The militarization of police and overuse of SWAT


Following is a list of links to Balko’s “Raid Of The Day” series.


  • An entire family was held at gunpoint for hours in a 1985 SWAT raid – the police had the wrong house.
  • Jose Colon was a 19 year old with no criminal record who died after being shot in the head by police – who found 8 ounces of marijuana.
  • Leland Elder and his wife Mary Schultz were raided by 85 agents using military equipment when they mistook the florist’s perfectly legal plants for a marijuana growing operation. Why not execute a simple search warrant?
  • Anthony Diotaiuto was shot ten times and killed during a SWAT raid that featured a flash-bang grenade. Conducting a SWAT raid instead of serving a search warrant was necessary because it’s obvious that only a hardened criminal would “undergo a criminal background check, allow himself to be fingerprinted, pay a fee, and enroll in a class on gun safety and firearms law” to get a concealed-carry permit.
  • Lloyd Miner was clubbed with a flashlight by SWAT officers who also “smashed his toilet, turned over his furniture, pried the doors off of his cabinets, and destroyed some of his kitchen appliances” before taking him to jail. They had the wrong house. You might be noticing a pattern here.


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