Author Topic: Houston lawmaker files bill to ban no-knock warrants in Texas  (Read 190 times)

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Houston lawmaker files bill to ban no-knock warrants in Texas
« on: November 12, 2020, 02:07:09 pm »
Houston Chronicle by  Jasper Scherer Nov. 11, 2020

A bill pre-filed this week by state Rep. Gene Wu would ban no-knock warrants across Texas, marking the first major legislative response to last year’s botched drug raid that led to the deaths of two Houston residents and murder charges for a police officer.

Wu’s proposal, which he filed Tuesday, would bar magistrates from issuing warrants that allow police to break into residents’ homes without warning. After the practice came under scrutiny in Houston, Police Chief Art Acevedo began requiring approval from top-ranking police officials and the signature of a district court judge — not municipal court judges or county magistrates — before officers could carry out no-knock warrants.

Acevedo implemented the policy change after narcotics officers in January burst into a home on Harding Street in search of heroin, sparking an eruption of gunfire that killed residents Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas and injured five officers. Police discovered only small amounts of cocaine and marijuana during the bust.

Shortly after the raid, Acevedo said no-knock warrants “are going to go away like leaded gasoline in this city,” prompting headlines that claimed the Houston Police Department would end the practice altogether.

Acevedo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-lawmaker-files-bill-to-ban-no-knock-15720389.php