Feb 12, 2008 11:07 pm US/Central
In The Know: Police, Work A Little Harder
(WCCO)
As you've heard, Minneapolis police raided the wrong house back in December. A law-abiding family, believing they were safe in their home, were terrorized when police began firing weapons. Don Shelby says we ask police to work hard for us, but this episode suggests some of them need to work a little harder.
It took one of our reporters two minutes to determine the cops were very likely at the wrong house, but this elite unit of gang busters believed an informant on the run from the law.
The framers made being safe in our homes a fundamental right -- not safe from criminals, but from the government. We demand police protect us from crime, and that's why I don't blame the SWAT team for entering the house. They had a warrant, and they were fired upon, and they returned that fire.
But if I was a SWAT team member, I'd be angry at the investigators who put me in a position to be killed or, worse, to kill innocent men, women and children.
The people at home and SWAT were put in the jackpot by investigators working on the flimsiest of evidence. This sloppiness just cost crime fighting here more than the police can know.
Now judges are going to expect more evidence than necessary for warrants for the real criminals.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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