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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0819.002 2008-2010AP IMPACT: After 40 years, $1 trillion, US War on Drugs has failed to meet any of its goals Associated Press MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY (AP) — After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread. Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasnt worked. in the grand scheme, it has not been successful,' Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. 'Forty years later, the concem about drugs and drug problems is, it anything, magnified, intensified.' This week President Obama promised to "reduce drug use and the great damage it causes" with a new national policy that he said treats drug use more as a public health issue and focuses on prevention and treatment. Nevertheless, his administration has increased spending on interdiction and law enforcement to record levels both in dollars and in percentage terms; this year, they account for $10 billion of his $15 5 billion drug-control budget. Kerlikowske, who coordinates all federal anti -drug policies, says it will take time for the spending to match the rhetoric. Nothing happens overnight,' he said. 'We've never worked Ole drug problem holistically. We'll arrest the drug dealer, but we leave the addiction." His predecessor, John P Walters, takes issue with that. Walters insists society would be far worse today if there had been no War on Drugs. Drug abuse peaked nationally in 1979 and, despite fluctuations, remains below those levels, he says. Judging the drug war is complicated: Records indicate marijuana and prescription drug abuse are climbing, while cocaine use is way down. Seizures are up, but so is availability 'To say that all the things that have been done in the war on drugs haven't made any difference is ridiculous," Walters said. it destroys everything we've done. It's saying an the people involved in law entorcment, treatment and prevention have been wasting their time. It's saying all these people's work is misguided.' In 1970, hippies were smoking pot and dropping acid. Soldiers were coming home from Vietnam hooked on heroin. Embattled President Richard M. Nixon seized on a new war he thought he could win. 'This nation faces a major crisis in terms of the increasing use of drugs, particularly among our young people,' Nixon said as he signed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. The following year, he said: 'Public enemy No. 1 in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all -out offensive? His first drug - fighting budget was $100 million. Now it's $15.1 billion, 31 times Nixon's amount even when adjusted for inflation. Using Freedom of Information Act requests, archival records, federal budgets and dozens of interviews with leaders and analysts, the AP tracked where that money went, and hound that the United States repeatedly increased budgets for programs that did little to stop the flow of drugs. In 40 years, taxpayers spent more than: — $20 billion to fight the drug gangs in their home countries. In Colombia, for example, the United States spent more than $6 billion, while coca cultivation increased and trafficking moved to Mexico — and the violence along with it. — $33 billion in marketing "Just Say No" -style messages to America's youth and other prevention programs. High school students report the same rates of illegal drug use as they did in 1970, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drug overdoses have °risen steadily' since the earty 1970s to more than 20,000 last year. — $49 billion for law enforcement along America's borders to cut off the flow of illegal drugs. This year, 25 million Americans will snort, swallow, inject and smoke illicit drugs, about 10 million more than in 1970, with the bulk of those drugs imported from Mexico — $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders, about 10 million of them for possession of marijuana. Studies show that jail time tends to increase drug abuse. — $450 billion to lock those people up in federal prisons alone. Last year, hag of all federal prisoners in the U.S. were serving sentences for drug offenses. At the same time, drug abuse is costing the nation in other ways. The Justice Department estimates the consequences of drug abuse — "an overburdened justice system, a strained health care system, lost productivity, and environmental destruction" — cost the United States $215 billion a year. Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron says the only sure thing taxpayers get for more spending on police and soldiers is more homicides. "Current policy is not having an effect of reducing drug use," Miron said, 'but it's costing the public a fortune." From the beginning, lawmakers debated fiercely whether law enforcement — no matter how well funded and well trained — could ever defeat the drug problem. &chrn e by foher Pco r7 Comma No. $ Ref. To: t' /PSP2G Ref. Date MM 1 8 2010 Then - Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, who had his doubts, has since watched his worst fears come to pass. "Look what happened. ft's an ongoing tragedy that has cost us a trillion dollars. It has loaded our jails and it has destabilized countries like Mexico and Colombia,' he said. In 1970, proponents said beefed -up law enforcement could effectively seal the southern U.S. border and stop drugs from coming in. Since then, the U.S. used patrols, checkpoints, sniffer dogs, cameras, motion detectors, heat sensors, drone aircraft — and even put up more than 1,000 miles of steel beam, concrete walls and heavy mesh stretching from California to Texas. None of that has stopped the drugs. The Office of National Drug Control Policy says about 330 tons of cocaine, 20 tons of heroin and 110 tons of methamphetamine are sold in the United States every year — almost all of it brought in across the borders. Even more marijuana is sold, but it's hard to know how much of that is grown domestically, including vast fields run by Mexican drug cartels in U.S. national parks. The dealers who are caught have overwhelmed justice systems in the United States and elsewhere. U.S. prosecutors declined to file charges in 7,482 drug cases last year, most because they simply didn't have the time. That's about one out of every four drug cases The United States has in recent years rounded up thousands of suspected associates of Mexican drug gangs, then turned some of the cases over to local prosecutors who can't make the charges stick for lack of evidence. The suspects are then sometimes released, deported or acquitted. The U.S. Justice Department doesn't even keep track of what happens to all of them In Mexico, traffickers exploit a broken justice system. Investigators often tail to collect convincing evidence — and are sometimes assassinated when they do. Confessions are beaten out of suspects by frustrated, underpaid police. Judges who no longer turn a blind eye to such abuse release the suspects in exasperation. In prison, in the U.S. or Mexico, traffickers continue to operate, ordering assassinations and arranging distribution of their product even from solitary confinement in Texas and California_ In Mexico, prisoners can sometimes even buy their way out. The violence spans Mexico. In Ciudad Juarez, the epicenter of drug violence in Mexico, 2,600 people were killed last year in cartel - related violence, making the city of 1 million across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, one of the world's deadliest. Not a single person was prosecuted for homicide related to organized crime. And then there's the money. The $320 billion annual global drug industry now accounts for 1 percent of all commerce on the planet. A full 10 percent of Mexico's economy is built on drug proceeds — $25 billion smuggled in from the United States every year, of which 25 cents of each $100 smuggled is seized at the border. Thus there's no incentive for the kind of financial reform that could tame the cartels. "For every drug dealer you put in jail or kill, there's a line up to replace him because the money is just so good,' says Walter McCay, who heads the nonprofit Center for Professional Police Certification in Mexico City. McCay is one of the 13,000 members of Medford, Mass. -based Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of cops, judges, prosecutors, prison wardens and others who want to legalize and regulate all drugs. A decade ago, no politician who wanted to keep his job would breathe a word about legalization, but a consensus is growing across the country that at least marijuana will someday be regulated and sold like tobacco and alcohol. California voters decide in November whether to legalize marijuana, and South Dakota will vote this fall on whether to allow medical uses of marijuana, already permitted in California and 13 other states. The Obama administration says it won't target marijuana dispensaries if they comply with state laws. Mexican President Felipe Calderon says if America wants to foci the drug problem, it needs to do something about Americans' unquenching thirst for illegal drugs. Kerlikowske agrees, and Obama has committed to doing just that. And yet both countries continue to spend the bulk of their drug budgets on law enforcement rather than treatment and prevention. "President Obama's newly released drug war budget is essentially the same as Bush's, with roughly twice as much money going to the criminal justice system as to treatment and prevention,' said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance. This despite Obama's statements on the campaign trail that drug use should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue.' Obama is requesting a record $15.5 billion for the drug war for 2011, about two thirds of it for law enforcement at the front lines of the battle: police, military and border patrol agents straggling to seize drugs and arrest traffickers and users. About $5.6 billion would be spent on prevention and treatment. 