CALIF. DEATH SHOWS RISKS OF SWAT RAIDS

MODESTO, Calif. - There was nothing unusual about a Modesto police SWAT
team forcing its way into a Highway Village area home to arrest a suspected
drug dealer two weeks ago.

More and more, SWAT teams are assuming a lead role in the Central Valley's
escalating war against methamphetamine.

But law enforcement's increasing reliance on these military-style police
units, according to some academics, comes with a potentially devastating
price tag: serious injury or even death to innocent bystanders such as
11-year-old Alberto Sepulveda.

Sepulveda died Sept. 13 when a shotgun held by Modesto SWAT officer David
Hawn somehow discharged as he pointed it at the boy. At the time, Sepulveda
was lying face-down on the floor of his bedroom with his arms outstretched.

"The question people should be asking is not whether the shooting was an
accident, mistake or negligent homicide," said professor Peter Kraska, who
heads the criminal justice program at Eastern Kentucky University. "I don't
think this officer meant to shoot the boy or was trying to execute him. The
issue is whether (the SWAT team) should have been doing this kind of raid
at all."

During the past five years, there have been at least 230 incidents
nationwide in which someone was injured or killed when a SWAT team forced
its way into a private residence, Kraska said.

In many of those cases, he said, either the wrong house was raided or it
was later determined that use of the SWAT team was unnecessary.

During that same five-year period, however, thousands of SWAT-led drug
raids were conducted, the vast majority concluding without anyone being
injured or killed.

The numbers of injuries and deaths may be comparatively small, but
academics such as Kraska say the military tactics SWAT teams use make
tragedies like the Sepulveda shooting unavoidable.

The raid on the Sepulveda house grew out of a 19-month investigation into
methamphetamine trafficking in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.

Police spokesman Terry Miller said Modesto uses its SWAT teams only when a
situation is considered extremely dangerous.

Moises Sepulveda, 33, the dead boy's father, was arrested on a felony
warrant charging him with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The Bee
was unable to find any evidence of prior criminal convictions for Sepulveda
in Stanislaus County. No drugs or weapons were found at the Sepulveda home.

Two days after his arrest, Sepulveda was released after promising to post a
$20,000 bail bond, a relatively low amount when compared to previous drug
distribution cases. He has until Friday to post bail, when he is scheduled
to return to federal court in Fresno.

A representative from each of the 14 SWAT teams, including the one assigned
to the Sepulveda residence, received an overall briefing. Each team also
received individualized intelligence assessments for their assignments.

Based on pre-raid surveillance, those reports provided information about
the people targeted for questioning or arrest, whether officers would find
drugs or weapons at any of the addresses, and the likelihood of finding
wives, children or other bystanders inside the homes.

Miller said the SWAT team assigned to the Sepulveda home was told that
investigators were unaware of any children there.