As violent crime surges nationwide, police departments are searching for solutions in order to mitigate violence in their communities.
One enforcement tactic is the use of no-knock warrants, which too often has led to unintended consequences and death. No-knocks are a result of the Nixon administration’s war on drugs.
Now, nearly 50-years later, they’re often requested for use in high-risk situations involving suspects wanted for violent crimes.
The results, however, are questionable in terms of success and overshadowed by injury and death. As a warning, the video attached to this article might be disturbing.
Fresh on the mind of Americans is the death of 22-year-old Amir Locke on Feb. 2, 2022. Minneapolis police were granted a no-knock warrant, then quietly entered the apartment Locke was in. They announced themselves with guns drawn.
Body camera footage shows that Locke was likely sleeping during the early morning raid, then reached for a gun before an officer shot and killed him.
“Those thugs that represent the Minneapolis Police Department executed my baby boy, beautiful baby boy in less than 9 seconds,” said Locke’s mother, Karen Wells.
In this case, however, the warrant was for Locke’s 17-year-old cousin and two other homicide suspects. Locke had a license for the gun that was within his reach.
No charges have been filed in this case. The officer behind the gun is on leave as the investigation continues.
A deep look into the history of no-knock warrants exposes massive growth and a deadly past.
Numerous studies estimate the annual number grew from 1,500 in the early 1980s to more than 20,000 today. And in just a six-year period, between 2010 and 2016, a New York Times investigation found these raids led to the deaths of at least 81 civilians and 13 police officers.
“You can’t control what a suspect does … that’s the problem,” said Sergeant, Mike McGrew (Ret.).
In 31 years on the force, Sergeant McGrew investigated some of Santa Barbara’s most violent crimes. The former hostage negotiator and major crimes detective believes in the use of no-knock warrants.
“This (cases like Amir Locke’s) is not the norm,” McGrew said. “If you see something that’s wrong, you have to remember the tens of thousands of things that went right through America every single day.”
Still, Locke’s death combined with the high-profile case of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed by Louisville police in her own home, has ignited the effort to ban them.
“You are going to pass the law banning the no-knock warrants, starting here in the Twin Cities, where my son was born and raised,” demanded Locke’s mother.
Four states have banned no-knock warrants: Florida, Oregon, Tennessee, and Virginia, while 34 states have some restriction or limitation.
“Unfortunately, over a period of time, they resulted in a higher number of injuries and deaths to law enforcement and occasionally also to suspects,” said Commander Thor Ells (Ret.), the executive director for the National Tactical Officers Association.
Responsible for training Swat teams nationwide, Ells no longer teaches no-knock protocols because he feels the danger outweighs the benefit. He says there are alternatives.
“There’s the ‘contain and call out’ – simply surround the place,” said Ells. “There’s phone calls or announcement through speakers. There are probably four or five – without giving up the whole playbook – alternatives that are available to law enforcement and effective in the search.”
Still, he says nothing currently puts an end to the controversial policy.
“The U.S. has a fragmented approach to law enforcement,” Ells said. “There are between 18 and 21,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States and there is no one standard.”
Even though a number of local and state governments have adopted safer alternatives, there is an effort to backtrack somewhat. A Republican-sponsored measure in Virginia’s House of Delegates would repeal no-knock bans and work to fix a chaotic situation by implementing a fixed amount of time police should wait before entering.
While declining an interview, the sponsor told CBN News it’s unlikely to pass.
“You should be outraged. You should be outraged!” protestors screamed in Minneapolis streets after Locke’s death.
Commander Ells argues it’s time to implement safer tools for police to use in their investigations. The challenge, however, is the cost of trying to force a single playbook on the sheer number of agencies nationwide.
“Is there room for law enforcement to improve? In many respects, the answer is of course, yes,” Ells said. “If you start to set national standards, many of these agencies don’t have the personnel and or the budget to meet that. So the challenge with setting a national standard … it will be expensive.”
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