'For the first time ever, the nation has before it an administration that views the drug issue first and foremost through the lens of the public health mandate,' said economist and drug policy expert John Carnevale, who served three administrations and tour drug czars "Yet ... it appears that this historic policy stride has some problems with its supporting budget' Carnevale said the administration continues to substantially over - allocate funds to areas that research shows are least effective — interdiction and source -country programs — while under - allocating funds for treatment and prevention. Kerlikowske, who wishes people would stop calling it a 'war on drugs, frequently talks about one of the most valuable tools they've found, in which doctors saeen tor drug abuse during routine medical examinations. That program would get a mere $7.2 million under Obama's budget. "People will say that's not enough. They'll say the drug budget hasn't shifted as much as it should have, and granted I don't disagree with that,' Kerlikowske said. We would like to do more in that direction.' Fifteen years ago, when the govemment began telling doctors to ask their patients about their drug use during routine medical exams, it described the program as one of the most proven ways to intervene early with would -be addicts. "Nothing happens overnight," Kerlikowske said. Until 100 years ago, drugs were simply a commodity. Then Western cultural shifts made them immoral and deviant, according to London School of Economics professor Fernanda Mena. Religious movements led the crusades against drugs: In 1904, an Episcopal bishop returning from a mission in the Far East argued for banning opium after observing "the natives' moral degeneration.' In 1914, The New York Times reported that cocaine caused blacks to commit 'violent cdmes,' and that it made them resistant to police bullets. In the decades that followed, Mena said, drugs became synonymous with evil. Nixon drew on those emotions when he pressed for his War on Drugs. "Narcotics addiction is a problem which afflicts both the body and the soul of America,' he said in a special 1971 message to Congress. "It comes quietly into homes and destroys children, it moves into neighborhoods and breaks the fiber of community which makes neighbors. We must try to better understand the confusion and disillusion and despair that bring people, particularly young people, to the use of narcotics and dangerous drugs' Just a few years later, a young Barack Obama was one of those young users, a teenager smoking pot and trying 'a little blow when you could afford it,' as he wrote in "Dreams From My Father." When asked during his campaign if he had inhaled the pot, he replied:' that was the point' So why persist with costly programs that don't work? Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, silting down with the AP at the LtS Embassy in Mexico City, paused for a moment at the question. "Look," she says, starting slowly. 'This is something that is worth fighting for because drug addiction is about fighting for somebody's life, a young child's life, a teenager's life, their ability to be a successful and productive adult. "If you think about it in those terms, that they are fighting for lives — and in Mexico they are literally lighting for lives as well from the violence standpoint — you realize the stakes are too high to let go " Political candidate finds it politically necessary to be drug policy. reformer Here's a nice little turn. A primary race tor Attorney General where it becomes important to show your drug policy reform bona fides The presumed Democratic frontrunner for attorney general is facing questions from critics who accuse her of flip - flopping on a progressive touchstone: Rockefeller -era drug law reform. [...] [Kathleen] Rice, Nassau County's district attorney, insisted at a recent candidates forum in Brooklyn she has always supported efforts to roll back parts of the ultraharsh 1973 -era laws. That claim startled reform advocates who quickly noted she was a board member of the state District Attorneys Association when it lobbied against the most recent reforms enacted last year. [ ..] Rice spokesman Eric Philips insisted Rice "disagreed with the [DA) association's overall opposition to the reforms" — but he admitted she didn't °publidy rebuke its anti - reform efforts. Phillips said Rice would have voted yes to the 2009 reforms if she had been in the Legislature. He said she has "always" supported alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders and started a successful community -based diversion program in 2008. "We look forward to working with the [Drug Policy] Alliance on these issues in the future," Phillips said "It is my hope that they will take a moment to look at her record, which I believe they will find incredibly innovative and progressive on the issues they care most about." I like this. I have no opinion of Rice, but I love the idea of politicians feeling the political heat to be known as drug policy reformers and to want to please drug policy reform organizations. fbllo.! /www.hawaiinolice. om /ar hiv /Ar hiv . 001ld Ot /puns shooting 12 -23 -01 html HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION ASSISTANT CHIEF WENDELL PAIVA PHONE: 961 -2346 DECEMBER 23, 2001 C BI BSE Criminal Investigation Section detectives have initiated a homicide investigation into the shooting of a 39- year -old resident of xupono Street in Leilani Estates subdivision, Puna, Hawaii by a police officer. The incident occurred fronting his residence on Saturday, December 22, 2001, at approximately 1:51 P.M. The police officer is described as a 37- year -old male with three years police experience and is assigned to the Puna District station. Criminal Investigation Section detectives have also initiated the following criminal investigations: Burglary in the First Degree One count Assault in the Second Degree One count Attempted Assault in the Second Degree One count Assault in the Third Degree stemming from a confrontation with the 39 -year old Kupono Street male and his 32- year -old female companion with members of a Leilani Estates family. The 32- year -old female was transported to Hilo Medical Center by Fire Department Paramedics for injuries she sustained after members of the family involved forced their way into the Kupono Street residence and assaulted her. She was treated for her injuries and later released from the Hilo Medical Center. Criminal Investigation Section and Internal Affairs detectives continue to investigate the various criminal aspects preceding the shooting incident as well as the shooting itself. An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday, December 26, 2001, to determine the exact cause of death in this case. The identification of the 39- year -old male is pending fingerprint comparison and notification of next of kin. http:! /www.hawaiipolice.com/ archives /Archive2001 /dec01 /puna shootinq 12 - 27 - 01 html HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION CAPTAIN JAMES DAY PHONE: 961 -2255 DECEMBER 27, 2001 dFDTA RPT UPnATE Hawaii County Police Department continues to investigate the officer involved shooting of Santiago Vasquez which occurred on December 22, 2001. Today December 27, 2001, Criminal Investigation Division detectives executed a search warrant on a residence at Leilani Estates in the Puna District. The following individuals were arrested at the residence. 1. Leroy E. Kahee, M -46, for Burglary, Assault (2 Counts) 2. Yvonne M. Samson, F -49, for Burglary, Assault 3. Kawika B. Kahee, M -18, for Burglary, Assault 4. Keola M. Kahee, M -20, for Burglary, Assault The search warrant and arrests are a result of the incident that occurred on December 22, 2001, at 13 -3441 Kupono Street in Leilani Estates, where Satinago Vasquez was fatally shot by a uniformed Puna patrol police officer assigned to the incident. Vasquez was shot after he failed to comply with the officer's order to drop a knife he was wielding against members of the Kahee family. The investigation of the shooting reveals that prior to the officers arrival the individuals identified above, all family members, proceeded to Vaquez's residence forcibly entered and physically assaulted Vasquez and a female party at the residence. This incident was a result of a domestic dispute between another member of the Kahee family, who was not present at the time of the shooting, the female party and Vasquez. As a result of the search warrant, cases for Promoting a Dangerous Drug, Detrimental Drug and Drug Paraphernalia were also initiated. The criminal and internal investigations are continuing. http: / /www hawaiipolice.com /archives /Archive2001 /dec01 /Duna shooting 12- 28- 01.html HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION CAPTAIN JAMES DAY PHONE: 961 -2255 DECEMBER 28, 2001 MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE Hawaii County Police Department continues to investigate the officer involved shooting of Santiago Vasquez which occurred on December 22, 2001. Three of the four individuals who were arrested on December 27, 2001, after the service of a search warrant on their residence on Kupono Street in Leilani Estates have been charged for the following offenses: 1. Leroy E. Kahee, M -46, for Burglary, Assault (2 counts), Promoting a Detrimental Drug. Bail for all charges is $9,100. 2. Yvonne M. Samson, F -49, for Burglary, Assault, Promoting a Detrimental Drug, Drug Paraphernalia. Bail for all charges is $3,600. 