Archive for the ‘Ken Burton’ tag
Columbia police change policy following SWAT drug raid
Image by OregonDOT via Flickr
Regular readers of this blog know I’ve been following the disastrous Missouri raid that was videotaped by police, went viral, and resulted in an enormous public backlash. The Columbia police have now responded to the negative publicity by tailoring SWAT procedure.
Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton says under the department’s new protocol, police will keep target locations under surveillance before sending in SWAT teams. Also, police will do their best to conduct searches within eight hours of receiving a warrant. Drug search warrants must now be approved by higher-ranking police captains rather than drug officers or SWAT commanders. Police will also take the presence of children into consideration.
It’s sweet of them to take child safety into consideration, considering Jonathan Whitworth, the target of the raid, was charged with child endangerment when the cops found a bit of weed in his home. Meanwhile, the cops, who stormed into Whitworth’s home, guns blazing, were probably congratulated on a job well done when they returned to the station.
Confusing details emerge about Missouri SWAT team warrant
Image by OregonDOT via Flickr
A follow-up to the Missouri SWAT team story. Unsurprisingly, the Missouri police chief has gone on the defensive and started accusing the internets of being comprised of a bunch of liars.
Pete Guither makes an interesting point about the timing of the warrant. The whole reason given for the night raid was that the suspect is a big, bad drug dealer, and the bust had to be a surprise because otherwise he’d transport his mountains of pot he definitely possessed out of the house through — as Pete hypothesizes — complex underground tunnels…or something.
The warrant authorizing investigators to enter Whitworth’s home at 1501 Kinloch Court was executed eight days after Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Leslie Schneider approved it. [Police chief Ken] Burton said the state allows police 10 days to execute a signed warrant, and he thinks Columbia officers should have done so immediately.
Okay, so Tony Soprano Jonathon Whitworth is a criminal mastermind sitting on top of a heap of marijuana, he poses a grave threat to the very fabric of society, and he must! be taken down…next week.
