The Jack-Booted Thug(s) of the Week

Are the Anoka-Hennepin Drug Task Force, which is apparently run by the Anoka County (Minnesota) Sheriff's Department, since they are the ones commenting on the circumstances of the following case. This is on the other side of the Twin Cities from my home in Dakota County.

According to this article, the task force was running a buy/bust sting with a confidential informant when things went spectacularly wrong. The informant and the suspect had driven to a random house in Spring Lake Park to conclude the deal, and started struggling outside an innocent couple's door. The couple called 911, but before anything got done, 12 or so plainclothes officers shoved their way into the house, forced them down at gunpoint, and handcuffed them for up to 45 minutes, all the while shouting niceties such as "Anybody fucking moves, you get a boot in the head, understand?"

A jack-boot, no doubt.

Of course, none of this is reflected in the police reports, which if you believe them, state that one of the officers "took my badge out, held it in my hand as far as I could" and "announced that I was the police." The reports also don't detail how the cops joked about the incident on their way out, telling each other that it "was Miller time", according to the couple.

Yep, nothing like a warrantless raid on the wrong house to generate hilarity and a powerful thirst.

Ever watch one of these situations on an episode of "COPS"? I have, and these guys don't bother with making sure someone sees their badge clearly. The rush in, throw everyone inside to the ground, and sort out things later. And this is when the cops KNOW they're being taped for a TV show. I tend to believe the couple, who say that they only wanted an apology from the department, which they maintain hasn't happened yet.

According to a police consultant interviewed for the article, eighty-five percent of all lawsuits filed over mistakes like this would not happen if the police would merely give a sincere apology. But since the police are never wrong in these cases, this apparently proves to be quite the sticking point.

Situations such as these also bring into question the use of "confidential informants", who are known to give false tips on occasion in an effort to make their information appear more useful, in order to lessen the charges filed against them. Hopefully the task force will study their informants' tips more carefully in the future, as well as keep a better eye on them when they're following them around on their buy set-ups.