3. Kawika B. Kahee, M -18, for Burglary, Assault. Bail for all charges is $2,500. Keola m. Kahee, M -20, was released pending further investigation for Burglary and Assault. The criminal and internal affairs investigations are still continuing. Victim in Saturday's police shooting identified Hilo police have identified a 39- year -old man shot by a Puna officer on Saturday as Santiago Vazquez. Police said Vazquez died of a gunshot wound to the chest during a dispute on Kupono Street in the Leilani Estates subdivision of Puna. The officer who shot Vazquez has been placed on administrative leave, police said. Criminal Investigation and Internal Affairs detectives are investigating the case http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/02/06/news/briefs.html [COURTS] Family of Big Isle man shot by cop files lawsuit The family of a Big Island man fatally shot by a police officer in December when he refused an order to drop the dagger he was wielding has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer and the county. Santiago Vasquez, 39, was killed December 22 after Officer John Weber responded to a disturbance call at Vasquez' Leilani Estates home. Three members of another family apparently had forced their way into Vasquez's home and attacked him and a woman. Weber arrived at the home to find Vasquez fighting the intruders with a knife. He was shot allegedly after ignoring orders to drop the weapon. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court yesterday, alleges the County of Hawaii failed to properly train Weber, 37, and that he used excessive force when he shot Vasquez twice. The family claims Vasquez was acting in self- defense from his attackers and that the shooting was reckless and unjustified tpalwww.hawaiipolice com/ archives /Archive2001 /dec01 /pupa shooting 19- 22- 01.html HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION ASSISTANT CHIEF WENDELL PAIVA PHONE: 961 -2346 DECEMBER 22, 2001 (WnTA RELBAS i Criminal Investigation Section detectives are investigating an officer involved shooting that occurred shortly before 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 22, 2001, at Rupono Street, Leilani Estates Subdivision, Puna, Hawaii. The shooting occurred when Puna Patrol officers responded to a disturbance call at a residence located at Rupono Street. Upon arrival at the residence police observed a male, later identified as a resident of the Rupono Street house, armed with a military type dagger. The male was observed to have been attacking another male and was ordered by a police officer to drop the weapon. The male disregarded the officer's command and was observed slashing the knife at the other male person. The officer then shot the male holding the knife. The male suspect as tentatively identified as a 39- year -old male who resided at the Rupono Street, residence. He was transported to the Hilo Medical Center by Fire Department Paramedics and was later pronounced dead. Criminal Investigation Section detectives continue to investigate the circumstances of the disturbance which caused officers to respond to the location as well as the circumstances of the shooting. Internal Affairs personnel are also conducting an administrative investigation in the facts of the shooting. b(pY /archivesstarbulletin com /9007/01 /AO /newstbriefs html Hilo police officer honored for pot busts Big Island police officer John Weber, who works in the Hilo Vice Section, received a distinguished- service award from the Office of National Drug Control Policy recently. Its director, John P. Walters, presented Weber with a citation and a plaque during a White House ceremony in the Old Executive Building on Jan. 18. The citation recognizes Weber for his "professional achievement in the superior pertormance of his duties" last year. During 2006, Weber initiated 27 search warrants for marijuana growing operations, Big Island police said. The warrants led to 57 arrests; the seizure of 8,228 marijuana plants, 24 weapons, $35,000 in cash and three homes; and the eradication of 13 large indoor marijuana growing operations and 14 outdoor operations. Weber serves as "Rappel Master" during marijuana eradication operations and has been directly involved in the eradication of 35,695 marijuana plants in Hawaii County and 2,400 plants in the U.S. territories of Guam and Saipan. This was the second year in a row that a Big Island police officer received an individual award from the White House, which also handed out group awards to various law enforcement teams for their marijuana eradication efforts. Last year, the White House honored officer Robert Hironaka. Plummeting Marijuana Prices Create A Panic In Calif. by Michael Montgomery May 15, 2010 For decades, illegal marijuana cultivation has been an economic lifeblood for three counties in northern California known as the Emerald Triangle. The war on drugs and frequent raids by federal drug agents have helped support the local economy — keeping prices for street sales of pot high and keeping profits rich. But high times are changing. Legal pot, under the guise of the California's medical marijuana laws, has spurred a rush of new competition. As a result, the wholesale price of pot grown in these areas is plunging. Demand Not Meeting Supply In 1983, the Reagan administration launched a massive air and ground campaign to eradicate pot and lock up growers in northern California. Charley Custer, a writer and community activist, had just arrived to Humboldt County from Chicago. With the Reagan crackdown, Custer recalls, wholesale prices shot up — to as high as $5,000 a pound. That sudden and ironic windfall for those growers willing to risk prison time transformed the community. What's happening is the people that don't have quality product aren't selling it. So they're the ones that are creating this panic. So it really comes back down to that, just like in every other agricultural industry. When you get too many vineyards and too many people growing vines out there, then only the good ones make it. - Tim Blake, former underground grower who now cultivates medical marijuana "A lot of people were living on welfare and peanut butter and banana sandwiches for a long time before pot made it possible to be part of the middle class, "Custer says. Nearly 30 years later, Custer says that boom may be over. "Outdoor growers are having a hard time unloading their fall harvest," Custer says. And this is six months later and when some people do move it, they don't get nearly the price they were hoping for " That goes for both legal growers who cultivate limited quantities of pot under the medical marijuana laws and illegal operators who often grow larger amounts. Prices are now much less than $2,000 a pound, according to interviews with more than a dozen growers and dealers. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman says some growers can't get rid of their processed pot at any price. "We arrested a man who had ... 800 pounds of processed," Allman says. "Eight hundred pounds of processed. And we asked him: What are you going to do with 800 pounds of processed ?' And he said, 'I don't know. "' 'Only The Good Ones Make If As recently as last December, things were stilt pretty upbeat. At Area 101, an events and healing center near Laytonville, local growers gathered to celebrate the Emerald Cup, an annual competition for the season's best pot buds. But the event's host, Tim Blake, says the mood has darkened since then. "There's a tremendous amount of concern, borderlining on fear, says the former underground grower who now cultivates medical marijuana He says the drop in pot prices is in part the result of more growers and a more tolerant legal landscape. But he says another factor is quality. Indoor -grown marijuana is increasingly favored by dispensaries and consumers for its looks, consistence and potency. It costs more to produce than pot grown under the sun, but commands as much as double the price. That's one reason retail prices haven't hit the skids "What's happening is the people that don't have quality product aren't selling it,' Blake says. "So they're the ones that are creating this panic. So it really comes back down to that, just like in every other agricultural industry. When you get too many vineyards and too many people growing vines out there, then only the good ones make it." Matt Cohen is one of those growers who are making it. On an organic farm near Ukiah, Cohen raises chickens, grows vegetables and cultivates high -grade medical pot. He has avoided the downturn by distributing marijuana directly to patients. But other growers who rely on middlemen and dealers for legal and illegal sales are in financial trouble. "And I know people, and they're living from credit card to credit card " Cohen says. "They're not even making money. It's just a lifestyle that they're in and the alternative is to go do what ?" Instability And Anxiety In recent weeks the upheaval has spurred a series of unprecedented public forums about where things are headed for the marijuana industry, especially if Californians vote to legalize pot this fall. The displacement of persons deriving supplemental income through clipping, gardening and distribution of marijuana dwarfs the number of growers who will lose their income entirely," says local activist Anna Hamilton, who organized a gathering in Garberville. She says the broader community is already feeling the ripple effects of falling pot prices. Also By Michael Montgomery : u .r-:.o "There are business foreclosures, storefronts closing. There's a lot of instability and anxiety," she says. Still, amid the turmoil, Custer says some locals haven't lost their sense of humor. He recalls a recent musical revue where three performers in miniskirts, sunglasses and spiky heels mocked the plight of local pot growers all to the beat of the '60s hit "My Boyfriend's Back? "'My dealer's back and I'm gonna get ready/Hey now, hey now, my dealer's back, "' Custer sings. "It was a song of hope in this hopeless situation. 