Police busts

[Me State]

It easy to insult the tactics of the police when you have never had to face the people/situations they have been in.

Sounds like these people got caught up in a scheme. They should be compensated and the criminals responsible should be charged.

[Phaedrus]

Here is more to the story.

Another quote from original article

Not only did the police not have a warrant to conduct a no-knock raid, but it now appears they were well-aware that a drug ring was delivering large shipments of marijuana to innocent addressees’ homes in the D.C. suburbs. The packages would then be intercepted by other members of the ring, all without the addressees’ knowledge or involvement.

Then I found this in the washington post:

county police announced the arrest of a deliveryman and another person suspected in a scheme to smuggle hundreds of pounds of marijuana by shipping packages addressed to unsuspecting recipients such as the Calvos.
washingtonpost.com

So they caught the people who sent the package already.

According to the Washington Post article I read, they DID have a "no-knock" warrant.

But like I said, the saw the Mayor pick up the box and take it into his house, and therefore, they didn't need a warrant. Just like if a police officer sees you rob a bank, and you flee to a house, he/she doesn't need a warrant to kick in the door and come get your butt.

But, having said that, there is a disturbing trend among law enforcement to "go SWAT on someone" whenever they can. In my opinion it is the result of a capability influencing decision-making, and is, frankly, anti-American.

On whole, I am a great supporter of police. I really like "soft" policing and using citizens to collect information.

[Phaedrus]

"Cpl. Clinton Copeland, a spokesman for the Prince George's police department, said officers had a "no-knock" warrant, which allowed them to enter the house without alerting Calvo. Such warrants are issued when police fear they might face armed suspects. He said they notified Murphy immediately after entering the house. "

The above quote is from the second article Alaskaguy posted.