This really sucks. I'm not bashing anyone but if this happened to me I would most likely be dead. The local news reported they will now send two NJSP commanders on these types of operations to verify that they are at the correct location.  

www.wnbc.com/news/4894524/detail.html

POSTED: 8:36 am EDT August 25, 2005
UPDATED: 11:32 am EDT August 25, 2005

NEWARK, N.J. -- Federal and state authorities are trying to determine how armed officers raided the wrong house, smashing doors and frightening residents earlier this week, a state police spokesman said Thursday.

"We are investigating what went wrong," said Sgt. Gerald Lewis Jr. "For some reason, whether it was erroneous information or supervision, we actually hit the wrong house."

He said the address on the state search warrant was correct, but that the team of state police SWAT officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents went to the wrong street and raided a home with the same number on Tuesday.

An assessment of the damage had not been completed, Lewis said, "but of course we will work with the attorney general's office and other agencies to make restitution."

Residents of the four-family home in Newark said officers cursed at them while ripping through two upstairs apartments and asking where guns were for 15 minutes before realizing the mistake.

"The investigator said they were looking for bad people and they were in the wrong place," homeowner Cedelie Pompee told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Thursday's newspapers.

"That's a bad mistake they made," said Pompee, noting that several doors would not close properly.

Pompee, 59, has owned the house for 27 years, and shares it with her two sisters and their children, as well as a family that rents an apartment.

State police also hit a wrong house in May, raiding the home of a retired truck driver in Woodbridge while looking for a prostitution racket.

Next time - try Mapquest

As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come.

How did these chowderheads get to the right place for the job interview to be in a position to be doing this shit in the first place?

wtf- ever heard of intelligence?  ever thought to astaqke the property out first, do a little recon, make sure your at the right locale?

everyone involved should be fired !

If you don't do anything illegal, you have nothing to worry about.

I hope they get sued.  Why they just can't go to the door and knock is beyond me.  Whatever happened to civility?

are they responsible for fixing the door.  or does the home owner have to pay for it

Barny Fife, your department needs you...

it all belongs to dear old uncle sam anyway

Quoted: are they responsible for fixing the door.  or does the homer owner have to pay for it

The NJSP stated they will pay for all damages to the house. Lots of broken doors and door jambs.

If it happens at my house someone will probably get shot. Probably me.

If someone is busting down the door to my house, before I check and see who it is I am going to grab a gun.  So if the police bust down my door and see an armed suspect they will probably shoot me, so I do have something to worry about.

I've also thought about this stuff. I keep a nice, bright LED flashlight on the nightstand. And a 1911 under the bed. So if I'm in a dead sleep and someone kicks my door in, then all of that commotion is likely to frighten me. Which means, I'm going to grab my flashlight and my .45. And in my hazy condition, if someone points a gun at me, I might shoot in defense. But he'll be wearing kevlar, and I'll be wearing my jammies. And so my family will be burying me, the media will be talking about my "arsenal", and the JBT dufus who broke into my house where NO law was being broken, will be shrugging their shoulders and half-heartedly apologizing while they go home to their nice, warm homes and children. Scary stuff...

Freakin' just knock you guys!  You'd get a lot warmer of a welcome from me...

two NJSP commanders..............................................................

Why not have the person that applied for the warrant, investigated the case, etc, be there, making sure that part of the investigation includes knowing where the darn house is, AND having actually seen the house and verified the location BEFORE the whole warrant deal.

Quoted: As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come.

I HOPE you are being sarcastic..........otherwise you have seemingly embraced fascism in the name of public safety. Read the Founding Fathers intent if you ARE being serious.........because you are way the fuck off in your perspective if you think officers can randomly "inconvenience" everyone with SWAT and SRT raids........It worked for the Waffen SS. Not on my fucking watch.

...and yet my Dad and Grandpa (both former NJ LEO) wonder to this day why I didn't become a cop.

