So my neighbors were raided by the swat team...

[GuitarStv]

There's no reason you need to know other than nosiness.  If you have the right to know, you can find the relevant public record, but you need a lot of information to locate it.  Agencies and police departments don't make it easy for a random busybody to pull info on his neighbors.

Personal safety is the reason to know what's going on a couple of doors down.  Your safety and that of your family.

I don't really buy this argument.

If you're concerned about the personal safety of yourself and your family, just assume that the person raided was a terrorist meth dealing neo-nazi murderer pedophile and act accordingly.  That way their privacy is respected and your security is as good as it would have been if the cops told you exactly what was going on.

There's no need at all from a safety perspective for you to know what was going on.

I don't think you're using logic here.   If he assumes the worst, then he should logically barricade the shit of out his house and hire 24/7 security to guard his family.  Clearly he shouldn't do that, because he doesn't know for sure, and it's a considerable amount of resources and energy to spend on an assumption.

I'm not a fan of nosy people.  Looking to understand why neighbors got SWATted doesn't make you a nosy person.

Maybe there's something wrong with me . . . but assuming the worst, logically I'd:
- Make sure to lock my doors
- Talk with the neighbours I'm close with and work together to keep a little extra watch going on
- Be a little more careful than usual with regards to my kids

Assuming that the SWAT team actually has the right guy, they've probably either caught him or scared him away.  It would be phenomenally stupid of him to do anything untoward knowing that the police are on him.

There are two possibilities that I'll float out there that I would recommend a dramatic increase in security over:

- They maybe have the right guy, but he might have covered his tracks quite well and given them nothing to arrest/detain him on.

- Assuming this person is a terrorist as you mentioned, most terrorists will do whatever they planned on doing regardless of the consequences.  They assume they're being tracked; they just need to be able to make their big move before they can be stopped.  Someone who values their destructive mission more than their life is an ever present danger.

Pffft.  Terrorism isn't any kind of real concern.  It ranks below the dangers of driving your car, being hit by lightning, and being eaten by a shark.  Hell, toddlers killed more Americans than terrorists last year.  What would you do to protect your family if a toddler came into your neighbourhood?

It's possible that after raiding his house the shady guy is going to continue being nefarious . . . but more likely I think that he'll lay very low, knowing that the police are on to him.  If he does want to keep doing bad stuff, it would likely drive him to move away.

[Another Reader]

I would rather have the facts than speculate.  OP, let us know what you find out.

[Spork]

Pffft.  Terrorism isn't any kind of real concern.  It ranks below the dangers of driving your car, being hit by lightning, and being eaten by a shark.  Hell, toddlers killed more Americans than terrorists last year.  What would you do to protect your family if a toddler came into your neighbourhood?

It's possible that after raiding his house the shady guy is going to continue being nefarious . . . but more likely I think that he'll lay very low, knowing that the police are on to him.  If he does want to keep doing bad stuff, it would likely drive him to move away.

First off: the idea of a toddler running amok in my neighborhood makes me cringe.

As to the second statement:  I doubt it.  My neighbors are meth heads.  They've never been raided by a group with flash bangs... but they've been visited by the local sheriff many times.  Many of them have packed off for "state paid vacations for months/years."  Unfortunately, folks like that are just not so likely to change.  And they just don't to use normal logic.  (Seriously, felons that aren't allowed to own handguns probably shouldn't do target practice in the front yard.)

[Melisande]

Way back in 2009 at the depth of the financial crisis,we had a similar mystery visit of a Swat team to our neighborhood. All the neighbors wanted to know what was up, but the police refused to tell us. Then a few hours later, we had a knock on our door. One of the police officers was requesting to use our bathroom. I said: "Sure, no problem ... as long as you tell us what is going on." It turns out that someone about six houses away from us was threatening to commit suicide and kill the rest of their family. Yikes!

So, no word from the OP?

[FIRE me]

I would rather have the facts than speculate.  OP, let us know what you find out.

I filed an open records request today. They say they will respond in three days to let me know if the requested record exists and if I will be allowed to buy a copy for $10.

[fa]

You give up your physical freedom and some other rights when you get arrested. The right to privacy is one of them.

I think that is true and so wrong.  An arrest is not a conviction.  Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?  If my reputation is ruined in the community because law enforcement smeared my reputation while I am innocent, I would not be okay with that.  Many jobs and careers are entirely based on your reputation.

[Metric Mouse]

Hell, toddlers killed more Americans than terrorists last year.  What would you do to protect your family if a toddler came into your neighbourhood?

Source? Just the Pulse Nightclub shooting killed roughly twice as many people as toddlers last year...

