Police are good. But sometimes they do bad. And it’s incumbent on the American citizenry to hold police accountable when they do bad.
True story: A business owner named Carlos Pena in Los Angeles was thrown out of his printing shop by a fugitive who was fleeing police. Police — SWAT members, to be precise — then stormed into Pena’s shop to apprehend the suspect. During the course of their attempt, they threw grenades and smashed up the insides to the point where Pena’s business was completely destroyed.
And then they said sorry to Pena and paid for the damages and that was that, right? Not.
Pena has spent over a year now trying to receive money for his business repairs from both police and city officials and he’s gotten nowhere. In the meanwhile, he’s only been able to work at about a 20% capacity out of his home — thereby losing untold amounts of potential customers in the meanwhile. Shop damage alone is estimated at $60,000; add to that the losses from customers who don’t know where to find him, and his total financial impacts are devastating.
The Institute for Justice, thankfully, has taken up Pena’s case. IJ attorney Jeff Redfern: “Pretty much everything in his shop was destroyed. All Carlos’ inventory, all the drywall had to be torn out … his equipment [destroyed].”
Too bad, so sad, says the city.
When asked if city officials were sympathetic to Pena’s plight, Redfern said, “Not particularly.”
Pena is you is me is any business owner in America — and if police don’t pay from their own budgets for the damages they mistakenly cause, then city officials in charge of the police departments must pay.
Tune in for more on this case, and on systems in America that actually lay the groundwork for police to cross constitutional lines.
* Bold and Blunt is available at The Washington Times, at Real Life Network, at the Christian podcast Edifi app, through Apple — basically, wherever podcasts are available.
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