Here's another one we missed the first time around.
“The lady (SWAT officer) says ‘Mother F-----, I said get down or I’ll blow your f------ brains out,’” Roach said. “We were just blown away. We didn’t know what was happening, it happened so fast.”
Court documents showed police were acting on a tip from an informant that crack cocaine was being sold from Roach’s address at the time, 1773 Wilson Avenue.
A search warrant listing that address was executed and, afterward, Roach said a SWAT team pointed guns at his family, including six children ages one to 16. Then police discovered the informant had given the wrong information.
The raid happened in December 2004. It's in the news because the family's lawsuit was just thrown out of court on qualified immunity grounds.
“It is fundamentally under Kentucky law that the power to exercise an honest discretion necessarily includes a power to make an honest mistake in judgement,” the judgment read.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney William O’Brien said the judgment exonerates the city from any liability and that it’s a balancing act of society’s needs.
So what incentive is there to not take shortcuts, and make sure the informant knows what he's talking about next time?
Folks, we need your help. We honestly don't know how many of these "isolated incidents" we're missing, because we don't hear about them. If you hear of one of these incidents in your area, please email me at billyroberts@pccompsoft.net with as much information as you can, including any local news stories (if any).
We are making headway on this, but we need to keep the pressure on.
