FRAMINGHAM, MA — Video of a police raid at a Framingham home last week raised questions about how officers conducted the operation. The video showed an officer saying he needed to enter a family’s residence to “secure” it until a warrant could be obtained. As the officers make their way inside, a family dog lunges at an officer, who threatens to shoot it.
An edited version of the video was posted on the “High Impact Vlogs” YouTube channel. Commentary indicates the officers confiscated money, marijuana and a car. Police did not confirm if anything was confiscated.
Framingham Police Chief Steven Trask declined to comment on the video or the officers’ conduct, saying only that the video does not belong to the police department.
While securing the home is an exception to the warrant requirement under the Fourth Amendment, it is only allowed when the police are already in the process of obtaining a warrant and there’s reason to believe evidence in the case will be destroyed.
Victoria Kelleher, president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the exception of securing the home is a narrow one.
“It’s for the limited purpose of securing the property only, to make sure no one in the home is tampering with the evidence sought,” Kelleher told Patch. “The exception shouldn’t swallow the rule — the police can’t use the opportunity to conduct a warrantless search and thereby violate the Fourth Amendment.”
Kelleher said that the video alone isn’t enough to know whether the police were following protocol and in fact in the process of obtaining a warrant or believed evidence was being destroyed. She said the approach seemed unnecessary and “more likely to end in the loss of innocent human life, particularly where one of the officers is threatening to shoot the family dog in the home.”
Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer said an investigation into the incident is underway.
“In the best interest of everyone involved, we are thoroughly investigating the incident,” she said.
The city issued a statement on behalf of the police department concerning the raid:
“On August 7, 2019 members of Natick and Framingham Police assigned to the Metrowest Drug Task Force applied for a search warrant in connection with an ongoing investigation into a Prior Drive residence in Framingham. Probable cause was found to issue the search warrant and officers subsequently executed it at the home. Pursuant to the investigation police have applied for criminal charges and a hearing is scheduled. As this is an ongoing and active investigation no additional information can be released at this time. “
In the video, when the homeowner refuses to let officers in, the lead officer threatens to break down the door and begins counting to five, at which point she steps aside.
Once the officers are inside, the video shows the two dogs barking and one lunging at and apparently biting one of them. When the officer strikes the dog, the homeowner shouts, “Don’t hit her, she’s pregnant.”
The officer says, “If that dog bites me again I’m going to f—— shoot it. It bit me in the stomach,” lifting his shirt to show the bite marks.
A man who is in the home during the ordeal is patted down, as well the homeowner, who comes in halfway through the video. The YouTube channel claims the officers confiscated money, marijuana and a car from the residents of the home. Framingham police did not confirm if anything was confiscated.
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