Police and the Problem

This pisses me off.

A Missouri* SWAT team barged into a house on a search warrant for drugs. They promptly shot the two barking dogs as the children present watched and then they arrested the parents. There was only enough pot present for misdemeanor charges, but the parents have also been charged with child endangerment.

...

If you don't know the story, look it up. It's a bit on the old side, but the fact remains that it happened. There's a YouTube video of the raid. It's horrific, but it highlights so well what is wrong with law enforcement (warning: it's really disturbing when the dogs suddenly stop barking).

How is it that we condemn so much, like sex workers, marijuana use, etc... but we allow, even encourage it seems, our law enforcement to be have in such ways? No, you shouldn't be using pot when there are children in the house, but if you're law enforcement, there is absolutely no reason to barge into a house, murder the family pets in full view of the children and then proceed to charge the parents with child endangerment.

Okay, before any Missouri comments begin, let me just say that Columbia is a college town. It also is supposed to be the liberal haven for the state. Plus, it's over the I-44 Corridor, officially making it a part of Northern Missouri. Why is there such ridiculously Conservative behavior in this wonderful city?

Politics aside, something like this shouldn't happen in the U.S. This is supposed to be the greatest nation, remember? Instead, we have situations like this. The police can barge into your home in the middle of the night on a search warrant that only brings about misdemeanor charges but in the meantime, they can slaughter your pets while your children watch and then they pin you for child endangerment, regardless of the fact that it is nothing short of a miracle that kept the child from being shot.

Which brings me to another point. Were the SWAT guys just shooting indiscriminately at the stuff that moved and made noise, or were they aiming at the dogs? I'm assuming they were aiming, but how did they not see that a child was watching them?




*I'm from Missouri, so please, no comments about how I depict the state and the people who live there. I know them.