Radley Balko - Rise of the Warrior Cop

24. United States v. Banks, 540 US 31 (2003).

25. Hudson v. Michigan, 547 US 586 (2006).

26. Samuel Walker, Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice, 1950–1990 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 51.

27. Samuel Walker, “Thanks for Nothing, Nino,” Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2006.

28. Commonwealth v. King, 302 S. W. 3d 649, 653 (2010).

29. Kentucky v. King, 131 S.Ct. 1849 (2011).

30. Ibid., Ginsberg dissent.

31. “Brooklyn Couple Haunted by More Than 50 False NYPD Raids Want Answers,” New York Daily News, April 18, 2010.

32. Jim Dwyer, “Police Raid Gone Awry: A Muddled Path to the Wrong Door,” New York Times, June 29, 2003.

33. Rivka Gewirtz Little, “More NYPD No-Knocks; New Yorkers Tell Their Tales of Botched Raids,” Village Voice, June 18–24, 2003.

34. Rivka Gewirtz Little, “More NYPD No-Knocks; New Yorkers Tell Their Tales of Botched Raids,” Village Voice, June 18–24, 2003.

35. The Martins narrative is from John Lauinger, “Brooklyn Couple Haunted by More Than 50 False NYPD Raids Want Answers,” New York Daily News, April 18, 2010; Kate Nocera and John Lauinger, “Computer Snafu Is Behind at Least 50 ‘Raids’ on Brooklyn Couple’s Home,” New York Daily News, March 19, 2010.

36. See Radley Balko and Joel Berger, “Wrong Door,” Wall Street Journal, September 2, 2006.

37. Robert F. Moore, “Cops Smash Wrong Door—$2G Missing,” New York Daily News, May 20, 2007.

38. The Spruill narrative is from Austin Fenner, Maki Becker, and Michelle McPhee, “Cops’ Tragic Grenade Raid; Storm Wrong Apt., Woman Dies,” New York Daily News, May 17, 2003; William K. Rashbaum, “Report by Police Outlines Mistakes in Ill-Fated Raid,” New York Times, May 31, 2003; Fernanda Santos and Patrice O’Shaughnessy, “Snitch Had Shaky Rep,” New York Daily News, May 18, 2003; Leonard Levitt, “Focus on Kelly, Race After Raid,” Newsday, May 19, 2003; Graham Rayman, “Tracking Errors; Board Asked to Focus on Wrong-Door Raids,” Newsday, June 12, 2003; Karen Freifeld, “Warrant Policy Under Scrutiny; Spruill Raid Prompts Record-Keeping Review,” Newsday, June 4, 2003; “Judge Keeps Documents Sealed in Fatal Police-Raid Case,” Associated Press, June 11, 2003; Karen Freifeld, “Media Denied Spruill Info,” Newsday, June 11, 2003; Al Guart, “‘Spruill Effect’ on Drug Busts,” New York Post, January 25, 2005; Graham Rayman, “Cops in the Clear: Board Policy Absolves Police in Bad Raids,” Newsday, June 9, 2003; Barbara Ross, “Judges to Be Tutored on Drug Warrants,” New York Daily News, August 6, 2003; Larry Celona, “NYPD Brass Back to School,” New York Post, October 13, 2003; Florence L. Fincle, executive director, New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, “Police Recommendations Memorandum: Recommendations That the New York City Police Department Develop a Database to Track Search Warrant Executions,” New York City, January 2003; C. Virginia Fields, “Report and Recommendations on the Execution of No-Knock Warrants: In the Aftermath of the Death of Alberta Spruill,” Office of Manhattan Borough, June 2003; and Andrew Case, director of communications, New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, interview with the author, December 2005.

39. Christopher Koper, “An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994–2003,” Report to the National Institute of Justice (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, 2004).

40. Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Selected Findings,” in US Department of Justice, “Guns Used in Crime” (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, July 1995).

41. Edie Gross, “SWAT: ‘Be Safe, Be Strong, Be Mean!’” Palm Beach Post, June 8, 1997.

42. Edward Ericson Jr., “Commando Cops,” Orlando Weekly, May 7, 1998.

43. David Doddridge, interview with the author, August 2007.

44. Eric Morgan and David Kopel, “The Assault Weapon Panic: ‘Political Correctness’ Takes Aim at the Constitution,” Paper 1291 (Denver, CO: Independence Institute, October 10, 1991).

