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The Ogden Police Department’s internal investigation into a botched raid by its officers that threatened a family, including two young girls, leaves questions unanswered. People who are already skeptical of the Ogden police will not be convinced by the internal investigation, which finds no violation of policy but calls for changes in its policy.Gotta confess we were more than a mite amused and impressed by WCF reader Blackrulon's characterization on the S-E comments board, which pretty much expresses the same point, but with slightly more brevity, elegance and artistic flair:
In non-bureaucratic speak, what that means is that the policy that led officers to terrify an innocent family in the early hours of the morning was really poor.
It appears that the response by Mayor Caldwell and the Ogden police department is "we didn't do anything wrong but we promise not to do it again"."One question: why were law enforcement officers following a policy that did not prioritize those procedures already?" the Standard-Examiner asks.
From: Undisclosed SourceThanks to one of our bestest Ogden City pals over the years who for unknown reasons wishes to remain unidentified, we now learn that “Ogden City Police Officers will [henceforth] be required to weigh the public safety threat of the wanted person and the risk of serving the warrant during nighttime hours." Not a half-bad interim result, for starters... AFAWC...
Date: January 22, 2013, 3:46:49 PM MST
Subject: Ogden Press Release - Ogden City Police Department has concluded its investigation into the mistaken identity incident
OGDEN, Utah-The Ogden City Police Department has concluded its investigation into the mistaken identity incident that occurred in Ogden and Ogden City Administration is recommending changes to its arrest-warrant policy.
“Based on the recent police report on the mistaken-identity incident we will make changes to our arrest-warrant policy and procedure, ensuring officers are making use of available resources and verifying addresses on arrest warrants,” said Ogden City Mayor Mike Caldwell. “Officers will also be required to weigh the public safety threat of the wanted person and the risk of serving the warrant during nighttime hours.”
Changes will also include strict guidelines for warrants served after 10 p.m., such as background and address verification checks before officers can make contact at a residence.
“In response to the incident, Ogden police thoroughly reviewed policies from eleven agencies within Utah and seven agencies outside the state,” Mayor Caldwell said. “We found our policies regarding the serving of arrest warrants are consistent with the policies and best practices studied. Nevertheless, we think that policy improvements can be made to increase safety for our citizens and officers.”
On the morning of Dec. 20, Ogden police received a message from the U.S. Army. It contained a felony no-bond arrest warrant for Derek Billmire for being absent without leave. Utah State law and Ogden Police Policy states that felony warrants may be served any time, day or night.
“Officers followed both state law and agency protocol when they arrived at the listed address on the warrant and came in contact with Hill who resembled Billmire,” Mayor Caldwell said. “Once Hill produced identification, the officers explained how they came upon the address, apologized to Hill and his family and then left the residence.”
Caldwell continued, “We are deeply sorry for any fear or unintentional stress the Hill family felt and have offered our sincere apologies. The primary goal of our officers and my administration is to keep the public and our police officers safe. These changes will allow us to continually improve on that goal.”
Billmire was later located in Harrisville, taken into custody and booked into the Weber County Jail and later released to the custody of the U.S. Army to resolve the charges.
The Ogden Police Department has made several attempts to speak with Eric Hill and his wife following the incident, but they are currently refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
The Ogden Police Department’s summary report is attached.
"THIS IS F****** B******* MR MAYOR - SHOW SOME F****** B**** AND LET'S GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS NOW!"That's my reasoning - what's the council's?
But Hill opened his front door and was met with six men who he said were dressed in black, with no police identifiers that he saw. Three had assault rifles, Hill said; two were carrying tactical shotguns.
But the chief is not ready to concede five of the officers carried assault rifles and shotguns in the 2 a.m. entry Dec. 20 at the home of Eric and Melanie Hill.
Two of the five or six officers he counted on his doorstep carried an M4 assault rifle, the same model he uses as an Army specialist with two tours in Iraq. “My wife and I asked them if the M4s were really necessary,” Billmire said. “I asked them if it was because of the shootings that have happened around the country and they only said ‘No, it’s just procedure.’ ”
“It was the same thing — six officers, pounding on the door, hard and loud, with the guns and everything."By our own analysis, Ms. Billmore's statement corroborates the Hill family's report that the officers were indeed heavily armed, although it sheds no light upon the question of whether the officers brandished rifles and shotguns, as the Hill family contends. As to the mistaken address, it's clearly indicative of sloppy investigation, we'll suggest.
Derek never lived at the Hill home on Harrop Street. Her sister Kathy owned it for 26 years before selling it to the Hills in July. Tina Billmire said she had sometimes lived there with her sister’s family, but Derek had not.
“That surprised me,” she said. “His Harrisville address should have been on the warrant, the documents. It’s on everything else with the Army.”
I'm not convinced the investigation should be done by any police agency. Perhaps a group of retired officers, judges, defense and prosecuting attorneys would be a good alternative.So what about it folks? Should the Ogden City Council, in cooperation with Mayor Caldwell, appoint a blue ribbon commission, composed of "retired officers, judges, defense and prosecuting attorneys" to investigate this dreadful incident?
One of the officers made a comment about her husband coming to the door with a bat, saying that had it been a gun, the officers would have "blown you away."
It was a split decision to grab that bat. They could have killed him in his house for no reason in front of me and my kids. There should be other tactics to handle this kind of situation.
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