TOLEDO, Ohio — The debate continues on over no-knock warrants and whether or not they should be allowed in Toledo.
To understand how a no-knock warrant is used, it's important to know the process of getting a regular warrant.
Police bring an affidavit to a municipal court judge who decides whether or not the police have enough information to issue the warrant. No-knocks have a few additional steps.
"In addition to the affidavit, I will swear in the officer and ask them to testify as to the search warrant and accompanying affidavit," Toledo Municipal Court Judge Bill Connelly said. "By statute, it must include a reason why for the utilization of a no-knock procedure for safety purposes."
Judge Connelly says almost always these types of warrants are used for drug busts where police know there are weapons in the house.
In today's Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee Meeting, Toledo Police Chief George Kral expanded on what officers do to make sure they hit the right house.
"We do a few little checks and balances before we ever execute warrants, we send out scout cars to make sure we have the right location. We make sure our SWAT operators know everything about the residence, the correct residence so we don't make those mistakes," Kral said.
Connelly says in his experience, these types of warrants aren't normal but they also aren't unusual.
"I would say it's one out of 20, maybe it's less than that, but I don't off the top of my head know what those numbers are," Connelly said.
As council looks at possibly getting rid of no-knock warrants, they are also looking into requiring tactical units, like SWAT who issue no-knock warrants to be required to have body cameras.
This is something councilmember Larry Sykes hopes will bring increased transparency to the policing process.
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