'It'll happen to you. Your dealer will come back. "' Or maybe not. California's pot economy is transforming, and it's starting to resemble a real commodities market where only big players can compete. It's a shift that could leave some growers in the dust. Produced as part of a collaboration between member station KQffaand the Center for Investigative Reporting's California Watch. Another mother killed unforgivable end swat raids in Hawaii county now That police hold guns to children's heads in Hawaii county and argue that is appropriate is unbelievable and a tragedy waiting to happen further it is not necessary For a family, drug raid went terribly wrong By DAVID HUNT The Times- Union, AMELIA ISLAND - At the end of a dead -end dirt road in this quiet oceanside community, wind flutters through the leaves of trees standing so close they could have seen everything that happened. Cheryl Ann Stillwell spent her final days here in solitude, but not in peace. By the time narcotics investigators broke down her front door and shot her to death, the 41- year -old computer engineer was out of work, nursing a painful disability and growing paranoid of the neighborhood. She told family that she watched drug deals through her window and wanted them to stop She set up surveillance and security equipment, even propping a couch behind the front door to keep it closed if someone broke the lock. For protection, she offered to rent her family's brick house next door at a discount to police officers, but found no takers. in the end, it was a drug raid that killed her. Dressed in tactical garb and armed with submachine guns, Nassau County detectives, assisted by federal agents, carried out a search warrant at her home early Dec. 22, believing it to contain a stash of prescription narcotics that someone there was selling illegally. "Why did they do it the way they did it ?" asked Anna D. Renshaw, Stillwell's mother. "If she had a cocaine factory or a crack factory, you could understand it, but she didn't have anything like that." Authorities have their side of the story, backed by a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation determining no abuse of deadly force. Officers say they knocked and announced themselves as police, but Stillwell took aim with a loaded handgun and Nassau County detective Dallas Palecek had to shoot to protect himself and the others. Stillwell took her story to the grave, leaving her family to wonder in disbelief. Two pills? A search warrant application dated Dec. 14 states a drug informant bought Oxycontin from an "unknown white female" at the white cottage on Midway Road where Stillwell lived. It doesn't list a price or volume of drugs Stillwell's father had given her the house. She meant to fix it up, but an accident at work left her unable to do much of anything. She was prescribed Oxycontin for pain. Family members refuse to believe that her prescription made her a drug dealer and have developed theories as to how the house became a target of an investigation. "It was two pills she gave to somebody," said J. Doyle Wright, Stillwell's brother. "Somebody told her that they couldn't get their prescription filled for a couple of days and, when they did, they'd give the pills back to her." The drug informant used in the investigation has not come forward to say whose version of the transaction is true Wright said he believes Palecek, who fired the burst of four bullets that killed Stillwell, was just doing his job. He blames his sister's death on a poor chain-of-command decision. "They knew she was protective and they knew she had a gun, but someone in the Sheriff's Office said, 'OK, send in the SWAT team and shoot to kill.' ... You give me a gun and tell me to kick somebody's door in and I'm going to be ready to shoot," he said. "Whoever it was that said, 'This is the way you do this' - that's who I want to talk to." The search Sheriff Tommy Seagraves said Stillwell's death was a tragic consequence in a dangerous line of work: drug policing. Her house was among several in an unrelated number of searches that morning. "I didn't want to see this happen, but I didn't want to see my officers get shot, either. That lady pointed a loaded gun at them," Seagraves said "cm a human being. I don't want anybody to lose their life, but at the same time, we had a job to do." A search warrant inventory states officers found pill bottles and blister packs but did not specify whether actual drugs were found. Seagraves said drugs were found but the family believes anything seized was not illegal "It's legal for her to have Oxycontin, but it's illegal for her to sell it," Seagraves said. The shooting Four bullets from Palecek's UMP -40 struck Stillwell in the right leg, chest and face. She was pronounced dead at 8:45 a.m. at Shands Jacksonville hospital. Initially, Seagraves said Stillwell fired first. The state probe into the inddent determined that her gun went off after she was shot. Based on testimony given to state investigators, Palecek fired when Stillwell's finger twitched on her 9mm's trigger. State Attorney Harry Shorstein sent a letter to Seagraves April 26 saying Palecek would not face criminal charges. "A law enforcement officer may use deadly force when he reasonably believes the force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or others," the letter read. A memo from Assistant State Attorney Granville C. Burgess dated March 14 said there was no basis for prosecution but questions the tactics of the raid. As far as this team knew they were executing a search warrant on a single white female with no violent history, who had sold one time a minor amount of drugs," Burgess' memo said "If they had had background information I am sure they would have approached it differently." Seagraves points back to the search warrant application, which said an "unknown white female" sold the drugs. He said there is no law determining how a search warrant is carried out and that his department has not crafted any policies in response to the shooting. "We were searching the house, not serving an arrest warrant," Seagraves said. "We didn't know what we were dealing with " Burgess' memo continues: "I do question, given the lighting and distance, how detective Palecek saw this finger movement." After several weeks of administrative leave, Palecek retumed to work. An attempt to contact him was unsuccessful. Final days According to investigative documents, Stillwell had brandished her gun before. She pulled it when a woman tried to serve foreclosure papers days before the raid. In 2003, she was arrested for threatening a TV technician at gunpoint. "I knew the woman, not real well. I talked to her a couple of times. She was real protective of her property," said neighbor Phil Wentz. "She seemed like a really nice woman. She just didn't want anyone corning in and out of there." In the last conversation Stillwell had with her father, she told him about the drug activity outside Wentz, who's lived there for nearly four years, acknowledged a problem that has since gone away. Seagraves said he does not recall Stillwell calling the police for help, as she had told her father she did. The last time I spoke to her, she told me what was going on and I said: 'Cheryl, stay out of it. You're going to get hurt, ' Harold Stillwell said He and Wright suspect her death was not a coincidence, but offer no supportive evidence. "She didn't deserve what happened to her," Wright said. "She must have had something on someone." "I think that's ludicrous " Seagraves said. "We're out here enforcing the law." Aftermath The family has vowed to sue. Fernandina Beach attorney Dan McCranie gave county officials notice in February of the impending civil action, but so far nothing has been filed. Months ago, the family circulated a petition calling the incident the "home invasion of a handicapped woman." Roughly 800 people signed it. "We were trying to do anything we could to get it from being swept under the rug," Renshaw said. "All we care about is stopping this from happening to somebody else." Outside Renshaw's Jacksonville home, Stil!well's yellow Nissan truck sits in the driveway. Her orphaned Doberman, Nova, barks next door. "I don't even look out my window anymore," Renshaw, 69, said. 9 don't want to know what's going on. It's a shame at my age to be afraid of a policeman." Grand mother shot and killed Police unrepentant Van Zweiten's brother, Bill George, said his sister had recently received threats and was afraid of break - ins. "It was an unlawful shooting," he said. "She's 98 pounds. She was just trying to protect herself. I would come out of my room with a gun too? A 98 pound grand mother threatened a swat team I find that hard to believe and with all the lies I have seen the police tell in Hawaii county drug raids I do not believe these police officers....The story really just does not make sense....... members of a Broward County Sheriff's Office SWAT team and its Selective nfor ment T am in Pompano Beach. Florida. shot and killed Brenda Van Zweiten 52 during a drug raid on her home. Police had developed evidence that drugs were being sold from the residence, and obtained a search warrant. After allegedly identifying themselves as police, they broke through a sliding glass door to a bedroom and arrested Van Zweiten's boyfriend, Gary Nunnemacher, 47, on charges of possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana. Van Zweiten was in a different bedroom, and was