Running Head: POLICE RAIDS; WHY THEY ARE OVERUSED AND HARMFUL TO 1

INNOCENT CIVILIANS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH PROPOSED

SOLUTIONS

Police raids; why they are overused and harmful to innocent civilians in the United States Of

America with proposed solutions.

Jordan VanGesen

Salt Lake Community College

CJ 1010
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POLICE RAIDS; WHY THEY ARE OVERUSED AND HARMFUL TO INNOCENT CIVILIANS
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Abstract: This article informs the reader of the current popularity and ineffective

nature of high risk drug raids in American policing and the often harmful effects they

have on the current civilian population of mid to low income neighborhoods. This article

also aims to show the history of the police raids' rise in popularity and how propose

possible solutions that can fix or change the current system to better allow for safer and

less combative strategies for both officers and civilians alike.

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POLICE RAIDS; WHY THEY ARE OVERUSED AND HARMFUL TO INNOCENT CIVILIANS
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Police raids; why they are overused and harmful to innocent civilians in the United States Of

America with proposed solutions.

Introduction: In this paper I will be describing to my audience the problems and issues

that come with the new wave of police raids. Many issues currently plague the raiding of peoples

houses and homes with most of the raids only turning up minor to no evidence of what people

are currently getting accursed of. This leads to trust issues among the communities meant to be

protected by police officers and often the wasted risk of police officers lives as well as the risk of

the civilians homes that they were sent to raid. In this article I will attempt to address those

issues and propose a solution that will help the problem be resolved using facts and data.

Body: The first thing I would like to address with police raids is the history of how they

became so prevalent in the US policy and policing tactics. Back during 1971 the war on drugs

began and so did police raids. Before these police raids were barely used only for hostage

situations and other large scale or life threatening situations, it wasn’t until the war on drugs

started that the number of police raids skyrocketed. With new authority given to the cops in the

1980’s by Regan and congress the Anti-Drug Act allowed for police officers to start with no

knock warrants for drug related crimes. This new freedom however was quickly misused and

abused by the increasingly hostile and militaristic tactics given to swat teams which would harm

and often cause trouble for those who were even selling drugs.

Now that we know the history here are some of the current problems of modern day

police strategies when it comes to drug raids and other crimes of that nature. One large issue that

comes from the overuse of police raids is the misuse and abuse of confidential informants. The
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POLICE RAIDS; WHY THEY ARE OVERUSED AND HARMFUL TO INNOCENT CIVILIANS
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

way that confidential informants were supposed to work was someone who was a part of a

problem be it drugs or gang violence. However a lot of these confidential informants were giving

incorrect information or completely false facts to gain leniency and a better deal in trials.

Sometimes the confidential informant wasn’t even an offender just someone who would mislead

the police on purpose. Swatting is a new trend among those who play games or spend time on the

internet where a confidential informant calls in to local law enforcement and claims that

something horrific is going on. The SWAT officers then arrive at the residence expecting the

worst when in actuality all that is happening is someone pulling a sick and twisted prank.

According to CNN on a report from the FBI “ there were hundreds” (Andone, 2019) of swatting

cases nationally and one of them just recently led to the death of an innocent target of the prank

who the witness claimed was planning on bombing a school. Along with this dangerous

misinformation the no knock or even knock warrants are dangerous and threatening to the people

inside when the cops receive wrong information. In the case of one family in Georgia according

to the washington post back in 2014 a wrong address was submitted and a no-knock warnet

carried out at the wrong house, where an officer threw a flashbang into a crib with a two year old

child. The flash bang detonated and caused severe scarring to the child. This is a classic example

of how a misinformed raid could go terribly wrong. Officers trying to fill out their duties had

incorrect information from a confidential witness and it led to the invasion of a civilian house

where a flashbang was detonated on a child. Now a lot of the times these no-knock or other

warrants need to be approved by a judge which is supposed to keep the checks in ballance and

prevent these situations from happening however according to the Salt Lake Tribune on over

10,000 electronic warrants submitted to the judges, over half of them were signed off in less than
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POLICE RAIDS; WHY THEY ARE OVERUSED AND HARMFUL TO INNOCENT CIVILIANS
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

three minutes and hundreds more signed off on in less than thirty seconds. This shows that not

only is there a problem with the warrants being carried out by officers in the field. It shows that

those who are in charge and should watch over the officers are failing at completing their jobs as

a whole. Lastly there is a high cost of civilian and officer lives alike in police raids. In the last

month according to forbes the number of police deaths attributed to raids and other risky

activities has risen dramatically. Back in 2018 51 accidental deaths from no-knock warrants at

incorrect houses during botched raids.

Finally we get to the proposed solution, due to overwhelming evidence I would like to

propose the discontinuation of drug raids all together. Now what I am proposing is not the

ending of police raids for dangerous situations, far from it. But what I am proposing is the

discontinuation of large scale police raids in minor drug bust. Too often officers and innocent

civilians are put into danger with these botched raids where both parties are under stress and

minds are not working on both sides. I believe that the highly aggressive and militant use of

force for drug raids is unwarranted and dangerous. If we were to cut back on the use of raids by

police, and just focus their usage on particularly dangerous situations then I believe that tensions

would cut down and many lives on both sides would be safer.

Conclusion: To finish off, I will restate what I found to be an issue in policing, why it is

an issue, and a proposed solution to the issue. Firstly the rise in raids came in large part from the

Anti-Drug Abuse act back in the 80’s which in turn led to more raids and more negative

interactions. The issues with raids were the issues with confidential sources, the lack of oversight

from judges who were supposed to look over the warrants, the many misinformations that plague

many raids, and the danger to both the officer and the innocent civilians in the crossfire. Finally
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POLICE RAIDS; WHY THEY ARE OVERUSED AND HARMFUL TO INNOCENT CIVILIANS
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

the proposed solution to the problems with police raids is to limit them only to dangerous events

and not drug raids, getting rid of all raids when in reference to drugs and those who use and sell

them for the safety of both the officers and those who are to be protected by them.

Citations:

Andone, D. (2019, March 30). Swatting is a dangerous prank with potentially deadly

consequences. Here's what you need to know. CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/30/us/swatting-what-is-explained.

McCarthy, N. (2019, May 8). The Number Of U.S. Police Officers Killed In The Line Of

Duty Increased Last Year [Infographic]. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/05/08/the-number-of-u-s-police-officers-

killed-in-the-line-of-duty-increased-last-year-infographic/?sh=46ea61311894.

Norwood, C. (2020, June 12). The war on drugs gave rise to 'no-knock' warrants. Breonna

Taylor's death could end them. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-war-on-

drugs-gave-rise-to-no-knock-warrants-breonna-taylors-death-could-end-them.

Raids: Last Week tonight with John Oliver (Hbo). (2021).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYdi1bL6s10.

Tstevensmedia. (2021, January 27). New bill seeks to rein in Utah no-knock warrants like

the one used in Breonna Taylor case. The Salt Lake Tribune.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2021/01/27/new-bill-seeks-rein-utah/.
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POLICE RAIDS; WHY THEY ARE OVERUSED AND HARMFUL TO INNOCENT CIVILIANS
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

EPORTFOLIO

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