Police Raid Berwyn Heights Mayor\\\\

Police Raid Berwyn Heights Mayor\\\\

www.washingtonpost.com

A police SWAT team raided the home of the mayor in the Prince George\\\'s County town of Berwyn Heights on Tuesday, shooting and killing his two dogs, after he brought in a 32-pound package of marijuana that had been delivered to his doorstep, police said.

Mayor Cheye Calvo was not arrested in the raid, which was carried out about 7 p.m. by the Sheriff\\\'s Office SWAT team and county police narcotics officers. Prince George\\\'s police spokesman Henry Tippett said yesterday that all the residents of the house -- Calvo, his wife and his mother-in-law -- are \\\"persons of interest\\\" in the case.

The package was addressed to Calvo\\\'s wife, Trinity Tomsic, said law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

Tippett said police are working to determine for whom the drugs were meant.

Calvo said yesterday that he did not know how the drugs wound up on his doorstep. He works part time as the mayor and serves as director of expansion for the SEED Foundation, a well-known national nonprofit group that runs urban public boarding schools.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 2-8-2008 by Flory]

[edit on 2-8-2008 by Flory]

I find this a little strange. Was all this force really necessary?

A drug dealer could have been using his address or this could be a politically motivated setup. Did they really think the mayor would open fire as soon as he saw the police?

www.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

32 pounds of weed?
Doesn't know how it got there?

I've seen this one on COPS before.

Article does not mention if his dogs were vicious or not, might explain their deaths.

Originally posted by wrathchild


Article does not mention if his dogs were vicious or not, might explain their deaths.

Well, there is this:

As the police came in, Calvo said, they shot his 7-year-old black Labrador retriever, Payton, near the front door and then his 4-year-old dog, Chase, also a black Lab, as the dog ran into a back room.

How vicious can a lab running away seem?

Part of me feels somewhat refreshed to see that the mayor isn't "above the law" and has been subjected to the same strong armed tactics as any common thug would be. If this happens often enough and to a few very high profile powerfull politicians, watch how quickly the laws change and suddenly we return to a strict rules of engagement set of restrictions on what SWAT teams can and cannot do when carrying out a raid.

32 pounds of pot is a LARGE quantity. No way whatsoever that was a personal supply. Whoever was intended to get that package was planning on dealing, so, from that aspect I can certainly understand why law enforcement took the issue seriously. While I personally am in favor of total decriminalization of possession, I can't ever see a time in this country when recieving that amount of marijuana won't be considered a felony. Even in the states that have legalized medicinal weed they have possession limits considerably lower than a pound, let alone 32 pounds. So someone is looking a felony charge inside that house.

Another example of American insanity
Pot ?
raid with guns shooting 2 dogs?

Americans all need to smoke a few pot cigarettes and relax it would be much better than living in fear .
The money you spend on defending you against pot is breaking the economy
killing people and filling your jails
if you are not allowed to smoke pot a naturally growing plant then how can you be free

America is the least free nation
always a group want to to control what another group wants to do
from abortions ,guns to smoking pot there is always a group of Americans that want to control you and legislate against you

[edit on 2-8-2008 by solo1]

Another repugnant piece of policework in the war on liberty. Barge in, shoot the dogs or whatever else then "investigate". This seems to be the usual procedure now-- no surveillance or gathering of facts beforehand, just paramilitary action without reasonable suspicion. All it takes is someone who has a beef with you for any reason to make a false report and in come the guns. Heck, for all I know the cops sent the package or perhaps the mayor refused to cut them in on the profits-- another realistic scenario.

It's irrelevant how much MJ there is. It simply doesn't justify these tactics. Nothing justifies making substances illegal either. It's also breeds massive corruption. The first prohibition (Volstead Act) should have been enough of a lesson unless that was the result the powers that be desired.

Shooting dogs up front is standard procedure. Shooting the baby or the relatives depends on their mood.

I'm sure regardless, the police won't be subject to any sort of criminal prosecution or civil action. These sociopaths should be locked up.

I dislike mind-altering substances (alcohol included) so my sensibilities have nothing to do with my own habits. I just know if I don't have a stand against injustice I just have to get in line and wait for my turn. Clarification is needed there because I've heard others get and myself receive accusations that it's just because one is a "loser pot addict" that wants to stay stoned at all hours.

My basic reponses to threads on this subject will likely be repeated over time but then so are the tactics and outcomes.

4 The news on this continues today (8/7/08). It turns out two drug smugglers were apparently using this method of self-mailing themselves drugs to false addresses. Shortly after the delivery one of the two smugglers -himself a mail delivery person- would swing-by to pick up the bundle before the real occupants arrived. Except in this case the Berwyn Heights Gestapo arrived first

This inexplicably abusive & stupidly handled raid COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ANYONE READING THIS. These uniformed AZZHOLES would have come to kick in YOUR door and murder YOUR pets WITHOUT HESITATION, just like they did to THE MAYOR. Are YOU a mayor?. Tough luck, that means they'll SHOOT YOUR KIDS TOO THEN probably.

Think about that a little and then think about the definition of the word TERRORISM and then tell me WTF we're not already BOMBING the Berwyn Heights Sheriff's Dept as if it were Afganistan?.