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‘Double-Edged Swords’: No-Knock Raids Often Raise Risk To Police And Civilians, Report Says

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No-knock raids frequently put police and civilians at heightened risk, according to a new American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) report.

An estimated 20,0000 law enforcement raids are conducted annually nationwide, with warrants that do not require police to announce their presence or identify themselves before entering homes, ALEC Criminal Justice Task Force Director Nino Marchese’s report says. It calls no-knock raids “double-edged swords” that often increase the injury or death risk for police and civilians.

The Justice Department issued a 2021 directive to reserve no-knock raids for instances when federal law enforcement can reasonably believe an announced search would “create an imminent threat of physical violence to the agent and/ or another person,” according to the report. Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, Connecticut and Oregon have all completely banned the practice.

“Maybe with their culture and other factors that make their states unique, that is the best solution, to ban them at a state level, but maybe for other states that’s not the best solution,” Marchese told the Daily Caller News Foundation. He said legislators should revisit the practice and examine how to improve it.

The report referenced no-knock raids that resulted in the deaths of 22-year-old Amir Locke in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in February, Breonna Taylor in 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky, and 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston of Atlanta, Georgia, in 2006.

“I think these stories, these tragedies, really highlight how inherently dangerous these no-knock raids can be,” Marchese told the DCNF. “We wanted to educate legislators on the issue, since it is up-and-coming, and states and local governments are looking to revisit the practice.”

Limitations on no-knock warrants will continue to progress through state legislatures, the report predicted.

“The broadest message I’d like the report to convey is that it’s not a left or right issue, and it’s not a black or white policy solution,” Marchese said.