Some
of
our
nation’s
finest
Drug
Warriors
are
at
it
again.
And
by
“at
it,”
I
mean
doing
seriously
stupid,
seriously
unconstitutional
stuff
in
hopes
of
finding
drugs
or
(better
yet!)
cash
that
will
somehow
prove
they’re
doing
anything
at
all
to
stem
the
flow
of
illegal
drugs.
And
yet,
they
weren’t
even
after
a
truly
illegal
drug
here.
The
LAPD
was
going
after
some
supposedly
“unlicensed”
weed,
which
means
weed
that
isn’t
generating
tax
dollars,
rather
than
the
substance
that
is
mostly
legal
in
a
lot
of
places,
including
Los
Angeles,
California.
The
raid
was
botched
in
more
ways
than
one,
but
it
led
off
with
the
claim
always
made
by
Drug
Warriors
when
they
need
an
excuse
to
start
violating
the
Constitution.
(h/t Radley
Balko)
The
owners
of
NoHo
Diagnostic
Center
are
suing
the
LAPD,
the
city
of
Los
Angeles
and
multiple
police
officers,
alleging
they
violated
the
business
owners’
constitutional
rights
and
demanding
an
unspecified
amount
in
damages.
Officers
allegedly
raided
the
diagnostic
center,
located
in
the
Van
Nuys
neighborhood
of
Los
Angeles,
thinking
it
was
a
front
for
an
illegal
cannabis
cultivation
facility,
pointing
to
higher-than-usual
energy
use
and
the
“distinct
odor”
of
cannabis
plants,
according
to
the
lawsuit.
Yep,
cops
on
Drug
War
duty
are
peeping
electric
bills
to
locate
grow
operations.
Even
when
they’re
wrong,
they
still
feel
they’re
right.
There
are
lots
of
reasons
a
place
might
be
using
more
electricity,
whether
it’s
someone’s
desktop
Bitcoin
rig
or,
in
this
case,
a
place
that
uses
a
lot
of
high-powered,
highly-specialized
medical
equipment.
And
“distinct
odor”
is just
a
useful
dodge —
something
used
to
justify
otherwise
illegal
entries
that
can’t
be
readily
disputed
because
there’s
no
body
cam
on
the
market
(yet)
that
is
capable
of
identifying
odors.
What
the
body
cams
can
catch
is
the
butchery
of
rights
and
some
incredibly
incompetent
policing.
We’ll
see
if
any
of
this
footage
survives
—
not
just
because
the
LAPD
might
want
to
cover
this
up,
but
because
the
officers
just
sort
of
blundered
around
the
building,
poking
and
prodding
at
x-ray
machines,
ultrasound
devices,
CT
scanners,
and
—
most
comically
—
an
MRI
behind
a
door
that
clearly
told everyone entering
not
to
bring
anything
metal
into
the
room.
And
for
good
reason,
as
one
officer
immediately
discovered.
The
MRI
machine’s
magnetic
force
then
allegedly
sucked
his
rifle
across
the
room,
pinning
it
against
the
machine…
An
officer
then
allegedly
pulled
a
sealed
emergency
release
button
that
shut
the
MRI
machine
down,
deactivating
it,
evaporating
thousands
of
liters
of
helium
gas
and
damaging
the
machine
in
the
process.
The
officer
then
grabbed
his
rifle
and
left
the
room,
leaving
behind
a
magazine
filled
with
bullets
on
the
office
floor,
according
to
the
lawsuit.
Please
tell
me
more
about
this
“training
and
expertise,”
Officer
Disarmed-By-An-MRI-Machine.
Also,
explain
to
me
why
it
was
worth
the
sacrifice
of
a
multi-million
dollar
machine
to
save
a
gun
that’s
far
more
replaceable
than
you
are,
Officer
Doesn’t-Know-What-The-Fuck-He’s-Doing.
The
cop
shop
will
always
issue
you
another
one.
But
without
securing
a
win
or
a
settlement
in
this
lawsuit,
the
medical
facility
will
have
to
cover
the
repairs
out
of
its
own
pocket
due
to
your
inept
blundering.
The lawsuit’s [PDF]
allegations
further
highlight
the
complete
ineptitude
of
everyone
involved
in
this
raid,
starting
with
the
officer
who
secured
the
search
warrant.
Behold
this
amazing
display
of
detective
work
by
someone
who
shouldn’t
be
allowed
to
operate
MS
Word,
much
less
a
handgun.
OFFICER
FRANCO
conducted
surveillance
on
multiple
dates
in
2023,
reporting
the
“distinct
odor
of
live
cannabis
plant
and
not
the
odor
of
dried
cannabis
being
smoked,”
tinted
windows
–
which
he
attributed
to
efforts
to
conceal
cannabis
cultivation,
security
cameras
–which
he
associated
with
locations
where
cannabis
is
grown
to
prevent
theft,
and
two
individuals
in
similar
attire
at
the
premises
–
whom
he
concluded
were
performing
maintenance
or
expanding
the
cultivation
operation.
Pretty
hard
to
square
the
claim
of
a
pervasive
marijuana
odor
with
the
distinct
lack
of
marijuana
on
the
premises.