shot and killed by deputies when she emerged holding a handgun According to police, she refused to put down her weapon, so they shot her. Police reported finding one gram of heroin, four grams of crack cocaine, marijuana, marijuana plants, 40 generic Xanax tablets, $550 cash, two shotguns, and a rifle. Family members said Van Zweiten had a prescription for Xanax, but was not a drug dealer. But police had earlier in the day arrested three people leaving the home who they say had bought drugs there -- although police did not say from whom. After Van Zweiten's killing police were unrepentant. "When you approach a police officer with a loaded weapon and don't put the weapon down, there's going to be consequences," sheriff's spokesman Mike Jachles said. "It's unfortunate, but I'd rather be talking about a dead suspect than a dead cop." Van Zweiten's brother, Bill George, said his sister had recently received threats and was afraid of break - ins. "It was an unlawful shooting," he said. "She's 98 pounds. She was just trying to protect herself I would come out of my room with a gun too." As news of Van Zweiten's death spread, friends neighbors and family members expressed dismay and disbelief. They called the inddent a "set up" and said the blonde grandmother was affectionately called "Mom" by many who knew her for using her home as a neighborhood hangout to keep kids off the streets. Dozens of people gathered in her yard near a flower - bedecked cross put up as a memorial. "Look at these people," said George. "She helped so many of these young people." "She was like a second mom to me," said Michael Miller, 18. "She would take in anybody." "There was no reason for this," said son Rob Singleton, 32. Van Zwieten had no criminal history involving drugs or violence, state records show. George said that Van Zweiten had reason to fear intruders because she had been threatened recently by a man accused of stealing watches and rings that were part of a shrine to two of her four sons, who had died within the past three years, one in a traffic accident, one of a drug overdose. She had just installed an alarm system last week, George said. "She was scared." Singleton showed reporters inside the house, including the small bedroom where she was shot. A large puddle of blood remained on the floor, and the walls and ceiling were splattered with blood -- from his mother's head, he said. "She was probably running into the closet and trying to hide," he said. As is all too typical in such raid, police also totally trashed the house. As the Sun - Sentinel reported: "Much of the interior of the three - bedroom house looked as if it had been hit by a tornado .. Drawers were pulled from dressers, clothes were scattered, a bed was overturned, food and crockery had been knocked from kitchen cabinets." The shrine to her dead sons was also destroyed, Singleton said. Two Broward County Sheriff's Office detectives are on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. They have not been named. Pompano Beach grandmother killed by deputies in drug raid A raid on a suspected drug den in Pompano Beach ended with four arrests and one person dead. BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ dmoskovitz@MiamiHerald.com Deputies shot and killed a 52- year -old grandmother and made several arrests Saturday during a raid on a suspected drug house in Pompano Beach Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said deputies fired at Brenda Van Zwieten after she refused to drop her 357 Magnum handgun. They later found the gun was loaded. Van Zwieten's family said she kept the gun out of fear because of a burglary in her home The BSO said the investigation began when it got an anonymous tip that Van Zwieten's home in the 300 block of Southwest 18th Court was a drug house BSO's Selective Enforcement Team gathered evidence and got a search warrant. BSO's SWAT team also took part in the raid, Lamberti said First, BSO arrested three people who came out of the home carrying narcotics, Lamberti said. Deputies confirmed that the people bought drugs from the Van Zwieten home, he said. The three were Chaylenne Pallazzo, 21, of Pompano Beach; Patrick Banks, 18, of Pompano Beach; and Jorge Lopez 23 whose home address was unknown. Then deputies went into the Van Zwieten house. Deputies announced themselves, then burst in through a sliding glass door where they found Van Zwieten's boyfriend. Gary Nunnemacher, 47, gave himself up without inddent and was arrested for possession of marijuana. Deputies also found Van Zwieten, holding the handgun, and they told her to put down her weapon. She refused, which led them to fire. -- She chose to grab her weapon and point it at our SWAT members," Lamberti said. Inside the home, deputies found two shotguns, a rifle, the handgun, 1 gram of heroin, 4 grams of crack, marijuana, marijuana plants, 40 generic Xanax pills and $550cash. Van Zwieten's family spent Saturday sorting through the mess left behind in the home, the blood stains still fresh on the bedroom floor. They said Van Zwieten had raised four sons -- and already lost two, one in an accidental overdose, another in a car crash. She loved being a grandmother and children's toys littered her front yard. There might have been marijuana in the house and Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, because she had a prescription for the latter, said her son, 32- year -old Robert Lee Singleton. But the family refused to believe she was the owner of the rest of the drugs. "She would break my heart if she did that," her brother, Bill George, said. The two deputies involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard procedure. BSO homicide and internal affairs detectives will investigate Read more: t>ffn: / /www.miamiherafd.com /20 1 0 /0311 4/ 1 5 2 84 5 2 /g0mpann- heath- grandmother- k i l l ed. ht m I#i xzz o o G O M 3 rv6 Police claim, the botched drug raid that sent the old lady to the hospital with a heart attack? Police say it wasn't a botched raid — that they merely knocked on her door, invited themselves inside to ask her some questions, and rendered assistance when she fell ill. Police have confirmed that Pruett has no connection or relationship of any kind to Washington. Dodd said Pruett's home was never part of the drug investigation, but was on the warrant because the DEA, which was in charge, had obtained information leading agents to believe Washington lived at the address. "We were there to serve an arrest warrant. While we were there, she had a heart attack. We rendered aid," Dodd said So . 12 police surrounded a home because the DEA thought a bad guy lived there, even though the home was never part of the investigation, and the bad guy had no connection to the lady who lived there. Nope. Not botched at all. WSB News Woman Hospitalized Following Botched Raid By Jon Lewis @ May 13, 2010 6:52 AM Permalink I Comments (2Q) (WSB Radio) An elderly Polk County woman is hospitalized in critical condition after suffering a heart attack when drug agents swarm the wrong house Machelle Holl tells WSB her 76- year -old mother, Helen Pruett, who lives alone, was at home when nearly a dozen local and federal agents swarmed her house, thinking they were about to arrest suspected drug dealers. "She was at home and a bang came on the back door and she went to the door and by the time she got to the back door, someone was banging on the front door and then they were banging on her kitchen window saying police, police," said HoII. Holl says her house was surrounded and she was scared to open the door. When the Polk County Police Chief finally convinced her she was safe, she let them in. "They never served her with a warrant. At that point, she said the phones were ringing with the other men that were in the yard and they realized that it was the wrong address " said Holt. Chief Kenny Dodd says they realized the subject they were looking for was not there. She made us aware that she was having chest pains and we got her medical attention. I stayed with her and kept her calm and talked with her, monitored her vital signs until the ambulance arrived," said Dodd. "My mother has had a heart attack. She has had congestive heart failure and she is in ICU at the moment. She is not good condition and her heart is working only 35 percent," said Holl. Holl admits that her mother has had three heart attacks but has been doing well for the past couple of years. "She was traumatized. Even the doctor said this is what happens when something traumatic happens He said it's usually like a death in the family or something like that just absolutely scares them half to death, and that is what has happened," said Holl Police say they have had her mother's home under surveillance for two years. Holl says if that's true, how could police get the wrong address? "We have just found out from a neighbor that they (police) went into some other elderly woman's home who was on oxygen and took her oxygen off of her and scared her half to death," said Holl. Holl remembers the Kathyrn Johnston, the elderly woman shot to death in a botched drug raid in Atlanta, and thinks thinks this kind of thing happens too often. They have totally made a really bad mistake. You would think that with the officers and the SWAT team and the DEA they would make sure that all of their Is are dotted, all of their T's are crossed before they go bursting into someone's home like that," said Holl. Dodd says he has gone to the hospital to check on Pruett and apologize to the family for what has happened. Police did end up making seven drug arrests relating to the two year investigation, but the DEA is investigating to see how this mix -up happened. Police smash down door of wrong house in drugs raid Another mother and child