Victims of the drug war fight back with publicity.
They set up a fake "grow room" with Christmas trees, and an anonymous tip brought the cops who kicked in the door only to find that they themselves were targets of a sting.
Apparently Barry Cooper set this up in an effort to expose police abuse in the drug war, and his message board gives a little more detail about this particular bust.
Here's Eddie Garcia's CBS7 report, and a here's a local open thread about it.
Hopefully there will be some video of the bust available without having to purchase Mr. Cooper's DVD. And let's keep an eye out for OPD news releases on the matter.
Added: The objective appears to have been to demonstrate how easy it is to get the police to raid a house, SWAT style, even though they lacked any real evidence. Apparently, it isn't that hard. If we have all the facts then all it took in this instance was a suspicious house and an anonymous tip.
The CBS7 news report has been posted on Youtube.
Updated: Here's the raw video from Mr. Cooper's cameras. And for my latest on the case about which they were trying to bring attention, see USA vs. Yolanda Jean Madden
Updated 12/24/09 -- see Yolanda Madden Awarded a New Trial.
The question of diligence in the investigation before securing the search warrant is valid. But, without the benefit of all the facts, it's impossible to judge fairly from here. Maybe we'll get to see the probably cause listed to secure the warrant.
On the other hand... considering that these are the same people with the Never Get Busted video product, and the icon used for the web site, I'm not sure I'll be nominating them for any Do Gooder awards.
Posted by: Les | December 05, 2008 at 04:20 PM
Les, Mr. Cooper seems to be something of a guerrilla fighter in the war on drugs, and there shouldn't be any doubt which side he's on. Others who have condemned the war on drugs have made compelling arguments, and I'm not sure how far Mr. Cooper has advanced that cause.
However, based on the facts that have been presented to us it does appear that the police were a little too hasty, and Mr. Cooper helped inform that public about that practice.
Good point about the probable cause on the warrant application. They should make that public, or in the alternative, maybe Mr. Eddie Garcia might get and publish a copy.
Posted by: Geo | December 05, 2008 at 05:45 PM