Gunmen posing as cops break down Texas man’s door in robbery, video shows
BY Herschel Smith
2 years, 7 months ago
News.
Texas police are asking for the public’s help after they say a group of robbers pretending to be Houston police officers broke into a sleeping man’s apartment, armed with rifles and handguns.
At around 12:30 a.m. on March 18, several people broke down a Houston resident’s door, home security camera footage shared by police showed.
The intruders, armed with rifles and guns, yelled “HPD” as they entered the home, the video showed.
The resident of the apartment was sleeping at the time and told police he heard someone attempting to kick down his door.
He grabbed his handgun and told police he “did not think that they were the police” and fired his gun several times, according to a news release from the Houston Police Department’s Robbery Division. The resident believed the suspects, who he said were men, were there to rob him.
Clad in black masks and dark clothing, the attempted robbers fired their guns, causing shots to go through the walls and into other apartments, police said in the release.
Police said the men then fled the area.
The video doesn’t show very convincing posing to me. However, consider the fact that you’re asleep, and the noise at the door indicates that LEOs want in. Judgment before 30 minutes after waking up is impaired. Studies have shown that you need 30 minutes before you can make good critical judgments.
I’ve documented this three other times in three other locations: California, Norfolk, Virginia, and in Houston, TX.
It’s also happened in Oahu, Hawaii and New York.
I’ve also pointed out before that police should understand that while they are recklessly invading homes, they aren’t just putting our lives at risk. They’re putting their own lives at risk too.
They must understand that criminals have caught on to the game. Announce that you’re police, yell obscenities, scream for people to get on the floor, and instinctively some people will do that.
But understand that we can’t do that. We … cannot … do … that. We don’t know who you are and we have our own lives to protect.
So by employing this tactic, police all across America have made the situation much more dangerous for the ordinary homeowner. That moment of hesitation waiting to be sure of who is at the door could spell the end of some homeowner’s life. That moment of quick reaction if it is cops could spell the end of some cop’s life, thus ensuring an awful trial for the homeowner in which s/he knows that the judge and jury will almost certainly side with the cop (because that’s what they do).
You can blame police for this conundrum. And it’s far past time to end no-knock home invasions by cops as if they are playing soldier-boy. If that restricts evidence gathering to more time consuming means for police (like good old fashioned detective work), then so be it.
I don’t care about convenience for cops. I don’t even care about their war on drugs. It’s not my war.
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On April 3, 2022 at 11:57 pm, Dan said:
“I don’t care about convenience for cops. I don’t even care about their war on drugs. It’s not my war.”
Guess what. They don’t care about you….or your feelings….or beliefs.
All they care about is their power and the ability to wield it without
interference. Anything that diminishes that power is to be attacked.
On April 4, 2022 at 2:03 am, Archer said:
I don’t care about convenience for cops.
Nor do I. Like everything else, it’s a covenant.
I don’t drive too fast or recklessly, no matter how late I happen to be. It’s a risk to everyone else on the road, and the cops wouldn’t like it if I disregarded that risk.
Similarly, I don’t like it when the cops disregard the risk to homeowners and their families by engaging in Gestapo tactics. No homeowner likes that. Especially not when the entirety of the very-real risk of death or grave bodily harm is borne by the homeowner and family, all for the convenience of the cops.
The covenant was that we all behave to reduce unnecessary risk to those around us. And that covenant has been broken. By the cops.
On April 4, 2022 at 4:28 am, Joe Blow said:
Sadly, what Dan says is true…
I agree, no knock is unconstitutional. If we allege to live in a civil society, we must act like it, even when it costs. Thus is the peice of civility.
The argument surrounding this tactic on the drug war is not only specious, its straight up wrong! I am secure in my home, and will defend it with deadly force.
On April 4, 2022 at 9:04 am, blake said:
I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve seen a “no knock” raid which could have been avoided through ordinary surveillance.
Heck, the prime example of an unnecessary raid has to be Waco, TX.
But, budgets must be justified.
On April 4, 2022 at 9:33 am, Fred said:
They lost the war on drugs so they make war on you instead.
On April 4, 2022 at 11:32 am, Clayton E. Cramer said:
The very rare circumstances that might justify a no-knock warrant (hostages, Mohammed is building a bomb) argue for a VERY limited issuance of no-knock warrants. They are indeed lethal hazards to residents AND police.
On April 4, 2022 at 11:44 am, Jay Dee said:
Half a century ago, our training officer, a prominent local attorney, was telling us don’t do no knock raids. The one arrest we participated in the Highway Patrolman knocked on the door. When the suspect appeared clad in his underwear, the officer told him he was under arrest, cuffed him, put him in the patrol car and drove away.
On April 4, 2022 at 11:55 am, TRX said:
I’ve been on the receiving end of a “forced entry.” They knocked, I opened the door, and they tried to kick the door the rest of the way open and knock me down. By some miracle the cheesy “security chain” and flip-down door stop kept them out long enough for us to declare a standoff. Cops at the back of the house kicke the back door to pieces, but didn’t enter. They somehow got their idea that might not have been safe.
They had a paddy wagon, a dozen uniformed officers, and a local TV crew to film them taking down a “drug house.” Unfortunately, they didn’t bother with minor details like, you know, a warrant. Or making sure they had the correct house.
I got a lot of threats and trash talk, and dealing with the city went nowhere. But that was then. I’m older and *much* less amenable to jackbooted thuggery than I was then.
I now have *much* stronger doors (and frames), a security system with audio and video, both local and cloud storage, and backup power supplies for the system.
If they ever try that schtick again, the video will be on Youtube before they get back to the station, and I’ll see if my attorney can get a big enough settlement for me to buy a nice little island.
On April 4, 2022 at 3:23 pm, Clyde said:
David over at “The War on Guns” blog has a very detailed record of many of these incidents of fake police. I read it all and intend to use it as a defense if I have to use deadly force to protect my home. I haven’t committed any crimes; so, it cannot be the police at my door! It must be criminals because the police don’t make mistakes, right?
On April 4, 2022 at 4:42 pm, Red Man said:
Who’s to say they weren’t cops? They are just an armed gang for the politicians and law
gang. Remember when only the true psychopath on SEAL teams was called an “operator”? The guy that would actually kill with a knife. Now cop chiefs refer to their guys as “operators”. Makes me sick the arrogant attitude of cops.