Extremely Lame

In another ringing endorsement on the state of law enforcement in this country, we bring you to Berwyn Heights, Maryland, where the mayor was held and his dogs executed. Full story from the local major newspaper here. The execution of this is just so full of fail that it makes me ill.  Here’s the timeline of events.

1. Someone online gets the addresses of some residents of Berwyn Heights, MD, including the wife of the mayor.
2. Identity thieves/drug runners then mail packages of marijuana to these people and people within the delivery companies are supposed to intercept the packages before they actually get delivered to the correct address.
3. Drug sniffing dogs in Arizona identify the package sent to Trinity Tomsic, the wife of the mayor of Berwyn Heights.
4. Package is intercepted by police, and then handed over to Prince George County authorities.
5. Prince George County undercover officers deliver said package to the mayor’s address, where the package is left on the door.
6. The mayor, Cheye Calvo, comes home from work, sees the package and brings it inside.
7. Calvo changes clothes and walks his dogs, waving to plainclothes police officers watching his house (not knowing that they’re cops).
8. Calvo returns and goes upstairs to change for an evening event.
9. Calvo’s mother-in-law screams, as she sees people in plain clothes, masks, and weapons through the windows.
10. The Prince George County officers, in plain clothes, raid the mayor’s house without announcing themselves.
11. One of the mayor’s black Labrador retrievers is shot almost immediately, despite him standing next to the mother-in-law. The second one is shot as it is trying to run away from the noise.
12. The mayor and his mother-in-law are bound and put on the ground, the mother-in-law next to the remains of one of the dogs she just saw executed.
13. The mayor asks to see the warrant; the police refuse.
14. The county police retrieve the unopened package of marijuana.
15. The mayor and his mother-in-law are taken in and questioned. The county police do not believe him when he tells them that he is the mayor of the town he is living in.
16. The mayor and his mother-in-law are released as no other drugs or any other illegal things were found, other than the marijuana the police themselves delivered, with no apology offered for the mistake. In fact, no mistakes were admitted.
17. A week later, a delivery person and his partner are arrested for using addresses along his route as codes that said packages contain drugs.

The list is an example of egregious practices by the Prince George County police. But wait, there’s more!

First off, no knock warrants are not issued in the state of Maryland, but “exigent circumstances” allow for police on the scene to not knocking before entry. Those circumstances are if knocking would endanger the police or if evidence is likely to be destroyed. Had they researched and found out that this was the mayor, they’d know he’s likely not to commit suicide by cop. And no toilet in any home I know would be large enough to dump 30 pounds of pot in a short amount of time.

Secondly, they saw him walking his dogs just before they raided. They could see their demeanor right there and that they wouldn’t be trying to eat the face of anyone not its owner.

Thirdly, the county police never bothered to inform the city police, who would have been able to tell them that it was the mayor’s house and they’d be *gasp* willing to talk to him and he’d likely allow them to search the premises provided they did have a warrant (which they did have).

Fourthly, had city police driven by and seen armed masked people milling about someone’s house, it is pretty reasonable to expect that a firefight could have ensued between different police departments because of the aforementioned lack of communication.

Don’t think that this is just some sort of isolated incident or tragic mistake. Take a look at this Google Maps mashup of botched paramilitary police raids provided by the CATO Institute. You can also click on any of the markers to read more about what happened there. You can also zoom in and click and drag the map to where you need it. As you can see, these aren’t isolated; they’re an epidemic.

And if you want to give the Chief of Police of Prince George County, you can find him at:

Melvin C. High
Chief of Police Prince George’s County Police Department
7600 Barlowe Road
Landover, Maryland 20785