natural rights and Castle Doctrine – rights not trumped by “officer safety” concerns.
Yawn.
Another Day, Another 124 Violent SWAT Raids
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/another-day-another-124-violent-swat-raids
Public support for the failed War on Drugs is at its lowest ever, and yet police are still using hyper-aggressive tactics and heavy artillery to fight it. This paramilitary approach to everyday policing brutalizes bystanders and ravages homes. We reviewed one case in which a young mother was shot and killed with her infant son in her arms. During another raid, a grandfather of 12 was killed while watching baseball in his pajamas. And we talked with a mother whose toddler was covered in burns, shot through with a hole that exposed his ribs, and placed into a medically induced coma after a flashbang grenade exploded in his crib. None of these people was the suspect. In many cases like these, officers did not find the suspect or any contraband in the home.
That linked article loses all credibility in the first paragraph. SWAT teams with AK47s?
Cops – dumb-as-dirt lowlifes with firearms, great combination.
I’m glad no one was hurt.
F”’n IDIOTS !!!
I hope he can SUE their A$$$$$$!!!
Police broke some windows and a door jamb during the raid. They quickly made repairs to Baker’s residence….
(PROBABLY ELMER’S GLUE AND TOOTHPICKS. I’M SURE THE GUY WILL REALLY FEEL SAFE AND SECURE NOW!) ( time to move!)
The Kissimmee Police Department paid for a hotel room for Baker and his family overnight.
(SO THEY {P.D.} COULD HAVE COMPLETE and FREE REIGN OF “HIS” APARTMENT and possessions JUST ‘CUZ)
Just curious, what Royalty is He (King Baker)?
“And perhaps because the victim is royalty, they didn’t just leave him with a busted-up apartment and a half-hearted apology.”
As Foghorn would say, that’s a joke, son.
This happened to my former next-door neighbors in Philadelphia (after my family moved to Upstate NY). A SWAT team busted in, scared the daylights out of everyone, kids were screaming and all that, they arrested and took them down to the station in their underwear, turns out it was the wrong house. It was a drug bust, but the correct house was down a ways.
I do wonder why more police departments don’t issue authentic apologies to people when this happens. If anything, it would make for good public relations at least. But also, I mean it isn’t like it is something that would be difficult or anything.
An apology would be admitting they made a mistake.
And, as we all know, the police don’t make mistakes.
The police just happen to be nearby when these “unfortunate incidents” occur.
Correlation doesn’t equal causation.
ALL involved in ANY wrong address raid need to be and SHOULD be fired….and then criminally charged by the State ATTY office for ‘domestic terrorism’…..if we had a free country and a country that lived by the ‘ law’ for ALL equally as in politicians and LEO….but we do not sooooo……the police state thrives and continues with no penalties to its leaders or enforcers….only its slaves ie. the citizens………imho
Cant unring the bell..Driving is going to be a nightmare.. Cops know what he drives, where he lives, he is on their radar, doesnt matter that he didnt do anything
Eh? You really believe the police have time to follow around a guy who happened to live at the wrong address they raided?
They seem to have plenty of time to hang out in parking lots talking to each other. They find the time to stand around in the Quikie Mart trying to seduce underage girls. So, yeah, I suspect they have time to harass an honest citizen.
Thank you Chris. The idea that cops have no free time while on duty is indeed laughable.
So, if police are in a car chase, and the chase becomes to dangerous for innocents, they back off. The premise is that it is not worth someone’s life to continue the pursuit. No knock raids are extremely dangerous, and innocents are often the recipients of excessive or deadly force. Are no knock raids really worth the life of an innocent?
Given the number of home invasions in Central Florida, I’m surprised the apartment dweller wasn’t ready with firearm protection…. luckily for him.
At least nobody was hurt or killed and it sounds like the department is trying to make things right.
Maybe it’s time to add a iron gate which opens out ward and bars on the windows so if they get the wrong house they are outside pounding away instead of inside waving MP5s around and killing pets. They can hand the search warrant through the bars and have a rational discussion instead of just doing it all their way.
200 hours of “Call of Duty” is not a substitute for proper police training.
No-knock raids should be akin to no-warrant searches: completely Unconstitutional.
I would hate to be cleaning my guns on the coffee table if a SWAT team accidently comes to my house in a no knock raid. I know I would get filled full of lead because I looked at the front door and jumped when they battered it down. At least they would all get to go home that night after zipping me into a body bag.
Make it hard for anyone to quickly bust down your front door. It is the option used something like 85% by thugs with badges or otherwise trying to invade your home.
Time gives you options. A homeowner can and should make the necessary modifications to at least the front door. For people in apartments there are non-permanent options that are quite effective, at least at slowing them down which still give you time. It is also possible to make permanent changes the apartment management will never see like 4″+ screws to replace the 1″ or smaller screws currently in the hinges and door jam. Make it difficult rather than leaving it as they expect it to be.
There are videos of well made homes with solid door installations thwarting government sponsored home invasions. All they are able to do is scream for the residents (of the wrong house) to open the door. Of course if they are defeated like this enough their no-knock policy will probably change to including a vehicle to run through your house. Knowing the way they work it could become their first option. That is still a “could”, please secure your home.
Don’t worry, they can always open your door with this:
http://www.lencoarmor.com/wp-content/themes/lenco/images/headers/le/slide_le4.jpg
Indeed. At least for now it isn’t the default response to drive a vehicle into your home. Like I said if they encounter enough doors that don’t pop right open they might start bringing one. I have no doubt they would eventually establish a policy of crashing a vehicle into your home as the first option. No reason for them not to, they get away with much worse every single day with nobody to stop them.
How to fix no-knock raid is the Judge who signs the order must be first one through the door.
He should certainly dropkick their a$$es with a Federal civil rights violation lawsuit, if he was not black this would not have happened. Funny how these no knock raids happen at a disproportionately higher rate than to white folk.
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