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A Case Involving a Swat Team's 4th Amendment Violation

Fifth Circuit Says No SWAT Teams for Regulatory Inspections
Monday, May 11th, 2009

It�s a "Well gee, you�d hope so" sort of victory, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that using a SWAT team to conduct an administrative or regulatory search is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The case stems from what was clearly a drug raid conducted on a bar in Louisiana by the Rapides Parrish Sheriff�s Department. But the raid was conducted under the auspices of an alcohol inspection, which allowed the department to get around the need for a criminal search warrant.

The Fifth Circuit ruled such a raid violates the Fourth Amendment, and is allowing a civil rights suit against the officers involved to go forward. From the opinion:

Taking plaintiffs� factual allegations as true, defendants did not enter Club Retro as would a typical patron; instead, they chose to project official authority by entering with weapons drawn in a S.W.A.T. team raid. They lacked any particularized suspicion or probable cause when they subsequently searched Club Retro, its attic, and the separate apartment and seized and searched all of its patrons and employees. Thus, defendants� entry and search was not a reasonable acceptance of Club Retro�s invitation to the public. Any other conclusion would be an invitation for S.W.A.T. team raids by law enforcement officers of any business that is open to the public and would severely undermine the Fourth Amendment protections afforded to owners of commercial premises.

We are likewise not convinced by defendants� second argument that they conducted a permissible administrative inspection. Although Louisiana statutes and Rapides Parish ordinances authorizing administrative inspections may have provided justification for an entry and inspection of Club Retro, no such law permits the scope and manner of the raid that plaintiffs allege occurred here�

Administrative inspections, by their very nature, require more limited, less intrusive conduct than is alleged to have occurred here. We thus conclude that defendants� S.W.A.T. team entries and extensive searches, as described in the amended complaint, unreasonably exceeded the scope of Louisiana and Rapides Parish administrative inspection laws. Any other conclusion would allow the administrative inspection exception to swallow the Fourth Amendment�s warrant requirement for searches of private property.

http://www.theagitator.com/category/paramilitary-police-raids/

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I think he just likes to piss & whine. He probably enjoys the warm feeling it gives him, as it runs down his leg.

Barr makes a lot of sense. Too bad he didn't win.

Keep 'em comin'. You're putting some up that I wasn't aware of.

Out of fairness, though, you're going to put up a bunch where the cops do their job correctly, right?

No, didn't think so. The millions of cops who do their job daily don't rate the news.

George

.

AMEN Hunter!

You DO work for us (the citizenry) and you ARE under our control (at least Constitutionally, certainly not in practise right now, as can be judged by the everyday experience of citizens, and the outrageous attitudes expressed by LE here-if some of you were publicly identified in your communities making some of the statements you have made here you would be out of a job, and rightly so)

Unless you live in small town NH, that's not exactly true. Your wants and feelings on LE are, most likely, vastly different from what the citizens of my town demand.

George

What outrageous attitudes,moron?

You have as much brains as a loaf of bread!

And, no one is under your control, sport.

Catharsis is good for the soul.

George

BINGO! George

Although I personally think he needs a high colonic and 10 mile hike!

Here's another court room case where it shows if you are a cop you can get away with drunk driving and handgun violations and pretty much go scot-free

Retired N.Y.C. cop gets probation in drunken crash
Friday, May 1, 2009
Last updated: Saturday May 2, 2009, 12:02 PM
BY STEPHANIE AKIN
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
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HACKENSACK � A retired New York City police officer was sentenced to four years' probation today for driving into a car full of teenagers while he was drunk and carrying an unlicensed handgun.

However, the Hackensack Superior Court judge, in a separate set of rulings on lesser police summonses, said he did not think there was enough evidence to say Santos Tirado, of Monroe, N.Y., was intoxicated. A conviction on that charge would have entailed additional penalties.

The watery eyes and slurred speech reported by Fair Lawn police the night of the Oct., 26, 2007, accident could also have been caused by a head injury, Judge Eugene H. Austin said in court.

�I�ve struggled with this case since we finished and got the jury verdict,� Austin said. �I have gone over it and over it and over it in my mind. It�s a very difficult decision to make under all the circumstances.�

A jury found Tirado guilty in March of two counts each of assault by auto causing bodily injury, drunken driving and refusing to submit to a breath test. He was also found to be guilty of unlawfully possessing a Browning .380-caliber handgun without a New Jersey permit and possessing hollow-nosed bullets, which are illegal in New Jersey.

The teenagers from Lodi, Garfield, Hackensack and Elmwood Park were leaving a church function when Tirado drove his Honda Civic through a red light and hit their Audi A4 as it was crossing Broadway on 32nd Street in Fair Lawn.

The teenagers had passed Tirado�s car before they turned right, into a jughandle, to cross Broadway. They testified that he was hunched over his steering wheel and did not have his headlights on when they passed him.

