No Knockin' on Heaven's door

The Keystone cops, er, the Howard County Police received some really bad press today. They served a no-knock warrant on a local man because they thought he had a weapon that was stolen from a police car. Turns out the gentleman did not have anything stolen or illegal and no arrest was made nor any charges filed against him. The police did, however, shoot and murder the man’s Australian cattle dog. Just to recap, the Howard County Police Department shot and killed a family pet while serving a no-knock warrant on a man who was innocent of any wrong doing. Nice job, officers.

Let’s back up for a second. Awhile ago it was reported that two unmarked police cars were broken into in Elkridge and a weapon was stolen, although the type of weapon was not identified. It turns out that it was a Sig Sauer rifle similar to the one pictured below:



According to the original article reporting the theft, the rifle was “secured in an interior rack in the car”. Presumably, the rifle was clearly visible to an outsider looking into the vehicle. Would you, dear reader, store your $150 iPod like that? Would you store a $1,000 laptop like that? Would you store a $2,000 semi-automatic Sig Sauer assault rifle like that? If you were a HC Police Officer, the answer to the last question is a definite yes. Now, the weapon is in the hands of criminals that the HCPD thinks are dangerous enough to justify the need for the HCPD to use such a weapon in the first place. Oh yeah, and the police still don't know where the rifle is. But, there is at least one less dog you have to worry about urinating in your yard. Nice job, officers.