http://stopthedrugwar.org/raidpetition
One would think after Atlanta police killed 92-year-old Kathryn
Johnston, that they would get the idea, but they haven't and the
carnage continues. Last Friday, 1/4/08, a SWAT team, serving an
ordinary drug search warrant, invaded the Ohio home of Tarika
Wilson -- an innocent woman -- shot and killed her, and shot her
one-year-old son. "They went in that home shooting," her mother
said at a vigil that night. The boy lost at least one of his
fingers. Two dogs were shot too.
SWAT teams were created to deal with extreme situations, not
routine ones. Yet police now conduct tens of thousands of SWAT
raids every year, mostly in low-level drug enforcement. The
result is that people like Wilson and Johnston continue to die
in terror, with many thousands more having to go on living with
trauma. But it's all for a drug war that has failed and can't be
made to work.
It's time to rein in the SWAT teams. Please visit
http://stopthedrugwar.org/raidpetition to read and sign our
online petition: "Enough is Enough: Petition to Limit
Paramilitary Police Raids in America." A copy will be sent in
your name to your US Representative and Senators, your state
legislators, your governor, and the president. (Outside US goes
only to the president.) When you're done, please tell your
friends and please spread the word wherever you can.
This is a first step. Take it with us today, and there can be
more. No more needless deaths from reckless SWAT raids!
Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org/policeraids for more information
about this issue, including our October Zogby poll showing that
66% of Americans, when informed about the issue, don't think
police should use aggressive entry tactics when doing routine
drug enforcement.
Thank you for helping to restore sanity to the justice system
and to end the brutal "war on drugs."
Sincerely,
David Borden, Executive Director
StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet)
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036
http://stopthedrugwar.org
Sign this petition via the web at:
http://ga0.org/campaign/enough_is_enough/wdb7iesrfdk6dnd?
Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.
http://ga0.org/campaign/enough_is_enough/forward/wdb7iesrfdk6dnd?
We encourage you to take action by December 31, 2008
Enough is Enough: Petition to Stop the Reckless Drug Raids
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action on this
alert by going to the following URL:
http://ga0.org/campaign/enough_is_enough/wdb7iesrfdk6dnd?
Petition:
"Enough Is Enough": Petition to Limit Paramilitary Police Raids
in America
Whereas:
* the killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston by Atlanta police
on a "no-knock" raid is only one of many needless tragedies both
before and since;
* the cause of Johnston's death -- paramilitary policing and
the proliferation of "SWAT" teams -- is a frightening and
dangerous consequence of the failing "drug war" and inconsistent
with the idea of community policing;
* the drug war concept itself has inflamed the judgment of many
law enforcers, undermining the nuance and caution needed of
peace officers.
We, the undersigned, therefore, call for:
* a nationwide ban on the use of aggressive police entry
tactics in most non-emergency situations;
* a "bright line" to be drawn between police and military, both
operations and training;
* reform or termination of programs and policies that have
encouraged reckless or unethical behavior in the criminal
justice system;
* greater accountability to be required from law enforcement
agencies, and systems to ensure it, with regard to this
nationwide problem; and
* the Judiciary Committees of federal, state and local
legislatures to hold hearings on no-knock drug raids,
paramilitary policing, confidential informants, and the related
issues. Such proceedings should prominently feature testimony
from victims of botched raids, or their survivors, and should
address the detailed recommendations at
http://stopthedrugwar.org/policeraids online.
It is not lightly that we seek to constrain the choices
available to law enforcers, but the police community has been
unable or unwilling to police itself. We respect the risks law
enforcers face in the course of their duties. But the police
mission is to make the rest of us more safe, not less.
Furthermore, in most situations SWAT raids actually increase the
danger to police officers, by escalating fear and tension.
We in the public have the right -- the innocent, even those
suspected but by law presumed innocent -- to be safe in our
homes and not be shot, burned by flash grenades or traumatized
by extreme police raid tactics when there are alternatives. For
the sake of public safety, the routine use of SWAT teams must be
stopped. Enough is enough!
-- END --