Deanna Bruno of Lodi, who was riding in the middle of the back seat, suffered a broken pelvis and tailbone in the accident.

Bruno, who was 14 at the time, was forced to repeat her freshman year of high school because she missed so much school after the accident. She has been told that she may have trouble with natural childbirth, her family said.

They said probation was not a strong enough punishment.

�This has been about someone who lacked character and hid behind a badge,� her father, Peter Bruno, said in his pre-sentencing statement. �We want justice, your honor, not a slap on the wrist.�

The case pitted the Fair Lawn police officers who responded at the scene against their counterparts from Tirado�s former department in New York City�s 30th Precinct, who described Tirado as an outstanding police officer who would never put another person at risk.

The Fair Lawn officers, several of whom testified in court, said Tirado smelled of alcohol and had an empty Coors Light can in his car.

They said he was belligerent when they attempted to arrest him for carrying the handgun without a permit required in New Jersey. He also asked them to give him special treatment because he was a fellow officer, they said.

Tirado refused to take blood and breath tests to measure his blood-alcohol level after the accident.

�It puts a police officer in an awkward position between the brotherhood of law enforcement and the truly victimized,� said Fair Lawn Detective Sgt. Michael Uttel. �We did everything according to the letter of the law that night. The laws are definitely not in favor of the victim.�

Five retired and active New York City police officers defended Tirado at the sentencing.

�He approaches legendary in my profession in New York City,� former co-worker Kieran Breen said.

�He taught me, if you drop a prisoner off to central booking, and he doesn�t shake your hand, chances are you did something wrong.�

Tirado�s family said he missed a turn while driving back to their upstate New York home after spending the day in Manhattan. He was tired from taking his wife to the airport early that morning and having trouble seeing because it was raining, they said.

They contend he refused the alcohol screening because the Fair Lawn police hit and kicked him when they pulled him from his car. They also said he always carried the gun.

�They don�t know my father,� Tirado�s daughter, Jessica Acosta, said. �If they knew my father, they would have never dragged him through this.�

In addition to his probation, Tirado must pay more than $5,000 in fines and restitution. His driver�s license will be suspended in New Jersey for a year.

E-mail: akinnorthjersey.com
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HACKENSACK � A retired New York City police officer was sentenced to four years' probation today for driving into a car full of teenagers while he was drunk and carrying an unlicensed handgun.
STAFF PHOTO BY ELIZABETH LARA
Buy this photo
Retired New York police officer Santos Tirado during his sentencing Friday at Bergen County SuperiorCcourt in Hackensack.

However, the Hackensack Superior Court judge, in a separate set of rulings on lesser police summonses, said he did not think there was enough evidence to say Santos Tirado, of Monroe, N.Y., was intoxicated. A conviction on that charge would have entailed additional penalties.

The watery eyes and slurred speech reported by Fair Lawn police the night of the Oct., 26, 2007, accident could also have been caused by a head injury, Judge Eugene H. Austin said in court.

�I�ve struggled with this case since we finished and got the jury verdict,� Austin said. �I have gone over it and over it and over it in my mind. It�s a very difficult decision to make under all the circumstances.�

A jury found Tirado guilty in March of two counts each of assault by auto causing bodily injury, drunken driving and refusing to submit to a breath test. He was also found to be guilty of unlawfully possessing a Browning .380-caliber handgun without a New Jersey permit and possessing hollow-nosed bullets, which are illegal in New Jersey.

The teenagers from Lodi, Garfield, Hackensack and Elmwood Park were leaving a church function when Tirado drove his Honda Civic through a red light and hit their Audi A4 as it was crossing Broadway on 32nd Street in Fair Lawn.

The teenagers had passed Tirado�s car before they turned right, into a jughandle, to cross Broadway. They testified that he was hunched over his steering wheel and did not have his headlights on when they passed him.

Deanna Bruno of Lodi, who was riding in the middle of the back seat, suffered a broken pelvis and tailbone in the accident.

Bruno, who was 14 at the time, was forced to repeat her freshman year of high school because she missed so much school after the accident. She has been told that she may have trouble with natural childbirth, her family said.

They said probation was not a strong enough punishment.

�This has been about someone who lacked character and hid behind a badge,� her father, Peter Bruno, said in his pre-sentencing statement. �We want justice, your honor, not a slap on the wrist.�

The case pitted the Fair Lawn police officers who responded at the scene against their counterparts from Tirado�s former department in New York City�s 30th Precinct, who described Tirado as an outstanding police officer who would never put another person at risk.

The Fair Lawn officers, several of whom testified in court, said Tirado smelled of alcohol and had an empty Coors Light can in his car.

They said he was belligerent when they attempted to arrest him for carrying the handgun without a permit required in New Jersey. He also asked them to give him special treatment because he was a fellow officer, they said.

