Especially since the real drug dealer was arrested [b]FOUR DAYS AGO[/b]

[b]But thank GOD our brave Drug Warriors made it home safely that night.[/b]

[url=http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--policeraid-death0531may31,0,7907040.story][b]Report: NYC police raid on wrong apartment result of failed communication[/b][/url]

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press Writer

May 31, 2003, 4:29 AM EDT


NEW YORK -- A police raid on the wrong apartment that resulted in the death of a 57-year-old woman was caused by a communication breakdown between officers, according to an internal department report.

Alberta Spruill went into cardiac arrest after the May 16 raid, during which officers broke down her door, threw a flash grenade and handcuffed her. A police informant wrongly identified her Harlem apartment as one used by an armed drug dealer to stash cocaine and heroin.

The 24-page Internal Affairs Bureau report, released Friday, says police did not conduct surveillance on Spruill's apartment to verify the informant's tip.

The man suspected of being a drug dealer had been arrested four days earlier on an assault warrant, the report said. But precinct officers who initiated the raid did not tell that to the elite squad that was first through the door.

Also, approval was not given by a high-ranking commander in the elite Emergency Service Unit to detonate a flash grenade, the report said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the department is revamping its policies to place responsibility for approving search warrants higher up the chain of command.

The report also says the department will create a database of confidential informants including evaluations of their reliability. A separate database will track search warrants to uncover patterns of problematic searches.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has apologized for Spruill's death. An attorney for Spruill's family, which is suing the city for $500 million, said the report detailed the department's negligence.

The city medical examiner's office ruled the death a homicide, saying Spruill's heart disease was aggravated by the raid. But a city official said the office was not making any judgment that the police acted improperly or that their conduct was unlawful.


Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

I hope they get every penny of that $500 million, actually, I wish the jury would award double that and bankrupt that shithole of a city. I hope the [s]murderers[/s] LEO's get convicted and go up the river just like every other criminal.
But you know the old saying, hope in one hand, shit in the other...see which one fills up first.

Mayor Bloomberg is turning out to be even more of a fascist than Mayor Guiliani.  See this story about the bodega owner who was charged with possessing an illegal handgun after using it to defend his life from an armed robber:

[url]http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/brooklyn/nyc-bod0531,0,5470566.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-brooklyn[/url]

In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "The situation is tragic. Mr. Acosta has lived in this country for 25 years, built a life here, and was trying to protect his business. [b]Unfortnately, justice can be unforgiving.[/b]"

I hope the family gets all that money too.  Think about this SWAT mistakenly pulls a no knock on your front door and you open fire because you're thinking intruder.  If for some strange reason that you're still alive after this, you're labled a cop killer and being hauled off to jail for protecting your house and home from armed intruders.  now they have no knocked a 57 year old lady and she dies of a heart attack because of it and all Bloomberg can say is "Sorry!"  ?!?!??!?!??!?!?!  WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

They can sue for all the millions they want and it wouldn't matter because the people will pay for that.  

Those who should pay will not.

So much for accountability.  And children are supposed to look up to these people?  

Sigh.



Sorry??  Is that all?  Your department [b]killed[/b] a woman and all you can say is sorry??



Again, no accountability is truly being taken.  Internal investigation will reveal no real culprit and just protect the Blue wall.

Can't wait to hear Five-0 and Oly chime in on this one agaian.

Sgtar15

hey, cut them some slack

they were just following orders

how would anything get done if everyone questioned orders

Has anyone ever defended themselves like that and lived through it?  Talking strictly about a no-knock situation.  

But then there is also the problem in this day of home invasion robberies of shoot/don't shoot when someone SAYS they are law enforcement, and the door busts open before you can verify it.

OF course, what are your chances of being murdered when somebody breaks into your place carrying a gun? [rolleyes]

Even though there is little 911 can do right away, dialing it and dropping the phone if necessary to deal with the situation will at least get some of it on tape.  

To exonerate or hang you.

What should you say?  "Home invasion - multiple armed robbers!!! Dropping phone!! ?? "

When you call 911, will the individual person you talk to necessarily know that there's a warrant being served at your address?

In my experience, some dispatchers are prone to act like the appointment lady at the HMO -- wasting precious time in an emergency situation while they ask you all kinds of questions, some being germane, others more geared to the 'barking dog' or 'ringer' calls.

You know, one of these days they will raid an Arfcommer....


Edited to add... "Hey, Hogs gotta eat too..."

Perhaps any and all damage settlements should come out of the police pension funds and other police welfare funds.  Maybe the JBT's won't be so damn complacent and arrogant about killing innocent people.

That is one helluva idea....

Unintended Consequences?