# Police, Puh-Leaze Don't Shoot Me!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-puh-leaze-dont-shoot-me/805918>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 5, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-puh-leaze-dont-shoot-me/805918 "2018-01-05T14:48:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-puh-leaze-dont-shoot-me/805918/1 "2018-01-05T14:48:46Z")

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Rather than tack onto the SWATting thread, I thought it worthwhile to start a new thread about the deadly over-use of surprise raids, SWAT tactics and police shooting innocent people.

This news article I read is pretty timely. I completely disagree with AG Sessions vowing to crack down on marijuana use and sales in states that have legalized it. I also think it should just be legalized everywhere. But if it isn’t legal, that still doesn’t validate the police shooting people who are not threatening them.

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/20/marijuana-raids-are-more-deadly-than-the-drug-itself/?utm\_term=.b72c5ec80b31](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/20/marijuana-raids-are-more-deadly-than-the-drug-itself/?utm_term=.b72c5ec80b31)

The first few paragraphs provide examples of residents being murdered in cold blood by police. The article goes on to illustrate how SWAT usage and raids have ballooned.

> [@](#):
>
> Marijuana itself is not a deadly substance. “No death from overdose of marijuana has been reported,” according to the DEA. But the deadly raids on suspected marijuana dealers underscore how drug enforcement can become a greater threat to life and safety than drug use itself.
> 
> The Times’ data shows that drugs are the primary driver of SWAT raids that turn deadly. Among the 85 fatal raids that have occurred since 2010, 61 of them – or 70 percent – were initiated on suspicion of drugs.
> 
> The modern-day SWAT team originated in Los Angeles in the late 1960s as a way to deal with gunmen targeting police officers or civilians. But today SWAT teams are mostly used to handle routine warrant work, especially drug warrants. A 2014 ACLU study found that nearly 80 percent of SWAT deployments were to serve search warrants. Just 7 percent of SWAT deployments involved “hostage, barricade, or active shooter scenarios.”

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**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-puh-leaze-dont-shoot-me/805918/2 "2018-01-05T14:54:05Z")

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Well, there is this thread in The BBQ Pit…

[Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736919)

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**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-puh-leaze-dont-shoot-me/805918/3 "2018-01-05T15:06:11Z")

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> [@Icarus](#):
>
> Well, there is this thread in The BBQ Pit…
> 
> [Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736919)

I wasn’t aware of that one. Thanks for the heads-up. Perhaps the mods can either shut this one down, or limit it to the marijuana issue.