Police killing of an unarmed Nebraska man prompts officers to reconsider no-knock warrants

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police in Nebraska’s largest city have stopped using some no-knock search warrants, at least for now, after an unarmed Black man was killed by an officer while executing a no-knock warrant last month.

Omaha Deputy Police Chief Scott Gray said the use of standard entry no-knock warrants was suspended pending a full review and assessment of best practices, the Omaha World-Herald reported Friday. Gray said the department is unlikely to do away with the practice entirely.

Omaha Police Officer Adam Vail was part of a SWAT team serving the search warrant during a drug and firearms investigation on Aug. 28 when he fired the single shot that killed Cameron Ford, 37. Vail said Ford charged at him without his hands visible.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine declined to charge the officer and officers searching the residence later found fentanyl and large amounts of cash and marijuana, authorities said.

But advocates, including the head of the local NAACP chapter, have called for an independent investigation into the shooting, saying Ford should have been taken into custody, not killed. They have also called for police to stop using no-knock warrants in the aftermath of Ford’s death.

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“The use of no-knock warrants has too often led to avoidable violence and heart-wrenching loss,” Wayne Brown, president and CEO of the Urban League of Nebraska, said on Saturday. “It is time to reevaluate these tactics and replace them with strategies that prioritize the well-being of both the officer and the residents.”

Gray said there are four main types of no-knock warrants: Standard entry, breach and hold, surround and callout, and takedown and serve. Omaha police mostly use standard entry and breach and hold.

In standard entry, officers breach a door without prior warning and announce their presence once inside. They then search the location. In breach and hold, officers breach a door and stay in an entryway while issuing verbal commands instead of actively searching.

The surround and callout method involves officers surrounding a location and commanding a subject to come outside. Takedown and serve entails arresting a subject at a separate location prior to executing a search warrant. Both are used infrequently.

Authorities across the U.S., including the Omaha police department, began reevaluating the use of no-knock warrants in 2020 following global outcry over the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. The 26-year-old Black EMT was fatally shot by police as officers burst into her home while conducting a narcotics investigation. No drugs were found at her home.

In the wake of Taylor’s killing, Omaha police changed their policy by requiring all no-knock warrants to be reviewed and approved by a captain or deputy chief prior to execution. A SWAT team must also serve all warrants that score over a certain level on a threat assessment.

Gray said threat assessments consider factors such as the subject’s history of violence, mental illness or substance abuse, and their access to weapons. It also takes into account factors like the presence of dangerous dogs or cameras. Each factor is assigned a numerical value.

If the threat assessment score is 25 or higher, the SWAT team is called in to execute the search warrant. Ford scored an 80 on the threat assessment, police said.