Man Impersonating DEA During Home Invasion, Shot, Killed

Her mother came downstairs and was confronted by a tall man wearing something white on his head, according to the complaint. The man pointed a gun at the mother and told her to lay face down on the stairs.

The two men then tried to drag Ms. Hicks out of the house, she said, at which point her brother, who lives in the adjoining half of the duplex, came to the front door.

The unidentified man shot her brother, Anthony Farley, in the neck.

Mr. Farley returned fire, striking the man, according to the complaint.

Brionna’s brother, Anthony, ended up in the hospital. He will recover. His assailant ended up dead, on the porch.

The gunfight took place between the two doors pictured on the white duplex. It appears to be about 20 feet.

This illustrates a growing problem of criminals impersonating law enforcement officers to gain an advantage over their victims.

It was less of a problem when most police were uniformed and used official vehicles. Now many raids are unannounced, or use almost no warning in the service of a warrant.

One of the primary purposes of a warrant is to inform the person in charge of the premises to be searched that the officers doing the searching are doing so under due process of law. A search warrant protects both the owner of the premises and the police. Proper service of a search warrant also prevents searches of other premises or places not on the warrant.

An owner of premises does not have to allow police onto the premises unless they have a warrant.

The war on drugs has vastly expanded the use of “no knock” warrants, which have been issued promiscuously in recent years. The mere ownership of legal firearms has been used as a premise to issue a no-knock warrant.

It has become much harder for citizens to know if the people breaking down the door are police or criminals. If the police do not announce themselves, and wait for a reasonable time to have the person in charge of the premises look at a warrant and determine that it is valid, and what may be searched for, how is a person to know if the invasion of their home is occurring under the rule of law?

I was involved in a situation in Australia where premises were searched. The officers with the warrant were not present. A resident asked for the paperwork. It could not be produced. The resident refused them entry. The officers waited until the paperwork was present. They were allowed entry, and conducted their search.  That is the way most warrants should work in the United States.

U.S. courts have ruled that some warrants need not to be present for the person to be served and the search conducted. How is the person to know if the officials have a valid warrant or not, if they cannot see the document?

In many cases, they do not know.

Police officers have been killed when they have attempted to serve warrants without sufficient notice. Homeowners who have shot police officers have been found not guilty by juries.

Criminals that disguise themselves as police or other law enforcement are another reason use of no-knock warrants should be severely limited, and sufficient time given to occupants to respond to an announcement by police.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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