Tirado refused to take blood and breath tests to measure his blood-alcohol level after the accident.

�It puts a police officer in an awkward position between the brotherhood of law enforcement and the truly victimized,� said Fair Lawn Detective Sgt. Michael Uttel. �We did everything according to the letter of the law that night. The laws are definitely not in favor of the victim.�

Five retired and active New York City police officers defended Tirado at the sentencing.

�He approaches legendary in my profession in New York City,� former co-worker Kieran Breen said.

�He taught me, if you drop a prisoner off to central booking, and he doesn�t shake your hand, chances are you did something wrong.�

Tirado�s family said he missed a turn while driving back to their upstate New York home after spending the day in Manhattan. He was tired from taking his wife to the airport early that morning and having trouble seeing because it was raining, they said.

http://www.northjersey.com/bergen/NYCCOP0501.html

See there the 5th Circuit ruled against LE. That's how the system works. As i've mentioned before situations will be handled in either criminal or civil court involving issues with LE.

The Parish will end up writing a check to the club owner and procedures will change. This case will have impact in other jurisdictions across the country. You have to be patient, things don't change at the snap of the finger. I still believe in Ol'Lady Justice and the pendulum swings both ways for the Govt. and for the citizens. The Govt. will win some, the citizens will win some.

'Mighty men' cops save 2 girls in 'heroic' fire rescue
By DAVID GAMBACORTA
Philadelphia Daily News

gambacdphillynews.com 215-854-5994

Eyes brimming with tears, 7-year-old Bianca Scott and her older sister, Ketura Lang, pounded their fists against the second-floor window of their grandmother's smoldering rowhouse.

They were trapped, and time was running out.

The girls choked on plumes of black smoke from an out-of-control kitchen fire Saturday morning while their relatives watched helplessly and prayed for a miracle.

The miracle arrived, whether by fate, luck or divine intervention, in the form of three city police officers. What followed was an improbable heroic rescue that played out like a scene from a Hollywood film.

The officers - Ryan Sullivan, Michael Pazdan and Ryan Clement, from the 22nd district in North Philadelphia - were on their way to the scene of a street fight when they rode past 19th Street near Susquehanna Avenue and spotted a frantic Ida Jackson outside the burning house.

The blaze was accidentally caused by one of her grandsons, who left the stove unattended while he ran out to pick up a tux for his prom, she said.

"Oh, I was just in a tizzy!" said Jackson, 68. "Everything had happened so quickly, and [the girls] were trapped in there."

Pazdan, 26, said that he and Clement forced Jackson's front door open, thinking that they could dash in and rescue the girls. They were repelled by the thick smoke and intense heat.

"It burned my lungs, so I thought, 'There has to be another option,' " Pazdan said.

Thinking fast, Pazdan yelled up to Bianca. "I said, 'Sweetie, I can't get up there. You have to jump. I promise I'll catch you.' "

Pazdan figured that the girl would feel about four times her actual weight if she made the jump as he prepared to make the catch of a lifetime.

"Sure enough, out the window she went," he said. "She fell right into my arms and didn't budge. It felt great."

Worried onlookers let out a brief sigh. But the drama wasn't over.

Sullivan, 23, noticed that Ketura, 13, was getting overwhelmed by the smoke she had inhaled.

"She was in bad shape," said Sullivan, who served a four-year tour in the Marines. "She looked delirious. Her eyes were rolling in the back of her head and it looked like she was about to pass out."

One neighbor rushed over with a ladder, while Pazdan scrambled into another resident's house to scrounge up couch cushions, in case Ketura tumbled.

Sullivan clambered up the ladder and lunged for the teen. The two made an awkward climb back down the ladder to safety.

Both girls were uninjured, Jackson said. "They're already fussing with each other again," she laughed.

Jackson said she "can't put into words how I feel towards those officers. They were mighty men."

"God sent them on the right path; otherwise, I would have been sitting in a funeral parlor," she added.

Sullivan and Pazdan humbly described their actions as simply part of their job.

"You never know what you'll run into," Pazdan said. "We were determined to not have those girls leave this earth. We're really happy it all worked out." *

Philly Narcotics Team in Action

Update on Bodega Raids by Rogue Philly Narcotics Unit
Friday, May 1st, 2009

Previously (here and here), I blogged about a rogue narcotics unit in Philadelphia that was raiding bodegas on the flimsy excuse that the stores were selling resealable zip-lock bags that could potentially be used by drug dealers. Bodega owners say the cops were cutting the lines to surveillance cameras, then stealing cash, alcohol, cigarettes, and snack food from the stores. The Philadelphia Daily News was able to obtain footage of the cops cutting off one of the cameras during a raid, then inquiring to the store owner about whether the camera feeds went to a computer that was on or off-site.