ETA:

Quoted: Quoted: ....Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" is an idea whose time has come.... I HOPE you are being sarcastic....

J_Smith, I think Merrell just forgot the icon.

Oh, and IBTTBL.

Quoted: Quoted: As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come. I HOPE you are being sarcastic..........otherwise you have seemingly embraced fascism in the name of public safety. Read the Founding Fathers intent if you ARE being serious.........because you are way the fuck off in your perspective if you think officers can randomly "inconvenience" everyone with SWAT and SRT raids........It worked for the Waffen SS. Not on my fucking watch.

+ ONE BILLION

Guys... we've got some real asshats on this site, but none who'd actually think that random house searches are kewl. Lighten up Francis's...

Quoted: As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come.

Yep. I leave my doors unlocked at night so as not to inconvenience the officers. Donuts on the table, coffee on the stove. BUT I LOCK MY DOG UP IN MY GUN SAFE.

Quoted: If it happens at my house someone will probably get shot. Probably me.

I notice that this tends to happen in the "blue" parts of the country more often than not.  I wonder if the fear of getting shot gives johnny law a nice little incentive to double-check the address.  

Quoted: He said the address on the state search warrant was correct, but that the team of state police SWAT officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents went to the wrong street and raided a home with the same number on Tuesday.

Now that ladies and gentlemen is an authentic wrong house raid.  Some like to state officers went to the "wrong house" when they dont find the suspect or the items listed on the search warrant inside.  but this case is an accurate example of a true wrong house raid.

The supervisor should be fired and every member of the entry team suspended.

Quoted: Yep. I leave my doors unlocked at night so as not to inconvenience the officers. Donuts on the table, coffee on the stove. BUT I LOCK MY DOG UP IN MY GUN SAFE.

Quoted:  Why they just can't go to the door and knock is beyond me.

They tried that in this case.

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=378605

Didnt work out really well.

Quoted: Freakin' just knock you guys!

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=378605

Quoted: I hope they get sued.  Why they just can't go to the door and knock is beyond me.  Whatever happened to civility?

We had a Deputy Sheriff serving a civil eviction notice who was shot and killed while attempting to serve the notice. When serving a warrant you never know what's on the other side of the door.

Quoted: Quoted: As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come. I HOPE you are being sarcastic..........otherwise you have seemingly embraced fascism in the name of public safety. Read the Founding Fathers intent if you ARE being serious.........because you are way the fuck off in your perspective if you think officers can randomly "inconvenience" everyone with SWAT and SRT raids........It worked for the Waffen SS. Not on my fucking watch.

The state is good. Trust the state. The state is your friend. Only some sort of a radical would not happily open their home for an inspection by state officials, just as only some sort of berserker would object to a safety checkpoint. There are bad people out there and you need the state to protect you from them. Naturally, this may incur a modest increase in your taxes, but can you put a price on the safety of the children? Surely not.

I invite you to join me in my "pro-eminent domain" campaign to convince the good citizenry that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Eminent Domain for All .com

incompetent dumbasses
how is it that minimum wage pizza delivery drivers can get the address right but cops with guns, jack boots, and battering rams can't?

Quoted: As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come.

Excuse me?

Quoted: Quoted: I hope they get sued.  Why they just can't go to the door and knock is beyond me.  Whatever happened to civility? We had a Deputy Sheriff serving a civil eviction notice who was shot and killed while attempting to serve the notice. When serving a warrant you never know what's on the other side of the door.

But that is one of the risks of the job. No one made anyone become a cop or a sherriff. If you take a job that issues you a firearm and bullet resistant vests, that should clue you in that you just might be in a job where you might be a target...

Just like when pilots get into jets, or people drive their cars, or you walk outside.

When it is time for you to go, you go.

Quoted: two NJSP commanders.............................................................. Why not have the person that applied for the warrant, investigated the case, etc, be there, making sure that part of the investigation includes knowing where the darn house is, AND having actually seen the house and verified the location BEFORE the whole warrant deal.

