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Good source. Thanks.

- From the Columbia Tribune:

"A man whose home Columbia police raided in February on a narcotics search warrant has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and is contemplating a civil action against the department for shooting his two dogs during the raid.

Jonathan E. Whitworth, 25, of 1501 Kinloch Court entered into a plea agreement with the state to drop charges of possession of marijuana and second-degree child endangerment for a guilty plea to possession of drug paraphernalia.

Investigators believed Whitworth was in possession of a large amount of marijuana and was considered a distributor, Deputy Chief Tom Dresner said in February. Police, who found a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of marijuana, shot two dogs upon entering Whitworth�s home around 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11.

SWAT team members encountered a pit bull upon entry, held back and then fatally shot the dog, police say. Officers said the dog was acting in an uncontrollably aggressive manner. A video of the raid shows that a shot was fired upon entry, but the pit bull was not wounded until later.

Whitworth was arrested, and his wife and 7-year-old son were present during the raid. Both his wife and child were living in the residence at the time, said Jeff Hilbrenner, Whitworth�s attorney. Dresner previously said that intelligence gathered before the raid did not indicate the child was in the home.

A second dog was shot in the leg but was not killed. The corgi is seen in the video and does not appear to be wounded. There is no indication when the dog was shot, and Dresner previously said he was unsure when the animal was wounded.

�Their focus right now is to get this behind them,� Hilbrenner said of the Whitworth family. �Obviously, this was a traumatic event for his wife and son. A final decision has not been made, but they are evaluating all of their options.�

Hilbrenner previously said the family was concerned with what happened and that they thought police actions were inappropriate.

After the arrest, Dresner said he believed SWAT team members followed protocol and was awaiting an Internal Affairs investigation. Investigations are conducted each time a weapon is used by officers, said spokeswoman Officer Jessie Haden.

The investigation is expected to be completed within the next two weeks and has been prolonged because a SWAT team member is out of town for training. Internal Affairs is conducting the review because the incident involved multiple shots and was inside an occupied residence, Haden said. This allows Internal Affairs sergeants to review the incident independent from the SWAT command.

The Whitworths have not filed a complaint with the department concerning the incident."

- More, as the video goes viral and the PR problem escalates:

"(Columbia Daily-Tribune) In response to widespread "misinformation" developing on message boards and blogs, as well as a death threat toward Columbia police officers, Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid and Burton held a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Burton said police have fielded questions from several agitated callers concerning the two dogs shot. Some callers have received incorrect information that the corgi is the dog that was killed for being aggressive toward officers, and others told police they were told the pit bull that was killed because of its aggressive behavior was in a cage.

"It's simply not true," Burton said.

The chief, who is personally conducting the internal investigation, walked reporters through his understanding of the incident. Three officers shot at the pit bull, and the first missed completely, which is when the corgi is believed to have been shot in the paw, he said. The pit bull acted aggressively toward a SWAT member again as they pushed into the home, which resulted in the animal being shot, he said. After being shot, it moved to attack a SWAT member, which is when the dog was killed."

- And now for some spin...

""It was unfortunate timing," said Lt. Scott Young, SWAT commander.

Deputy Chief Tom Dresner, former SWAT commander, has said he is confident narcotics were in Whitworth's residence before police entry.

Columbia police spokeswoman Jessie Haden said there sometimes was a lag between the time a warrant was issued and when SWAT could execute the warrant. The problem was SWAT members' primary assignments, such as their role as beat officers or investigators, would take precedence over SWAT and they would have to work overtime to participate in SWAT operations."

- So this all comes down to a matter of... overtime? That will go over like a lead balloon in any civil action.

Don't get pissed and trash the SWAT then. They are just following orders.

Just being good soldiers......

Jesus you're dense, Calvin.

Precisely my point earlier. We don't have all the facts, and yet folks are arguing what "they want" to be angry about here. I guess the "STORMTROOPERS" are guilty until proven innocent too? Enjoy the rush to judgement fest. These types of threads tend to always go this way.

gullible..

I'm not pissed at the SWAT team. It is the policy of sending them in after non violent pot crimes that rankles me. They've already shot kids and innocent people on these raids. Thankfully for the cops, they were poor and not white.

A real classic Charlie-Foxtrot, for sure.

"Overtime",......Good Lord.

GTC

Why don't you go do some meth with your burning man buddies..

SWAT aint the only officers out there that wear body armor

My suggestion is:

In the face

With a rifled slug

And you may quote me at will

Take at least one of them with you; then maybe they'll cease with this mindless abuse of authority. I doubt it, but nothing else will work, so.......

This may be a reasonable inquiry to make,......and I would REALLY like to know.

WAS this raid part of an "Operation Stonegarden" budgeted program?

That's why I'm a bit aghast at the "Overtime" aspect, some of the fellows involved in that down here are putting in ONE HUNDRED + HOUR WEEKS.

....and THAT ain't right, for any number of
illustrable /defensible / sensible reasons.

GTC

Not my thing, but if it was I'd be exercising more FREEDOM than the misguided nanny police-state so-called "conservatives" (sic) that dominate the Republican party seem to believe in.

One small point from the Columbia Tribune coverage that leads me to file this one under "amateur hour.":

"Investigators believed Whitworth was in possession of a large amount of marijuana and was considered a distributor, Deputy Chief Tom Dresner said in February."

The deputy chief better be able to back that up -- unless he's just woefully clueless regarding the legal concepts of libel and slander. Even the newspaper is skating on thin ice with that one...

The problem with stopping them when they leave the house is you risk them running and then it turns into a pursuit. Then you either chase them or have to let them run.

The police did not get a search warrant for no reason. There was something there good enough for both a prosecutor and a judge to sign off on.

It is very simple. Do not do criminal acts and the police will not come to house.

Dink

Because they shot the dog or because they executed a legal warrant?

so you admit that there is as much danger from the po po as there is from the 'bad guys', eh?

dumbass huh..I could give two [bleep] what they're wearing when they come thru the door, where did you get the idea I did care, STUPID??

Nothing "nanny" about enforcing drug laws. Nothing nanny about cops getting the job done while minimizing risks to themselves.

But, if you wanna do meth with your "buddies", go right ahead. It'll catch up to you! Teeth falling out yet? Freedom my ass. You are a slave to your meth. If you want freedom, buy a boat and go fishing.

Tempers run high with this sorta' thing,....but Man, that's really just not the sorta' talk that makes this place shine.

GTC