traumatized for Ide For a failed drug war that has only made thing worse How can anyone justify this with a straight face its un American to terrorize our people especially women and children There are so many of these stories I got to upset to print anymore There is something very wrong with this... We are telling the truth about what was done to us during the Hawaii county marijuana raids why don't they take pictures of the plants or video the raids.. I think it is so they can get away with what they are really doing....... Published Date 12 January 2008 Source Northants Evening Telegraph Police smash down door of wrong house in drugs raid A MOTHER and her three - year -old son watched in horror as police smashed their way into their home during a drugs raid at the wrong address Officers smashed the window and broke down the door to the house in Highfield Road, Kettering, as Michelle Kightley and her son were inside. It was only after the six officers had started searching the house that Mrs Kightley told them they must have the wrong address, the warrant was checked and the mistake came to light. Her husband Steven, who was not at home at the time on Tuesday morning, said: "Michelle was feeding our son when three unmarked ponce cars pulled up. "Police officers smashed the window of the door but they couldn't get in so they carried on hitting it before they came barging in. "They dived straight in and three of them ran upstairs while three searched downstairs. They did a complete search of the house and found nothing. The officers were just about to bring the police dogs in when Michelle asked them if they had got the address mixed up. Then they checked the warrant and saw they had the wrong address " It was at that point the officers left the house and went to the correct address where they arrested one person for possession of Class A drugs and another was cautioned for possession of Class C drugs. Mr Kightley, 35, explained that the sergeant who was leading the operation returned later that day to apologise. He said: "He couldn't apologise more. We have filed a complaint and it's being looked into. They said it was human error but that's not helping my wife; she's a nervous wreck. "We had to get the duct or out so she could get some tablets for her nerves." He added: We detest drugs. With five children, we would never have drugs in the house or anyone who uses drugs. What must the neighbours think? "It looks like we're criminals." The house is council -owned so Kettering Council had to make emergency repairs to make the house sate It will be charging Northamptonshire Police for the repairs. A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: We can confirm officers mistakenly broke down the door of a property in Highfield Road Kettering, during the execution of a drugs warrant. "Northamptonshire Police is very sorry for the distress caused to the family concerned and does not like errors to be made. "Officers apologised directly to the family at the time of the incident and returned to the property again later to give reassurance that the property was not under suspicion." Columbia Police Department still dealing with backlash about SWAT raid So has Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton learned anything from the incident? "I hate the Internet," (people knowing the truth) Monday, May 10, 2010 1 9:51 p.m. CDT Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton answers a reporter's question during a press conference Monday afternoon at the Columbia Police Department. Burton was discussing the recent incident in which a SWAT entered a Columbia residence while serving a search warrant. SWAT officers shot and killed a pit bull inside the residence. The wife and child of the warrant's defendant were both inside the residence at the time the SWAT team entered. 1 Joshua Bickel BY Allison Heisdorffec Matt Pearce COLUMBIA — For the second time in less than a week, Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton stood in front of reporters and announced changes in the way his department uses a SWAT team. "We did some things wrong," Burton said at the Monday afternoon press conference held at the Columbia Police Department. "And I'm telling you, it won't happen again." Several officers packed the doorways behind the press corps, listening to their chief as he outlined changes he called "unpopular" among some in the department. The changes include: • A captain in charge of the area where the raid is to take place has to approve the operation. • The location has to be under constant surveillance once the warrant has been issued. • A raid is not to take place when children are present except "under the most extreme circumstances," Burton said. "We will always police with common sense," he said. However, it's yet to be seen whether the latest adjustments will stem the backlash over a case that has thrown the departments little - publicized SWAT team into the spotlight and raised questions about several of the departments' policies. The department has faced criticism — and even received death threats — since a video of a Feb. 11 drug raid on a Columbia man's home was posted on the Internet. The video captured the sound of Jonathan Whitworth's pit bull, Nola, being fatally shot by SWAT team of at least eight officers. The Whitworths' Welsh corgi was also injured during the raid, which took place with Whitworth's wife and 7- year -old son in the home The raid came eight days after police obtained the warrant on tips from two confidential informants. Police suspected Whitworth of dealing a large amount of marijuana but only found a pipe and what police described as a misdemeanor amount of the drug. Whitworth later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and was fined $300 He has not tiled a lawsuit or a complaint with the department, and his lawyer, Jeff Hilbrenner, said Monday that Whitworth was still considering all his options. Hilbrenner said Whitworth had received offers from strangers "all across the country" to set up a legal fund for him, or to buy him a new dog. But though Whitworth's criminal case may be dosed, his file was in the office of Associate Circuit Judge Larry Bryson on Monday morning, according to the Boone County Courthouse derk's office. Bryson presided over Whitworth's criminal case. Typically, unless there's a hearing scheduled, the case file is available in the clerk's office for public viewing. An explanation was neither available nor apparent. Judges are not allowed to comment on individual cases Adding to the intrigue was the possibility of a high- profile test for the Citizens Police Review Board, which could come from a complaint filed by someone not involved in Whitworth's case. Anyone is allowed to fie a comma with the department if they are dissatisfied with police conduct, said Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jessie Haden Haden called a complaint "superfluous" since the department is still wrapping up its internal investigation, expected to be completed later this week. But once the internal review is complete, the path could be open for a complaint about the review's findings that can be appealed to the review board, said board chairwoman Ellen LoCurto - Martinez. "We can't do anything at this point as far as an actual investigation, but we are supposed to review Police Department policies and procedures " said LoCurto-Martinez. The review board has also moved their 7 p.m. Wednesday meeting from the Armory Sports and Community Center to the council chambers in City Hall. "We're expecting a lot of people from the public to be attending, so we wanted to find a place that was a bit larger," said LoCurto- Martinez, who also said the board had been swamped with letters and a -mails from people across the nation who are outraged by the incident. Mayor Bob McDavid and Chief Burton are expected to attend the meeting. Burton also said he expected to present his policy changes to the board soon, but purely as a review; the changes have already been implemented. The public feedback is also expected to spill over to next week's City Council meeting. According to Carol Rhodes, who works in the City Manager's office, at least eight people had signed up to speak about the incident by Monday afternoon. The rancor that has accumulated around the SWAT raid — the video had amassed almost 900,000 hits on YouTube as of Monday night — may be due to the fact that the incident has struck a nerve with a broad cut of the public. In Monday's press conference, Burton said feedback to the department seemed to be coming from three discrete groups, some of whom he believed were reacting to bad information. "The biggest group seems to be the marijuana legalization advocates," Burton said, who he urged to lobby policymakers if they wanted a change in the law. The next group were animal rights advocates. Burton lamented the death of the Whitworth's pit bull, but had a do- what - you - gotta -do outlook on the SWAT team's handling of dogs, calling human safety the "primary" concern. And the last group? "The last group is the people that hate us anyway, for whatever reason," Burton said. "And I don't put any stock into what they say. There are cop haters out there, and that's just something we'll have to live with." While the incident has prompted decision- making changes in handling of drug raids — such as Burton's Thursday announcement that raids would now be served within eight hours after police obtain a warrant — the department's policies on the tactical treatment of dogs and suspects remain unchanged. So has Burton learned anything from the incident? "1 hate the Internet," he deadpanned. Missourian reporter Anne Christnovich contributed to this report. Police admitted their