[former player]

threatening to commit suicide and kill the rest of their family.

In that order?

[Spork]

threatening to commit suicide and kill the rest of their family.

In that order?

Not every plan is successful...

[GuitarStv]

Hell, toddlers killed more Americans than terrorists last year.  What would you do to protect your family if a toddler came into your neighbourhood?

Source? Just the Pulse Nightclub shooting killed roughly twice as many people as toddlers last year...

My mistake.  It would appear that although toddlers claimed the crown in 2015, the terrorists appeared to be edging out the toddlers last year.


2015 (http://www.snopes.com/toddlers-killed-americans-terrorists/)
Terrorists - 4 (Chatanooga) + 14 (San Bernadino)
Toddlers - 21

2016
Terrorists - 49 (Orlando) + 11 (Ohio State)  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks#2016)
Toddlers - Between April and May last year, toddlers racked up 5 kills (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/01/toddlers-have-shot-at-least-23-people-this-year/?utm_term=.63dde3dbbe82.  There were 247 incidents where a kid under 17 shot someone in the US last year (http://everytownresearch.org/notanaccident/), but I can't be arsed to search through all 247 news stories to find exact figures for deaths caused by the 3 and under crowd but it does look like they're falling behind.

[Spork]

2016
Terrorists - 49 (Orlando) + 11 (Ohio State)  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks#2016)
Toddlers - Between April and May last year, toddlers racked up 5 kills (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/01/toddlers-have-shot-at-least-23-people-this-year/?utm_term=.63dde3dbbe82.  There were 247 incidents where a kid under 17 shot someone in the US last year (http://everytownresearch.org/notanaccident/), but I can't be arsed to search through all 247 news stories to find exact figures for deaths caused by the 3 and under crowd but it does look like they're falling behind.

...and that's the real problem with toddlers.  They are unfocused and lazy.  They need to just grow the hell up.

[BlueMR2]

The house across the street was "swatted" at least 5 years ago.

A box containing drugs addressed to our neighbor got sniffed out at the PO, and the police chief "delivered" it to the homeowner late in the day, asking if he would accept a package. Next thing you know, a van emptied out and there were police and guns everywhere, and our neighbor was on the ground in handcuffs.

My mom, sister, nephew and I were doing yard work in the back, so we heard the commotion and naturally gawked. The police chief brought the neighbor's two elementary school kids across the street for us to look after while they searched the house (their Mom wasn't home yet). They removed some computers, I believe, and one Barney Fife managed to accidentally discharge his gun into the floor of their bonus room down into the garage (rolls eyes).

The wife came over the next day with a gift card for taking care of their kids and to tell us her version of the snafu.  Story is (and I believe it), that drugs were mailed to their house, with the intent that said box would be snatched from the porch before the owner of the house got home.  Our neighbor was released and nothing untoward has happened since.

Just a misunderstanding. Nothing a lawsuit won't fix.

If you manage to survive the encounter to benefit from the lawsuit...  Co-worker got into a very touchy situation with some Federal Marshals who came down on him and his family based on bad info from an informant.  Which brings me back to, why on Earth do LEOs keep taking the word of criminals?  These informants are criminals who lie to gain any advantage.  Shouldn't be taking their word for anything.

[FIRE me]

My mistake.  It would appear that although toddlers claimed the crown in 2015,

I have experienced the Terrible Two's but those tantrums must have got a lot worse since I last raised a two year old.

[Just Joe]

Just don't leave weapons within the grasp of a toddler experiencing the terrible twos. Or keys to a vehicle... A toddler behind the tillers of a bulldozer can be scary... I'm sure it's on YouTube somewhere.

[Metric Mouse]

A toddler behind the tillers of a bulldozer can be scary... I'm sure it's on YouTube somewhere.

If it's not, I'm renting a bulldozer tomorrow.

[davisgang90]

Maybe there's something wrong with me . . . but assuming the worst, logically I'd:
- Make sure to lock my doors
- Talk with the neighbours I'm close with and work together to keep a little extra watch going on
- Be a little more careful than usual with regards to my kids

Assuming that the SWAT team actually has the right guy, they've probably either caught him or scared him away.  It would be phenomenally stupid of him to do anything untoward knowing that the police are on him.
[/quote]
You haven't met many criminals have you?

[Metric Mouse]

You haven't met many criminals have you?

Touche. Very few of them are Danny Ocean.

[FIRE me]

The Open Records request was answered today. They say they don't have the document that I requested. The law doesn't require them to say why not, or to offer suggestions. So they don't.

Either a different agency than the local police department did the raid, or the local PD did the raid, but there was no Police Report generated from the raid.