At Least They Didn't Use A Taser

A police raid on a north Minneapolis apartment on Tuesday that left a man in the hospital and the apartment in shambles -- but led to no serious criminal charges -- has fallen under internal police review.

I truly don't believe I am one of those people who overly sympathize with criminals or people who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.  I totally support the police officers who keep us safe and I get why they are quick to protect themselves.  I also believe they are fully accountable for their actions, and that they should be held to a higher ethical standard because of the nature of their duties.  While it's often played out like a game, cheating on their end should be punished, and severely just because their power is so abusable that a deterrent makes sense.

I have heard directly from retired cops that it's been a long-time successful strategy to beat the crap out of a suspect while shouting "stop resisting!"  Hitting people and tearing up property might be warranted under some circumstances, but what if there was nothing to be found, and what if the suspect isn't resisting?  The problem with the unnecessary force is that we'll never know if Elijah Sullivan was forced to hold a bag of drugs to validate this incident, or if he was opportunistic and found a plausible explanation for the circumstances.  Because of how poorly this was handled from the beginning, the police have no ground to stand on when denying this after the witnesses chip in their account.

I'm curious to see what the investigation turns up, and what details come out while it progresses.