FLORIDA MISCONDUCT: LARGO COPS FAIL TO OBTAIN SEARCH WARRANTS BEFORE BREAKING INTO HOMES

The Largo Police Department grudgingly apologized for breaking into a home that officers falsely believed was occupied by vagrants. The officers busted down the front door and confronted the law abiding occupants with weapons to investigate the heinous crime of a possible trespassing charge. 

Damn, forgot the Search Warrant again!

It's very lucky for everyone involved that on one was shot, because  the manner in which the officers gained entry was closer to a home invasion than to what one would expect from qualified police officers. Under Florida's stand your ground law those within the house would clearly have a right to defend themselves from what they believed to be a home invasion. If there had been a shooting, how would the police have explained their obvious disregard of the law and sheer laziness in not first securing a search warrant on the house? 

Also, since anyone in Florida can resist an unlawful arrest in Florida as long as no force or violence is used, there would be incentive on the part of the police officers to find a reason or excuse to be there by looking for any unlawful acts. That's why properly prepared search warrants actually help the police by solidifying the reason they need to go into a home and delineating before a judge or magistrate the evidence of unlawful misconduct the police possess.

Despite an apology to the men living in the home, the Police Department made it clear that it believed it did not really need a search warrant under the circumstances because of the exigent circumstances exception for search warrants. The fact is that investigation of a possible trespass with no other information nor suspicion of wrong doing nor immediate necessity for officer or citizen safety is legally insufficient. If the the leaders of the Largo Police Department don't understand criminal law, how can the investigating officers be expected to carry out their obligations under the law?

But the police do know what the law entails, they just don't want the aggravation that comes with respecting search warrant requirements. The truth is that in Tampa Bay, Florida many police departments have made a mockery of the fourth amendment search warrant requirements by using inappropriate tactics such as secret videos, while other officers have committed crimes without being prosecuted. If the police officers knew they should have obtained a search warrant then they were committing at least a trespass and possibly a burglary.

The Largo Police Department routinely and habitually violates the rights of it's citizens. Those in a leadership position should be punished or new leaders found who will obey our constitution even if they don't believe in it. 

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