They politicians always throw the desk jockeys at the problem to further confuse everything.

If anyone needs a new village idiot please give NJ DOJ a call, we seem to have ordered more than we need and can give you a good deal and have a great selection.

Quoted: Quoted: two NJSP commanders.............................................................. Why not have the person that applied for the warrant, investigated the case, etc, be there, making sure that part of the investigation includes knowing where the darn house is, AND having actually seen the house and verified the location BEFORE the whole warrant deal. They politicians always throw the desk jockeys at the problem to further confuse the everything.

Clearly the solution is to issue "block-wide" warrants, where ALL houses are raided simultaneously. Neighbors will welcome the minor inconvenience in exchange for catching miscreants.

abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_082505_raid.html

Newark-WABC, August 25, 2005) _ — A terrified family could hardly believe it when they watched armed officers smash their way their Newark home, ripping through two upstairs apartments before finally realizing they made a big mistake. Eyewitness News reporter Anthony Johnson joins us with the story.

t looks look the state police are trying to make good on that mistake. They had a crew come in, to try to fix the doors inside of the home. The state police just left after issuing an apology. But it looks like this will have psychological impact on the family here for years to come.

Look at the damage the state police SWAT teams left behind during the raid of the wrong house. Doors were busted, frames destroyed and locks ripped apart.

The four family house where everyone is related is deeply rooted in Christian tradition. So they did not understand where they were being treated like criminals.

David Jean-Louis, Victim of Wrong Raid: "They kept cursing, you know what I mean? Yelling at us, then pointing guns at people."

State police secured the house, then they realized they were in the wrong location.

Jean Desir, Victim of Wrong Raid: "The whole way... probably 15 minutes before they calmed down and realized it was a mistake... they had the wrong street."

When state police got to what they say is the right house, two blocks north of where they made the mistake, they say they found ten kilos of cocaine and nearly $3,000 in cash.

It appears the state police made a right turn instead of a left and went into Newark instead of East Orange. But that is little consolation to the people who work and live on Smith Street in Newark.

Baaria Ferruggia, Neighbor: "I just imagine how the people are, just sitting there, all of the sudden someone breaks in and busts your doors down. I don't know what I would have done if that happened to me."

The owner of the house where the wrong raid occurred hopes it never happened again.

Cedelia Pompee, Victim of Wrong Raid: "Make a good investigation, make sure what they are doing is right. That is all I have to say."

State police now have come by visit the family to make sure they are picking up the pieces.

Maj. Drew Lieb, New Jersey State Police: "All we did is come up at the direction of the superintendent of the State Police to apologize to the family, to make sure all these repairs are being done. "

State police have now had two raids in four months in which they have gone to the wrong location.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: two NJSP commanders.............................................................. Why not have the person that applied for the warrant, investigated the case, etc, be there, making sure that part of the investigation includes knowing where the darn house is, AND having actually seen the house and verified the location BEFORE the whole warrant deal. They politicians always throw the desk jockeys at the problem to further confuse the everything. Clearly the solution is to issue "block-wide" warrants, where ALL houses are raided simultaneously. Neighbors will welcome the minor inconvenience in exchange for catching miscreants.

Hey Merrell....STFU!

Quoted: As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come.

How about a new policy. Raid wrong house and OIC gets canned on the spot. Drop pension pay grade to rookie for good measure. And you can never play cops and robbers again, since you obviously were not a professional, unless you carried a Glock40 of course.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: two NJSP commanders.............................................................. Why not have the person that applied for the warrant, investigated the case, etc, be there, making sure that part of the investigation includes knowing where the darn house is, AND having actually seen the house and verified the location BEFORE the whole warrant deal. They politicians always throw the desk jockeys at the problem to further confuse the everything. Clearly the solution is to issue "block-wide" warrants, where ALL houses are raided simultaneously. Neighbors will welcome the minor inconvenience in exchange for catching miscreants. Hey Merrell....STFU!