And
everything
Officer
Franco
claims
is
illustrative
of
illegal
operations
is
also
illustrative
of
plenty
of fully
legal operations
—
like
the
operation
and
housing
of
incredibly
expensive
medical
equipment
by
trained
professionals.
That’s
not
all
the
stupid,
though.
There’s
more
from
Officer
Franco,
who
couldn’t
even
be
bothered
to
compare
the
NoHo
Diagnostic
Center
to
its
nearest
electricity-using
neighbors
to
see
if
he
was
actually
witnessing
something
anomalous
(and,
I
guess,
drug-related)
or
just
the
sort
of
normal
usage
split
one
would
expect
in
a
situation
like
this.
OFFICER
FRANCO
compared
the
power
usage
of
the
TARGET
PREMISES
to
nearby
businesses
and
found
it
significantly
higher.
OFFICER
FRANCO,
therefore,
concluded
that
the
TARGET
PREMISES
was
cultivating
cannabis,
disregarding
the
fact
that
it
is
a
diagnostic
facility
utilizing
an
MRI
machine,
Xray
machine,
and
other
heavy
medical
equipment—unlike
the
surrounding
businesses
selling
flowers,
chocolates,
and
childrens’
merchandise,
none
of
which
would
require
significant
power
usage.
Officer
Franco
also
claimed
to
have
performed
an
“internet
search”
linking
the
lab
to
“Fouad
Ashour,”
despite
publicly-available
business
records
showing
the
business
had
been
incorporated
in
2021
by
its
Chief
Executive
Officer,
Ustiana
Shaginian.
This
isn’t
“training
and
expertise.”
It
certainly
isn’t
“expertise.”
And
if
this
is
how
Officer
Franco
makes
inferences,
there’s
something
seriously
wrong
with
the
LAPD’s
training,
as
the
lawsuit
points
out.
(Emphasis
in
the
original.)
Despite
the
TARGET
PREMISES’
legitimate
business
certification,
OFFICER
FRANCO,
as
a natural
next
step,
contacted
LAPD’s
Gang
and
Narcotics
Division
Cannabis
Support
Unit.
OFFICER
FRANCO
learned
that
the
TARGET
PREMISES, a
medical
diagnostic
center,
does
not
have
a
license
to
cultivate
cannabis,
a
finding
he
promptly
labeled
a
“violation
of
the
California
Health
and
Safety
Code.”
Based
on
his 15
years as
an
LAPD
officer
and twelve
hours of
narcotics
training,
and
based
upon
the
presence
of
security
cameras
(typical
of
any
reasonable
commercial
business),
tinted
windows
(a
reasonable
practice
for
any
medical
facility
concerned
with
patient
privacy),
high
power
usage
(as
any
diagnostic
facility),
the
alleged
odor
of
cannabis
plants
(in
a
busy
shopping
plaza
with
no
prior
reports),
the
absence
of
a
cultivation
permit
(which
no
diagnostic
healthcare
facility
would
possess),
and
the
presence
of
two
men
wearing
identical
company
branded
shirts
(unexpected
of
individuals
involved
in
illegal
cultivation),
OFFICER
FRANCO
found
probable
cause
for
cannabis
cultivation
at
the
TARGET
PREMISES.
Burn
him.
Burn
him
to
the
ground.
This
wasn’t
an
investigation.
This
was
an
officer
working
backwards
from
conclusions
he’d
apparently
generated
without
any
reasonable
suspicion
that
would
warrant
the
initiation
of
an
investigation
until
he
arrived
at
the
point
he
could
get
a
warrant
and
start
violating
rights.
Given
these
allegations,
I
would
sincerely
hope
the
city
of
LA
already
has
a
check
half-written.
All
it
needs
now
is
the
settlement
amount.
Allowing
this
to
move
forward
just
means
more
cops
are
going
be
asked
more
questions.
And
the
one
cop,
whose
name
leads
off
the
lawsuit,
has
answered
plenty
of
those
with
actions,
and
has
raised
a
similar
number
of
disturbing
questions
whose
answers
are
just
going
to
generate
more
liability
for
the
PD.
And
while
it’s
always
difficult
to
hold
a
city
or
entire
police
department
accountable
for
officers’
actions,
every
time
these
officers
attest
to
their
“training”
and
“experience”
in
warrant
requests,
depositions,
or
direct
testimony,
they’re
implying
the
errors
(or
willful
violations)
they
committed
were
at
least
partially
based
on
the
training
provided
by
their
employers
and
their
service
to
the
higher
power
(the
city)
that
signs
their
paychecks.
This
is
embarrassing
on
several
levels.
Hopefully,
NoHo
Diagnostic
will
get
some
justice
here.
And
even
more
hopefully,
the
city
will
decide
to
make
some
heads
roll
in
hopes
of
deterring
future
actions
like
these
that
not
only
violate
residents’
rights,
but
insult
their
intelligence
and
rob
them
of
their
tax
dollars.
LAPD
Raids
Medical
Lab
For
(Nonexistent)
Weed,
Get
Gun
Stuck
In
An
MRI
Machine
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