mistake, saying faulty information from a drug informant contributed to the death of John Adams Wednesday night. They intended to raid the home next door Opps... how is this not murder? Man Dies in Police Raid on Wrong House Man Killed During a Raid on the Wrong House A 61- year -old man was shot to death by police while his wife was handcuffed in another room during a drug raid on the wrong house. Police admitted their mistake, saying faulty information from a drug informant contributed to the death of John Adams Wednesday night. They intended to raid the home next door. The two officers, 25-year -old Kyle Shedran and 24- year -old Greg Day, were placed on administrative leave with pay. °They need to get rid of those men, boys with toys," said Adams' 70- year -old widow, Loraine John Adams was watching television when his wife heard pounding on the door. Police claim they identified themselves and wore police jackets. Loraine Adams said she had no indication the men were police. "I thought it was a home invasion. I said 'Baby, get your gun!," she said, sitting amid friends and relatives gathered at her home to cook and prepare for Sunday's funeral. Resident Fired First Police say her husband fired first with a sawed -off shotgun and they responded. He was shot at least three times and died later at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Loraine Adams said she was handcuffed and thrown to her knees in another room when the shooting began. "I said, 'Y'all have got the wrong person, you've got the wrong place. What are you looking for ? "' "We did the best surveillance we could do, and a mistake was made " Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks said. "It's a very severe mistake, a costly mistake. It makes us look at our own policies and procedures to make sure this never occurs again." He said, however, the two policemen were not at fault. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating. NAACP officials said they are monitoring the case Adams was black. The two policemen are white. Family members did not consider race a factor and Weeks agreed, but said the shooting will be "a major setback" for police relations with the black community. • John Adams 64 years old Lebanon, Tennesse e October. 2000 Rev. Jonathan Ayers 28 years old Toccoa, Georgia Septembe f 2009 Shot to death during a SWAT drug raid while watching TV. The house didn't match the description on the warrant. After meeting with a parishioner who was under surveillance by drug cops, the pastor went to a Convenience store ATM. Coming out, he was confronted by men waving guns. He didn't know they were undercover cops, and was shot to death while driving off, fearing for his life. Xavier Bennett 8 years old Xavier was accidentally shot to death by officers in a pre -dawn drug raid Atlanta, during a gunfight with one of Xavier's relatives Georgia Novemhe r 1991 Delbert Bonnar 57 years old Shot 8 times by police in drug raid. They were looking for his son. Belpre, Ohio October 1998 Veronica Bowers 35 years old As part of a long- standing arrangement to stop drug shipments, U.S. Charity govemment tracking provided the information for the Peruvian Air Force Bowers to mistakenly shoot down a Cessna plane carrying missionaries. Killed in the incident were Roni Bowers, a missionary with the Association of 7 months Baptists for World Evangelism, and her daughter, Charity. In 2008, a old new report surfaced indicating widespread problems with the shoot - In the air down program that had been withheld from Congress by the CIA. over Peru Soil.. 2001 Rudolf() "Rudy" Cardenas 43 years old San Jose, California Fehruary 2444. Jose Colon 20 years old Suffolk, New York April ZnQZ Troy Davis 25 years old North Richland Hills, Texas Decembe r. 1999 Anthony Andrew Diotaiuto 23 years old Sunrise, lo Florida 811.9..". 2005 Annie Rae Dixon 84 years old Tyler, Texas January, 1993 Rudy was a father of five who was passing by a house targeted by narcotics officers attempting to serve a parole violation warrant and the police mistakenly thought he was the one they were there to arrest. They chased Cardenas, and he fled, apparently afraid of them (they were not uniformed). Cardenas was shot multiple times in the back. Dorothy Duckett, 78, told the Mercury News she looked out her fifth -floor window after hearing one gunshot and saw Cardenas pleading for his life. "I watched him running with his hands in the air. He kept saying, Don't shoot. Don't shoot,'° Duckett said. "He had absolutely nothing in his hands.° Jose was outside the house where he had come to repay a $20 debt when a drug raid on the house commenced. He was shot in the head by SWAT. During a no -knock raid to find some marijuana plants he was growing, he was shot to death in his living room. There are disputed accounts regarding whether he had a gun. Anthony worked two jobs to help pay for the house he lived in with his mother. He had permit for a concealed weapon because of the areas he traveled through for his night job. Sunrise police claimed that he had sold some marijuana, and because they knew he had a legal gun, decided to use SWAT. Neighbors claim that the police did not identify themselves. Police first claimed that Anthony pointed his gun at them, and later changed their story. Regardless, Anthony was dead with 10 bullets in him, and the police found 2 ounces of marijuana. Article. Bedridden with pneumonia during a drug raid. Officer kicked open her bedroom door and accidentally shot her Patrick Dorismon d 26 years old New York, New York March 2000 Patrick was a security guard who wanted to become a policeman. He was off-duty and unarmed when he went out with friends. Standing on the street looking for a taxi, he was approached by undercover police who asked to buy some marijuana from him. Patrick was offended by the request (he didn't use drugs), and a scuffle ensued. Dorismond was then shot to death by the police. Shirley Dorsey Rather than being compelled to testify against her 70- year -old boyfriend 56 years (Byron Stamate) for cultivating the medicinal cannabis she depended old upon to help control her crippling back pain, Shirley Dorsey committed Placervill suicide. She saw it as the only way to prevent the forfeiture of their e, home and property. Despite her suicide, Stamate was sentenced to 9 California months prison, and his home, cottage, and $177,000 life savings were Agrj, seized. 1991 Juan Mendoza Fernando Police found a variety of drugs when they raided the Fernandez' home. However, Juan apparently believed he was the victim of burglars during 60 years the raid, and was shot while trying to protect his 11- year -old old granddaughter. He and his wife had been married 36 years and had Dallas, four children and 13 grandchildren. Texas jptembe r 2000 Curt Ferryman 24 years Undercover agents were attempting to arrest Ferryman, who was in his old car and unarmed. A DEA agent knocked on the car window with his gun Jacksonvi to get the suspect's attention, and the gun went off, killing him as he sat Ile, in the car. Florida 6SUU L 2000 Derek A retired Marine Sergeant who served two tours in Iraq, was peacefully Hale sitting on the front stoop of a house, when police in unmarked cars who 25 years had him under surveillance (believing based on his acquaintances that old he might be part of a narcotics ring) pulled up and tasered him three Wilmingto times, causing him to go into convulsions and throw up. Because he n ' had not gotten his hand free from his jacket quickly enough (while Delaware convulsing) an officer then shot him point blank in the chest with three . Novemhe 40 caliber rounds. Hale's widow has r, 2006 Meg a civil lawsuit Willie Heard 46 years old Osawato mie, Kansas Eebruaiy. 1999 Clayton Helriggle 23 years old Eaton, Ohio to be r.2o02 Esequiel Hernande z 18 years old Redford, Texas kit 1997 SWAT conducted a no -knock drug raid, complete with flash -bang grenades. Heard was shot to death in front of his wife and 16- year -old daughter who had cried for help. Fearing home invasion, he was holding an empty rifle. The raid was at the wrong house. Clayton was shot to death while coming down the stairs during a suprise raid. He was carrying either a gun or a plastic cup, depending on the report. Less than an ounce of marijuana was found. Hernandez was shot and killed by a Marine sniper in camouflage who was part of a military unit conducting drug interdiction activities near the Mexican border. Esequiel was out herding his family's goats and had taken a break to shoot at some tin cans with his antique rifle. An unarmed man with no prior offenses was shot to death in his house John by a squad of masked police. In a no -knock raid, they tossed a smoke Hirko grenade in through a window, setting the house on fire. Hirko, 21 years suspected of dealing small amounts of marijuana and cocaine, was old found face down on his stairway, shot in the back while fleeing the Pennsylv burning building. When the fire was finally put out, officers found some ania marijuana seeds in an unsinged plastic bag. The Town of Bethlehem 1997 settled the resulting lawsuit for $7 million+ and an agreement to reform police department procedures and training. Lynette Gayle Jackson 29 years old Shot to death in her bed by SWAT team. Riverdale, Georgia ptembe r 2000 Kathyrn Johnston 88 years old Atlanta, Georgia Novembe r 2006 Kathryn lived in a rough neighborhood and a relative gave her a gun for protection When she noticed men breaking through her security bars into her house she fired a shot into the ceiling. They were narcotics officers and fired 39 shots back, killing her. The police had falsified information in order to obtain a no-knock search warrant based on incorrect information from a dealer they had