Are swat teams smarter than a 5th grader-cops raid wrong house?

Question

Swat team again trouble with finding right address-can these read above 4th grade level..http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=456&sid=1161424
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Annapolis police raided the wrong apartment Wednesday night, using flash grenades and kicking a resident in the groin before they realized their mistake, police and the family said.

Police spokesman Hal Dalton said something must have gone amiss in the briefing beforehand. "We don't know how the mistake was made," Dalton said.

Silvia Bernal, 30, told The (Annapolis) Capital that about 15 officers burst through the front door of her apartment while she was cooking dinner about 8:20 p.m. She said the officers kicked her husband in the groin while she fled into a bedroom and barred the door with her body.

Then she said both of them were taken to the ground and handcuffed. The Capital said a police officer went outside and realized they had raided the wrong residence.

Dalton said they were supposed to have raided a different apartment and said the incident was regrettable.

Spa Cove apartment manager Latisha Marshall says there is a large dent in the front door. And she said there are two large black stains from the flash-bang grenades police deployed after entering the apartment.

When officers and the city's tactical squad went to the right unit, they said it was empty.

Answer 1

This has happened in Florida more times than I can remember. Miami and Tampa are the worst. Makes a good case for the NRA.

Answer 2

It is an error but this is not compareable to a doctor that removes the wrong leg because I didnt read anything about permanent disfigurement or death. When swat goes in they try to bring the situation to an end as quickly as possible, so if that guy resisted or fought back (which he could have), Im sure he would have rather been kicked in the groin than shot dead. Even the old lady fled into her bedroom , which even though people bursting into your house is a little scary, when you see S.W.A.T. on their uniforms its best to not do anything stupid (Even criminals are smart enough to lie on the ground and wait to be arrested). There may be more to this story as well. Would it be that big of a shock for the media to do something like leave out details to make for a better story. Apparently making cops seem like sh*theads is good for ratings

Answer 3

You can sue, but I'm not sure of the actual tort. You can sue for negligence, but you'd be entitled only to what you could show you lost. Pain and suffering probably won't add up to much, and to claim that you'd likely have to submit to psychiatric assessment. You can't likely claim emotional distress unless you showed intentional behavior, while the facts here substantiate negligence (there is a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress, but it's limited to a few cases, mostly involving the handling of a corpse). This actually happened in NYC in 2003 when the police raided the wrong apartment. In that case however, the error was tragically exacerbated by the death of a 50+ year old woman in the apartment, and the use of a stun grenade. No injuries or unusual force (for a search warrant) seem to have occurred in this case.

Answer 4

Mistake made.
Department will fix the door and walls.
The officer in charge will get reprimanded.
And you still can't write a coherent question. The cut n paste article was at least legible and well written, unlike your less than 4th grade writing of the "question"? you posed.

By the way thanks for the 10 points earlier, you know when you basically proved yourself wrong (again) with your own statement about true_blue. =))

Answer 5

They should check IQ's before they hire police officers! This happens all the time. I wonder why they kicked him in the groin after 2 stun grenades? I mean there were 15 SWAT officers in full-gear and one little man! I am sure that was totally necessary as well!

Con. I bet you say that as well abour docs who remove the wrong leg.

Lot of difference between taking a wrong turn or making a typo, that getting an ADDRESS wrong!

Answer 6

HMMMMM....police, even swat and DEA are responsible for their mistakes. If DEA did this in Annapolis, they might have dumped medications looking for DRUGS.

If they did not offer to pay for damages AND injuries...woman should have taken it up with politicians otherwise useless, Chief of Police and Mayor.

Answer 7

Two Points from the copy and paste bandit.

The city will fix the apartment. They will investigate the matter and take action against anyone that screwed up.

Its hard to make mistakes when you copy and paste.

My team has never hit the wrong house.

Answer 8

It depends but most cops are decent.

Please visit my site about the few dishonest in Law Enforcement.

It will shock your mind and change your outlook about the US Federal Government and US Homeland Security.

Answer 9

And your point is...... ??? We are all human and mistakes do occur.... Now let me ask you a question.... You want we should just get rid of all the police departments or do you want to take a moment and think of how many things that they may do very well.

Answer 10

Thats a pretty amusing story. I'm sure the city will have to pay several thousand to settle this claim.

Heck, I'd take a kick in the n*ts for $10,000