Update on Ryan Frederick's case in Virginia Beach

The Agitator has an excellent update on the case of Ryan Frederick. It is increasingly looking like yet another case of drug police using any excuse they can whip up to use a forced entry into a private home in the middle of the night. Some may find that comment extreme, but here are the known facts, and the facts that appear to be emerging in this new phase of the case:

What we know:

• Ryan has no prior record as a drug dealer. In fact, aside from a few driving violations, he's as clean on his record as the average citizen.
• No signs of a drug dealing outfit were discovered at his premises, unless you count a small amount of recreational drugs as a sign that he was a drug dealer.
• He had been burgled a few nights before the raid, and police indicated that they knew this, thus admitting that they knew they were creating an unnecessarily violent situation.
• His neighbors all have good things to say about living in the same neighborhood with him. In fact, they are some of his biggest supporters.
• There was no surveillance of his property to verify any of the claims made by the informant.

What is starting to come out:

• The informant had a grudge against Ryan.
• The informant was a arrested for serious financial crimes.

This is Law Enforcement 101 material, or it should be. The only time it is acceptable for the police to take the risks associated with going in guns blazing without much evidence is in an extraordinary situation like a hostage crisis. There, they can't easily corroborate evidence, and the risks to innocent lives are high enough that something must be done immediately. In cases like Ryan's, there's no reason they couldn't have grabbed him on his way to work, and executed a search warrant on his house.

There are simply no grounds to defend the cops here. They knew when he went to work, and could have had an unmarked car down the street ready to pounce on him as he walked to his car. If there is anyone who deserves to rot in prison for Detective Shiver's death, it is the officer who acted on this information in the way they did.