Hey Fly ... lighten up!

Don't you recognize sarcasam when you read it?

Clearly the frequent claims that the police are becoming more militarized are incorrect, because the military conducts surveillance and usually we have eyes on prior to and when conducting a raid.

Quoted: abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_082505_raid.html Newark-WABC, August 25, 2005) _ — A terrified family could hardly believe it when they watched armed officers smash their way their Newark home, ripping through two upstairs apartments before finally realizing they made a big mistake. Eyewitness News reporter Anthony Johnson joins us with the story. t looks look the state police are trying to make good on that mistake. They had a crew come in, to try to fix the doors inside of the home. The state police just left after issuing an apology. But it looks like this will have psychological impact on the family here for years to come. Look at the damage the state police SWAT teams left behind during the raid of the wrong house. Doors were busted, frames destroyed and locks ripped apart. The four family house where everyone is related is deeply rooted in Christian tradition. So they did not understand where they were being treated like criminals. David Jean-Louis, Victim of Wrong Raid: "They kept cursing, you know what I mean? Yelling at us, then pointing guns at people." State police secured the house, then they realized they were in the wrong location. Jean Desir, Victim of Wrong Raid: "The whole way... probably 15 minutes before they calmed down and realized it was a mistake... they had the wrong street." When state police got to what they say is the right house, two blocks north of where they made the mistake, they say they found ten kilos of cocaine and nearly $3,000 in cash. It appears the state police made a right turn instead of a left and went into Newark instead of East Orange. But that is little consolation to the people who work and live on Smith Street in Newark. Baaria Ferruggia, Neighbor: "I just imagine how the people are, just sitting there, all of the sudden someone breaks in and busts your doors down. I don't know what I would have done if that happened to me." The owner of the house where the wrong raid occurred hopes it never happened again. Cedelia Pompee, Victim of Wrong Raid: "Make a good investigation, make sure what they are doing is right. That is all I have to say." State police now have come by visit the family to make sure they are picking up the pieces. Maj. Drew Lieb, New Jersey State Police: "All we did is come up at the direction of the superintendent of the State Police to apologize to the family, to make sure all these repairs are being done. " State police have now had two raids in four months in which they have gone to the wrong location.

I spend about 3-4 months a year near Newark it seems deployed there TAD for ops. Newark is a shithole no doubt. That doesnt excuse shitty intelligence or the acts of SWAT and SRT. Question...........are the people who GIVE faulty intelligence - wrong addresses,etc EVER held accountable for THEIR actions. A seemingly "little" mistake of wrong address often costs INNOCENT lives. And shitty police work by ONE officer is NO EXCUSE for the wrong address!!!!


Kudos to the Officers who do their job everyday properly - I do not mean to detract from their service - but why do the bad apples manage to stay in the system?? Randomly executing bad warrants with wrong intell isn't just bad business - its ILLEGAL and IMMORAL. If you fuck up on a raid like that - you don't deserve a job doing mall security.........

Quoted: abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_082505_raid.html] ...State police have now had two raids in four months in which they have gone to the wrong location.

Quoted: two NJSP commanders.............................................................. Why not have the person that applied for the warrant, investigated the case, etc, be there, making sure that part of the investigation includes knowing where the darn house is, AND having actually seen the house and verified the location BEFORE the whole warrant deal.

WOW ! AHHHH !  the sense...... OMG...the  sense.....

You know you are on somebody's list for this .....

www.mapquest.com

It ain't that fucking hard people.

Quoted: two NJSP commanders.............................................................. Why not have the person that applied for the warrant, investigated the case, etc, be there, making sure that part of the investigation includes knowing where the darn house is, AND having actually seen the house and verified the location BEFORE the whole warrant deal.

They can't do that. They would have to pay hiim OT.