45. Joseph McNamara, “50 Shots,” Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2006.

46. Fox Butterfield, “When the Police Shoot, Who’s Counting,” New York Times, April 29, 2001.

47. Ibid.

48. Alan Maimon, “National Data on Shootings by Police Not Collected,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 28, 2011.

49. Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost, “FBI Agents Speak Out on Injuries from Faulty Grenades,” CNN.com, November 17, 2008.

50. “NC SWAT Officer Killed at Home by Flash Bang,” WSOC-TV, February 26, 2011.

51. Lou Michel, “FBI Agent Remains Hospitalized,” Buffalo News, December 7, 2001.

52. Clay Conrad, interview with the author, February 2010.

53. Carol Comegno, “Judge: ‘Flash Bang’ Grenade Unnecessary,” Courier-Post, August 28, 2008.

54. Zach Benoit, “Grenade Burns Sleeping Girl as SWAT Team Raids Billings Home,” October 12, 2012.

55. Mara H. Gottfried, “St. Paul to Pay Record-Tying $400K in Police Violence Case,” St. Paul Pioneer-Press, November 6, 2012.

56. Donald E. Wilkes, “Explosive Dynamic Entry,” Flagpole, July 30, 2003.

57. Lenora Menai, “Rap Group Denounces Police Raid,” St. Petersburg Times, June 14, 2001.

58. Ric Kahn and Zachary R. Dowdy, “‘Iron Fist’ of Police; SWAT Team Use Questioned,” Boston Globe, May 11, 1998.

59. Joseph McNamara, interview with the author, August 2012.

60. Spradley v. State, 933 So.2d 51 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2d Dist. 2006).

61. For a list of such cases, see the page maintained by University of Georgia law professor Donald E. Wilkes Jr., “Explosive Dynamic Entry,” available at: http://www.law.uga.edu/dwilkes_more/46explosive.html.

62. Boyd v. Benton County, 374 F.3d 773 (2004).

63. The Culosi narrative is from author interviews, research of court documents and materials, and reporting.

64. Tim McGlone, “Beach SWAT Team Cleared in Shooting; Family Spokesman Cites Guard’s Dying Words, Says Report Contradictory,” Virginian-Pilot, November 13, 1998.

65. Justin Fenton, “Baltimore Co. Police Bust Illegal Poker Game in Edgemere,” Baltimore Sun, February 16, 2011.

66. Meg Kinnard, “Is It Skill or Gambling? Poker Players Watch as SC Judge Considers Legality of Texas Hold ’Em,” Associated Press, January 29, 2009.

67. “Texas Close ’Em,” Reason.tv, December 3, 2007.

68. Gene Smith, “Oh No! It’s a Raid!” Fayetteville Observer, April 7, 2007.

69. Radley Balko, “Poker Game Turns into Gunfight,” Reason.com, November 5, 2010; “73-Year-Old Sentenced for Poker Raid Shootout,” WYFF.com, October 25, 2011.

70. Jeff Weiner, “Criminal Barbering? Raids at Orange County Shops Lead to Arrests, Raise Questions,” Orlando Sentinel, January 4, 2013.

71. Thomas MacMillan, “DeStefano: We Shouldn’t Have Sent SWAT Team,” New Haven Independent, October 8, 2010.

72. Dayna Bagby, “Atlanta City Council Settles Third Eagle Lawsuit for $330,000,” GAVoice, March 19, 2012.

73 Club Retro LLC v. Hilton (5th Cir. 2009).

74. Swint v. Wadley, 51 F.3d 988 (1994).

75. The Ruttenberg narrative is from author interviews and reporting. See also Ruttenberg v. Jones (4th Cir. 2010) (unpublished).

76. Bellotte v. Edwards, 629 F.3d 415, No. 10-1115 (4th Cir. 2011).

77. See Mike Masnick, “SWAT Team Raids Home Because Guy Had an Open Wireless Router,” TechDirt, April 25, 2011; and Nate Anderson, “SWAT Team Throws Flashbangs, Raids Wrong Home Due to Open WiFi Network,” Ars Technica, June 28, 2012.