SWAT Team Raids And Home Seizures Spark Fourth Amendment Debate

A Florida woman was shocked and outraged when a SWAT team took over her home to gain a “tactical advantage” without telling her. The incident happened during a six-hour standoff with an armed suspect in Deborah Franz’s neighborhood last weekend. The use of SWAT teams to serve warrants (often of the no-knock variety) and to deal with domestic violence calls has reportedly been on the increase since 2011. Complaints and possible lawsuits over Fourth Amendment violations over SWAT team deployments are pending in many states.

The Jacksonville woman thought she had been robbed when she first entered her home and found items moved and in disarray. She had been ordered out of her home because of a standoff at an adjacent property.

Deborah Franz said this about her home being taken over by a SWAT team without her permission:

“I was the first one that came in the door and I stopped – I froze – because I realized somebody had messed with my TV. If you’re going to come in my home and use my home, at least let me know or at least try to contact me.”

Franz’s television and game console had been unplugged and moved, cloth coverings on some walls had been tossed onto the floor, and her window blinds had been opened. Since the SWAT team was the last people she had seen near her home, she called the police station to confirm her suspicions. The agents acknowledged that they had entered the home. The Florida woman has not filed a lawsuit yet, but she does want an explanation and an apology.

Anthony Mitchell’s Nevada was subjected to a neighborhood lockdown similar to the one which just occurred in Florida. He refused to permit the SWAT team to use his home for police purposes during the incident and the agents allegedly “violently entered” his home anyway. The law enforcement officers reportedly sprayed pellets at Mitchell and his dog and ultimately arrested the man for obstruction of justice. The Nevada man filed a lawsuit against the city of Henderson.

Heritage Foundation Director John Malcom had this to say about the Mitchell case and forcible entry into homes by SWAT teams:

“It certainly sounds like they would have a Fourth Amendment argument. Without knowing the full facts, it seems the SWAT team definitely violated his due process rights with an unreasonable seizure of his person without a warrant.”

The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution reads:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

A Des Moines family told local news media that they were completely terrified during a recent military style raid on their home. Sally Prince has been afraid to stay inside the house since the incident, “I’ve been so traumatized. I don’t sleep at night,” Prince said. Family members also stated that they would have willingly answered the door if the police had just knocked. “This is over property purchased with a stolen credit card. It doesn’t make any sense to go to such extremes for something that simple,” Sally Prince added.

The fully-armed raid on the home was not done as part of a search for suspected murderers or armed robbers, but for two people who allegedly committed credit card fraud. None of the folks Iowa police officers were searching for were found inside the home, nor was any stolen property.

Police officers maintain that they did knock and announce themselves before busting down the door with a battering ram. According to a Washington Post report about the military style raid, the police officers were decked out in full “battle dress” including balaclava hoods, guns, helmets, and ballistic shields. During a video taken during the raid viewers can see and hear two Iowa police officers try to prevent the family from recording the event. One law enforcement officer even reportedly destroys a surveillance camera at the home during the raid.

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