Via Phillip Smith comes this news in the Washington Post
Attorneys for Prince George’s County on Monday settled a lawsuit brought by Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo that accused deputies from a county sheriff’s SWAT unit of storming into his home without a proper warrant the day they shot his family’s two dogs and held him at gunpoint. […]
Calvo said he could not comment on the amount or other details of the settlement, which are being worked out.
However, he did say that the settlement will include reforms in the way county law enforcement officers conduct such operations. The reforms will involve such issues as how and when SWAT teams are deployed and the humane treatment of pets.
“We’re achieving reforms we were seeking,” Calvo said.
So hes getting’reform’ and a settlement. What of the countless victims of other raids? They are going to treat pets humainly? But not mentioned of human treatment of people?
Hey, if he gets reform in Prince George’s County, that’s huge! It’s one of the top hotbeds for SWAT abuse in the country.
Give Calvo some major props (it sounds a bit like you’re accusing him of something, sick). Since the devastating raid on his place, he’s been a tremendous spokesperson for changing the way things are done in this country. He’s been doing speaking engagements, has an active Facebook group, numerous articles in the Washington post, and he’s really been pressuring the Prince George’s County drug war structure.
Naw pete , Im not accusing him of anything, and I am glad some reform is happening. Im just frustrated at the lack of compassion and common sense in this country.
I tend to go over the top on purpose alot, just to stir the pot so to speak and get people thinking.
Thanks for the info, guess I should have looked into the story abit more, I would have known Calvo was speaking out.
Reality check taken.
I’m pretty sure he didn’t dent the county’s Police budget, since they have insurance for that sort of thing. But we can hope it was enough of a settlement to send their insurance rates to the moon.
Kinda wish he hadn’t settled though, it would have been good publicity for that to have become a public trial and judicial award. Also, I’m overtly hostile to L.E. and really want them to be drug through the mud in front of everybody.
There. I said it.
He wasn’t in it for the money. And I’m pretty sure, the hope was always for a settlement, since the only way to really achieve something lasting was through a settlement. The way you get a local government to change policy is by threatening them with such a huge amount of money in a civil case that it scares them, and they agree to reforms to avoid having to pay that much out.
You don’t get reforms from a jury. You get money.
And the most important reform in this was the “how and when SWAT teams would be deployed.” Prince George’s County uses them over 400 times a year.
Also remember that Cheye Calvo has already accomplished one bit of reform on his own earlier. Mayor Calvo pushed for “SWAT bill,†through Maryland state government, requiring the state’s police departments to report SWAT deployments—and the reasons for them—every six months.
This is good stuff, folks.
hmmm…i’m not sure about this. Obviously we’ll have to wait until the details of the settlement are disclosed but i’m skeptical. I sort of wish he took them to court and went through the process. The reason I say this is that while a settlement is nice and arguably any amount of reform is good reform, a judicial decree is more binding then a promise.
Simply put if a judge says “x” rather then PG county saying they will do “x” then later down the road, a future victim can say “the judge in this case said ‘x’, PG county you violate the law.”. Whereas if it is just a settlement promise then future victims can’t necessarily point to the case since a settlement isn’t a ruling.
Yes, we’ll have to wait for the details of the settlement. But I would assume it’s a legally binding settlement, not something signed out in the parking lot. Based on other articles I’m reading it appears to be in the nature of a binding settlement. Both parties have until February 24 to sign.
A good settlement that includes reforms would presumably have enforcement provisions that fast-track it back into court if the sheriff’s office is accused of not complying. Their compliance may even be monitored by a judge who can hear future complaints quickly.
Or not. We’ll have to wait and see.
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Now if that isn’t a dictionary picture example of of anti-climactic I sure don’t know what is. Hopefully Mr. Calvo will use the money to start a Don’t Shoot Our Dogs Foundation, he doesn’t seem like the type of man to go out and spend it on self indulgent trinkets and junk.
Right up there with changing water into wine Pete. Don’t hold your breath. While people in the rest of America were outraged when they read the story initially we locals were thinking “so what else is news?” When they managed to get PG to quit abusing their black people as a matter of race relations back in the 1970s all it meant was that the white folks started getting abused too. No racism anymore, but the black people sure didn’t notice any difference. The malfeasance of PG County government is decades and decades old. The only thing that was unusual at all about the Calvo case was that it made national news. When the wife & I moved across the river to Maryland in 2002 we had to consider PG, it’s much cheaper than any of the other jurisdictions which abut DC. But we’re discussing the direct, proximate cause of that significant discount today, the systemic corruption of the PG County government and standard issue governmental abuse of the populace. We ended up close enough to PG that I can stand on my back porch and with the wind at my back could hock a lunger and land it in PG County, but we still send our property tax payment to Rockville, not to Upper Marlboro. Still close enough for a partial but significant discount though, just due to the proximity to the smell of the governmental rot of PG County.