The lingering question, here, is how this unit was able to operate like this for so long without any oversight. Why wasn�t anyone questioning the use of such aggressive tactics in searches not for drugs, but for no more than an otherwise legal product? Why did no one in the department ask why an �elite� narcotics unit was wasting its time busting immigrant shop owners with no criminal record for selling bags instead of pursuing actual drug distributors?

It�s one thing to have a few rogue cops that, once caught, are fired and�hopefully�criminally charged. It�s a more wide-ranging and serious problem if there are institutional failures in the Philadelphia police department that allowed Officer Jeffrey Cujdic�s scam of terrorizing immigrant shop owners to flourish.

Now, the Daily News has published the results of its review of the search warrants obtained by Cujdik�s unit over the last several years, and the results are troubling. They find a wholesale lack of supervision of Cujdik and his men, even as complaints against them mounted.

Narcotics enforcement is ripe for corruption because officers handle large amounts of cash and drugs, legal experts say.

So the Police Department has procedural safeguards: A supervisor must review and approve all applications for warrants, officers must never meet an informant without another officer present, and at least two officers should conduct drug surveillances.

Yet supervisors and officers often disregarded those rules, a Daily News review of hundreds of search warrants found.

In several cases, officers worked alone with informants and were the only ones to watch drug buys. Yet supervisors approved those search-warrant applications�

Cpl. Mark Palma, a narcotics-squad supervisor, was apparently not bothered when Officer Richard Cujdik, Jeffrey�s brother, worked alone on a three-day surveillance job in September 2007.

Palma approved a search-warrant application for Jose Duran�s West Oak Lane grocery store, based on Richard Cujdik�s assertion that he watched a confidential informant - CI #142 - enter the store to buy ziplock bags three times.

The validity of that search warrant is now in question.

For the last buy, Richard Cujdik wrote that he �observed� CI #142 enter Duran�s store at about 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2007. Yet the Daily News watched the time-stamped Sept. 11 surveillance footage of the store between 4 and 5 p.m., and no one asked for or bought a ziplock bag.

Sgt. Joseph Bologna supervised the ensuing raid, part of which was captured on video. The Daily News obtained the video and posted it on its Web site, philly.com.

The video shows Bologna directing officers to �disconnect� camera wires. They do so with pliers and a bread knife. Bologna makes no effort to stop Richard Cujdik when the officer searches Duran�s van, allegedly without a warrant.

Duran alleges that officers seized nearly $10,000 in the raid but documented taking only $785.

While Cujdik has been demoted to desk duty pending the results of internal and federal investigations, Bologna has since been promoted to lieutenant.

The Daily News reports that all of this has happened less than five years after an agreement between the city and civil rights groups expired, stemming from a scandal in the 1990s in which narcotics cops went to jail for lying on search warrants, shaking down drug dealers, and making dozens of wrongful arrests. That agreement required more vigilant oversight of the city�s narcotics units by police supervisors to guard against mistaken raids, corruption, and false statements on search warrant affidavits. Not only does it appear the brass in Philly didn�t learn from that scandal, the Daily News writes that it�s unclear if Philly PD officials ever actually carried out the requirements put forth in the agreement.

Hats off to Daily News reporters Wendy Ruderman and Barbara Laker for pursuing and sticking with this story, despite attacks on their character and credibility by Cujkik�s supporters in the Philly police union.

http://www.theagitator.com/category/paramilitary-police-raids/

Hmmmm, you have a bone to pick?

so are zeN and zenII the same dipscheit?

New and improved. My guess is that he got talked to about his little potty mouth. Keep it up zeNII, only about 649,990 to go.

I like the fact that you take one snipit out of my comments to poke at, completely out of context. Do you work for ABC News? I have thrown no attitude and offered to let you video tape me all you want. I am sure we can find just as much case law and abuse cases about Enron, Exxon or even ABC news as what you are finding. The reality is there are more cops then work at ABC News and I am sure they have more lawsuits against them then we do. You want to place all of us into one basket, because it makes it easy for you to despise us, but individually we all do our job extremely well. While I will never dispute that there are bad apples among us, that is no different then any other profession. That is called the human factor. I make no apologies for the work that I do, the people I serve and the performance of my officers. We are doing it right and that is what matters. Now, you will have to excuse me, I am on call tonight and I have several of the nieghborhood boys that like to treat me as their favorite play toy and chase me around the green belt with nerf guns......Want to video tape me? Ryan

OK, why don't you just put it out there, what are YOUR innovative new ideas?

..and by the way you were asked why you felt the need to re-register under a new name, but you didn't answer. You were asked who "we here" are, and you did not answer Around here that would be considered an unresponsive reply..you can get tazed for that, you know.

I'm beginning to think you started this thread just so you could copy and paste your way out of therapy. OK, we'll help you my brother, tell us about that ass whupping you took at the hands of some cop who you felt should have to take your verbal vomit, but should not have responded.