Quoted: Quoted: I hope they get sued.  Why they just can't go to the door and knock is beyond me.  Whatever happened to civility? We had a Deputy Sheriff serving a civil eviction notice who was shot and killed while attempting to serve the notice. When serving a warrant you never know what's on the other side of the door.

Especially if you are at the wrong fucking house......

Quoted: As long as they get the right house most of the time, it is but a minor inconvenience for home owners. Frankly, the idea of "roving domestic checkpoints" where houses are raided just to be sure nothing bad is going on, is an idea whose time has come.

Hi Imbroglio.

I've described this before here, but a couple of times I've seen the cops break into the wrong apartment where I work part-time sometimes to help-out a friend.  The hallways are clearly lit.  The apartment numbers are bright brass on a dark door.  Despite all that, in both raids the cops knocked down the wrong door.  They didn't even try to make sure they had the right place.  These type of things will happen until one day when the cops are held accountable for what they do.  Well, hopefully that day will come.z

Next time - try Mapquest

That was funny.

Quoted: If it happens at my house someone will probably get shot.

Holy shit, they were even in the wrong town.

I have said before that half-assed small town teams were a problem, but this clearly shows that even state level teams are.


Why? Why do we see this more than once every month?


Because they don't have an incentive to get it right. The individual officers are not held responsible, criminally or civily. Until we reach the point where they are, this won't stop. Don't send two commanders out to verify the location, string the person responsible (in this case, the lead officer on that team) up on charges of criminal trespass, breaking and entering, assault (for aiming weapons at people), and toss in whatever enhancments NJ has for using a firearm in the comission of a crime.

Then let him be sued by the family, and hold him esponsible for any damages the state pays instead of passing it on to the taxpayers... even if it takes 30 years to collect.

What will happen? I will put money on the fact that the taxpayers will take the hit and those responsible will still be working in the field next year.

Quoted: Holy shit, they were even in the wrong town. I have said before that half-assed small town teams were a problem, but this clearly shows that even state level teams are. Why? Why do we see this more than once every month? Because they don't have an incentive to get it right. The individual officers are not held responsible, criminally or civily. Until we reach the point where they are, this won't stop. Don't send two commanders out to verify the location, string the person responsible (in this case, the lead officer on that team) up on charges of criminal trespass, breaking and entering, assault (for aiming weapons at people), and toss in whatever enhancments NJ has for using a firearm in the comission of a crime. Then let him be sued by the family, and hold him esponsible for any damages the state pays instead of passing it on to the taxpayers... even if it takes 30 years to collect. What will happen? I will put money on the fact that the taxpayers will take the hit and those responsible will still be working in the field next year.

 They are not held responsible, because the nasty little secret we are never told, is that all state,all counties and almost all cities have been incorporated, because one of the purposes of incorporation is to give LIMITED LIABILITY to it's officers. It should also be noted that once a city, county or state incorporates. IT CEASES TO BE A LAWFUL GOVERNMENT, because true government is directly answerable to it's citizens. How can an ENTITY which purports to "PROTECT AND SERVE" not have to be answerable to it's constituents? For those of you who still want to believe the public relations scheme that "Goverment has a duty to protect and serve" Riddle me this. If I get my car stolen, can I sue the police, city or state for not "Protecting my property"? Or can I sue them for not protecting me if I am mugged? Or not the least of which, do the 3000+ families who lost loved ones on 9-11, have a right to sue the Govermnet because they didn't prevent the WTC disaster? The answer to all three is of course NO! Doesn't sound like anyone's culpable to me! Like it or not, anyone out there who is a LEO,is nothing more than someone who is enforcing Corporate policies, under the guise of the public relations scheme known as Government, which of course is just the most efficient artifice created to extract wealth from the masses, with the least amount of hassles or objections. IF IT WASN"T SO F+++ING CORRUPT, I'd have to hand it to them for their ingenuity! head.gif