Don’t expect to ever hear the details of the settlement, non-disclosure agreements are SOP in cases like this. If you want I’ll consider driving over to knock on his door and ask him directly and “off the record”. I live about 5 miles from Berwyn Heights, so less than 6 miles from anyone in BH, and actually have the inclination to do it anyway. Unfortunately I also would like to discuss a parking ticket some bastard from the BHPD gave me about 6 or 7 years ago for parking in the middle of a street during a 2 foot snowstorm. If I had parked me car by the curb it would have been a miracle, and a week before I could have unparked it. I believe we may have had the only two vehicles that were moving on the streets of BH that night. I was there less than 5 minutes and didn’t even glimpse the cop that wrote me up. That really is the extent of the two patrol car BHPD police activity, giving parking tickets and they’re pretty darn good at it. OK, maybe its better that I don’t go, there’s a good chance I’d forget about the dogs when I got there. As pixxed off as I am about that stupid parking ticket, it was just a stupid parking ticket. But hey, 25 bucks is 25 bucks.
Someday I’d like to see someone settle for less and can the secrecy agreement. I’m certain Mr. Calvo’s greed that led to accepting non-disclosure wasn’t for personal gain, but still think allowing them to keep it secret allows them to continue on with they’re policies of corruption. I’d sure like to know how many dozens of civil, non-disclosure agreements PG County is party to.
The screed above was just some observations from a guy that unfortunately has the “privilege” of personal observation. Remember to apply the grain of salt my cynical point of view deserves.
Sorry Pete, the POV of the locals is nowhere near as hopeful. I sincerely hope that you are right, and that I’m mistaken. Unfortunately Mr. Ockham is whispering in my ear that it’s not bloody likely.
What secrecy agreement?
Can you point to a single bit of information that says that there is a secrecy agreement?
All I’ve read is that “Details of the settlement are not yet available.” That’s because the broad strokes have been agreed to and both parties have until February 24 to sign, so there may be minor tweaks still happening.
Before you go knock on his door, let’s wait until they release the details. OK?
I’ve met Cheye Calvo. There’s no way he would agree to a settlement that had secret reforms. He is a smart, passionate, and articulate reformer, even though relatively newly brought on board by circumstance.
Now, he’s also going to get some money out of this, and that’s great. He’s been spending an awful lot on legal fees.
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OK Pete, I concede I’m presuming that SOP was followed. You’re quite right that’s a bit premature. Then again I did mention that it’s appropriate to take my opinion with a grain of salt.
This from Denver, Dispensaries and crime:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_17178820
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It’s amazing that so many people who would otherwise be singing in the church choir on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening and helping elderly women negotiate busy intersections with the rest of their spare time are compelled to a life of crime by the existence of these dispensaries.
Go hit ’em for me will ya Duncan? That site thinks my comment is spam.
Unless there’s some other darkcycle your posts are up. One thing unique to the DP is that if someone makes a post while you’re typing the software stops in the act of posting and gives you the opportunity to read the new post. Today it stopped in the process of one of mine to show me one of yours.
My moniker on the Denver Post site is kesterling2003 as it was one of the earliest where I signed up to comment. The story behind kesterling2003 is long, boring, and irrelevant trailer park drama, but it was my ‘net name before I decided to toss caution to the wind and use my own name. If anyone there wonders it’s not that who I am is any secret, but I presume that people have a general idea of what’s coming when they see that name attached to a post.
I used to think the Denver Post was about circulation, nowadays I think them true believers and the increased page views is validation to them rather than motivation. It’s so laughable when people in a State with a maximum fine of $100 for petty possession talk about a “get out of jail free card.” You know I used to actually carry one of the real thing in my wallet, a genuine ‘Community Chest’ issued card. It did give one cop a guffaw when he was searching my wallet pursuant to arrest. It lost its attraction after that.
I really have a serious chip on my shoulder wrt the Denver Post. Perhaps log is more accurate than chip, I’ll admit it arguable.
He should have won a 500 billion settlement put that garbage state out of existence and start over.
http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/reefer-madness-forever/
Dun, I just went and checked. All yours are there, none of the five or so tries and rewordings of mine are up. Screw ’em. I’m alone w/ Asha today and can’t spend alot of time messin around with balky websites,
warren it is PG county, not the entire State of Maryland. Perhaps you can argue that the State should have cleaned up this mess decades ago, but other than that possibly very valid argument the problem isn’t State wide. Like I said above it’s a very short walk from my yard to the PG/Montgomery line and I’m not worried about this bullcrap since I’m on the Montgomery County side of the line. I am on this side of the line due to a conscious decision to not locate in PG specifically because of their way of governing, which was made back in 2002. Frankly I’m grateful since we seriously considered locating in Bowie since it’s an independent city. Independent just like Berwyn Heights. I didn’t quite grasp that meant that PG was still in charge. It was just too far from my wife’s employment. Sometimes you do get lucky. God that house in Bowie was gorgeous. It actually had a fully contained courtyard.
UGH. UGH,UGH,UGH.
GAWDAMNIT, THIS CAIN’T BE GOOD, FELLARS:
http://www.naturalnews.com/031092_government_drug_research.html
Richard (I’m not REALLY a virgin) Branson, former presidents luanch drug campaign:
http://www.medindia.net/news/Drugs-Campaign-Launched-by-Ex-World-Leaders-Branson-79918-1.htm
Man, It’s really like the whole world is starting to come to it’s senses. This isn’t at all what it felt like in 1979….
Great blog post from my old friend and Hempfest organizer Vivian McPeak:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/vivianmcpeak/archives/236820.asp