Karen Thomas

Dear Howard County Official:

In my first-ever letter to a government official, I write to you to urge you to support the recently proposed bill requiring state police departments to better monitor their use of special tactical SWAT teams.

As you probably know, the bill is sponsored by officials in Prince Georges County, following a highly-publicized raid of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo’s home. And you probably also know that P.G. County has a reputation of battling drug and crime problems that we here in Howard County aren’t plagued with. But I assure you, the problem of paramilitary police operations set in motion with improper investigation is a serious issue here in our own backyard.

I may not be a mayor with the power of the media behind me, but I am a forever-scarred victim of the same use of heavy-duty weaponry in the facilitation of ordinary police work. In September 2007, at 6:40 a.m., 12 men wearing masks, dressed in black and carrying automatic weapons kicked down my unlocked front door and entered my home while I was having coffee. No one told me who they were (I asked and asked and asked) and there were no identifying marks on them. Facing six guns pointed at my head, I was forced to the floor and handcuffed. That’s when I heard the gun go off in the family room downstairs, where I had just put a blanket over my youngest son, who was sleeping on the couch.

Are you a parent? Can you imagine believing a gang of terrorists was holding you at gunpoint, having just shot your child?

I have a keen memory of the exact moment in which I realized these were police officials in my home: Though men were screaming at me to keep my face down on the floor, I turned my head briefly to the side and through my tears I saw one man who had lowered his plain, black shield to waist-level. On his chest was the word “NARCOTICS.”

During the next minutes, it became clear that the police had shot and killed our 10-year-old Frisbee-catching, squirrel-chasing Labrador mutt Max. Benjamin, my son, was less than two feet from Max, reaching out to him.

A cursory investigation would have revealed that I am sole owner of the home for 10 years, and that there had been no violence or police activity there. Also, an investigation would have shown that I am a “friend of the court” in Howard County, where I volunteer as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate. The role required fingerprinting and a criminal background check that shows no evidence of criminal activity or violence.

The police suspect was my older son, who was not present at the time. A cursory investigation of him would show that he, too, was employed by Howard County as an Inclusion Companion with the Department of Parks & Recreation. He was required to be fingerprinted and have a criminal background check. Again, there was no evidence of criminal activity or violence in his history.

I don’t pretend to be a victim of botched police work and mistaken identity like Mayor Calvo. My son ultimately pled guilty to selling one gram of marijuana to an undercover police officer. One gram. He is paying a heavy price in our judicial system, as he should be for breaking our laws. 

But police found no drugs or weapons or evidence in their pre-dawn, paramilitary raid of our home. Their use of violence, heavy weaponry and military scare tactics was not necessary for the case, and I believe wholeheartedly that with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks police would have known from their own citizen databases that a SWAT team and gun fire was not needed to execute a search warrant at our home. I would have answered their knock at the door.

It is time to open up a community-wide conversation on this topic. I urge you to support our neighbors Sen. Anthony Muse and Del. Kris Valderrama in Prince George’s County in their bill.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Karen Thomas