framed. After killing Johnson and realizing that she was completely innocent, they planted some marijuana in the basement. Eventually their stories fell apart federal and state investigations learned the truth. Additional facts have come to light that this was not an isolated incident in the Atlanta police department. Officer Ron Officer Jones was in the process of serving a drug warrant, based on an Jones informant tip. While trying to enter the rear of a duplex, he broke into the 29 years wrong apartment and was shot by the resident Corey Maye, who had old no prior record and was protecting his daughter. No drugs were found. Prentiss, Maye was charged with capital murder, and sentenced to death. Mississip Coreyjyg was a Drug War Victim waiting to happen. Fortunately, his pi death sentence was eventually overturned and he is now serving life in Decembe prison. r 2001 Tony Martinez 19 years Officers conducted a drug raid on a mobile home in De Valle Martinez, old who was not the target of the raid, was asleep on the couch when the De Valle, raid commenced. Hearing the front door smashed open, he sat up, and Texas was shot to death in the chest. pecemhe r, 20001 Peter was a world- famous author and an advocate of medical Peter marijuana, not only because he believed in it in principle, but because it McWiliia was keeping him alive (he had AIDS and non - Hodgkins lymphoma). ms After California passed a law legalizing medical marijuana, Peter 50 years helped finance the efforts of Todd McCormick to cultivate marijuana for old distribution to those who needed it for medical reasons. Federal agents Laurel got wind of his involvement, and Peter was a target for his advocacy He Canyon, was arrested, and in federal court was prevented from mentioning his California medical condition or California's law. While he was on bail awaiting June sentencing, the prosecutors threatened to take away his mother's house 2000 (used for bail) if he failed a drug test, so he stopped using the marijuana which controlled his nausea from the medications and allowed him to keep them down. He was found dead on the bathroom floor, choked to death on his own vomit. Ismael Mena 45 years old Mena was killed when police barged into his house looking for drugs. Denver, They had the wrong address Colorado Se tembe r 1999 Pedro Oregon Navarro Following up on a tip from a drug suspect, 6 officers crowded into a 22 years hallway outside Navarro's bedroom. When the door opened, one officer old shouted that he had a gun. Navarro's gun was never fired, but officers Houston, fired 30 rounds, with 12 of them hitting Pedro. No drugs were found. Texas 1,yjjy 1998 Cheryl Substitute Sunday School Teacher Cheryl Noel possessed a registered Noel handgun, which she kept in her bedroom (9 years earlier, Cheryl has 44 years lost her 16- year -old stepdaughter in a shooting murder). On January 19, old just before 5 am, police burst into her home using flash -bang grenade Dunkalk, and battering ram looking for drugs. Both Cheryl and her husband were Maryland asleep in the master bedroom. Suddenly awake and fearing an armed January, intrusion, Cheryl grabbed her gun. Police kicked in the bedroom door 2005 and shot her 3 times. Mario Paz 65 years old Mario was shot twice in the back in his bedroom during a SWAT raid Compton, looking for marijuana. No drugs were found. California 1999 Charmen e Pickering Charmene was a passenger in a car driven by a drug suspect. State 27 years troopers and DEA agents were in the process of arresting the driver old when the trooper's gun went off and hit Charmene in the neck, killing Brooklyn, her. Both passenger and driver were unarmed. New York JJJ�, 2001 Manuel Ramirez Stockton, California January,, 1993 At 2 am, police smashed down the door and rushed into the home of Officer Manuel Ramirez, a retired golf course groundskeeper. Ramirez awoke, Arthur P. grabbed a pistol and shot and killed officer Arthur Parga before other Parga officers killed him. Police were raiding the house based on a tip that 32 years drugs were on the premises, but they found no drugs. old Stockton, California January„ 1993 Deputy Keith Ruiz Ruiz was a husband and father who was a veteran of numerous SWAT 36 years raids. In the process of serving a drug warrant, he was trying to break old down the door to a mobile home occupied by painter Edwin Delamora, Travis his wife, and two young children. Confused by the raid at night, County, Delamora yelled to his wife that they were being robbed and shot Texas through the door, killing Ruiz. pebruary 2001 Donald P. Scott 61 years old Malibu, California October 1992 Government agencies were interested in the property of this reclusive millionaire. A warrant was issued based on concocted "evidence" of supposed marijuana plantings, and a major raid was conducted with a 32 -man assault team. Scott was shot to death in front of his wife. No drugs were found. A later official report found: "It is the District Attorney's opinion that the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to seize and forfeit the ranch for the govemment. Based in part upon the possibility of forfeiture, Spencer obtained a search warrant that was not supported by probable cause. This search warrant became Donald Scott's death warrant." Alberto Sepulved a 11 years Alberto was killed by a shotgun blast to the back while following police old orders and lying face down on the floor during a SWAT raid. He was a Modesto, seventh - grader at Prescott Senior Elementary School. California Se ptembe r 2000 Isaac Singletar y Isaac lived in a rough neighborhood and often brought out his gun to 80 years chase off drug dealers. So when he saw a couple of low -lifes old conducting transactions on his lawn, he came out with it again and told Jacksonvi them to get off his property. Except they were undercover narcotics Ile, officers so they shot him Isaac managed to get a shot or two off in Florida response, but the officers were able to finish him off. January. 2007 Gary When a Kentucky drug task force came to uproot his marijuana plants in Shepherd August 1993, pot - grower and Vietnam vet Gary Shepherd told them, 45 years You will have to kill me first," took out his rifle and sat down on his front old porch. That evening he was shot dead in front of his infant son. Despite Broadhea the fact that Shepherd never fired a shot and his family was pleading d ' with authorities for negotiations, state police sharpshooters appeared Kentucky from the brush without warning and opened fire when he refused to 1993 drop his rifle. Alberta Spruill 57 years police, acting on a tip, forced their way into Spruill's home, setting off old flash grenades. She suffered a heart attack and died It was the wrong Harlem, address New York MAY- 2003 Ashley Villareal 14 years Ashley went outside at night with a family friend to move their freshly old washed car under shelter. DEA agents, interested in her father, were San staking out the house, and believing that her father was driving, shot Antonio, and killed Ashley. The agents did not have a warrant for her father. Texas Read The Murder of Ashley. February 2003 Kenneth Walker and three companions were pulled over in an SUV b B. Walker P P by police in a 39 years drug investigation. No drugs or weapons were found, but Walker was old shot in the head Walker was a devoted husband and father, a Columbus respected member of his church, and a 15 -year middle- management Georgia employee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Decembe Deputy David Glisson, who killed Walker was fired three months later r, 2003 for failing to cooperate in an investigation into the shooting. Accelyne Williams 75 years Accelyne was a retired Methodist Minister and substance abuse old counselor. After an informant gave police a bad address, a SWAT raid Boston, was conducted on the minster's home The door was battered down, Massachu Williams was tackled to the floor and his hands tied behind his back. He setts died of a heart attack. March, 1994 Tarika Tarika was a single mother of six. Lima police executed a SWAT raid Wilson with guns drawn to arrest her boyfriend on small -time drug dealing 26 years charges Officer Joseph Chavalia was upstairs when the sound of the old other officers shooting Wilson's dogs downstairs startled him. He shot Lima, and killed Tarika, who was unarmed, on her knees, holding her 14- Ohio month -old son and complying with orders to get down on the floor (her 'lanuary, son was shot twice but survived). Chavalia was cleared of any wrong - 2008 doing. Many, many dogs have been slaughtered in drug raids — Payton and Payton & Chase are the most famous. Prince George County SWAT, intercepting Chase a package of marijuana addressed to Mayor Cheye Calvo's wife Trinity, and knowing that criminals were addressing packages to innocents and Berwyn intercepting them, nonetheless burst into the Mayor's home without Heights, even enough investigation to know he was the Mayor or even notifying Maryland local police, shot the two dogs (Chase was running away from them jya y 2008 when they killed him), and kept the Mayor and his mother -in -law handcuffed on the floor for hours in their dogs' blood. While those above were victims of the tactics of the Drug War, there are many others who lost their lives as a result of this war. Isidro Aviles 33 years old New York Isidro received a 23 year sentence for crack cocaine conspiracy based on $52 cash and the bargained testimony of a repeat criminal. 7 years later he died in prison of an undiagnosed and untreated illness. His mother, Teresa works tirelessly with the November Coalition, Drop the Rock and others to change the laws and help other families shattered by the war. Read L ,y article about this mother and her son.