COUNCIL OKS SETTLEMENT FOR POLICE RAID

A decision by Joplin police officers to heed the advice of a juvenile
informant has cost the city $25,000.

The Joplin City Council on Monday approved a cash settlement with Jeff
and Helen Peavler and their 5-year old daughter, Kendra, as the result
of a misdirected police raid in October 1997.

According to information provided to the council by Chuck Brown, city
attorney, the informant told officers that marijuana, guns and
equipment used in making methamphetamine were stored in a Joplin home.

The informant wrongly identified the Peavler home as the one where the
guns and drugs were stored.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers, suspecting the presence of
drugs and weapons, conducted a "no-knock" entry, breaking the front
door of the Peavler home.

Jeff Peavler was handcuffed. Helen Peavler, who had just come out of
the bathroom after taking a shower, was forced to lie on the floor
partially clothed.

Kendra Peavler and Jeff Peavler’s parents, who were on the second
floor of the home, were also detained by police.

A lawsuit filed by the Peavlers in U.S. District Court
alleged:

The officers did not have sufficient information for the issuance of
the appropriate search warrant.

The way the officers entered the home was improper.

The manner in which the search was conducted was improper.

Once officers realized their mistake, they continued to search the
home for an unreasonable amount of time.

Under the terms of the settlement, Jeff and Helen Peavler will receive
$22,500, and their daughter will receive $2,500. The family will pay
its own legal fees.

William Fleischaker, the Peavlers’ attorney, said the family was happy
with the settlement.

"My clients want the public to be aware of just how seriously the
Police Department violated their rights,’’ Fleischaker said. "Maybe in
the future, when attempting to do this kind of thing, they might
realize that they could be going in on innocent people and take some
precautions."

While acknowledging that the family might have received more money in
a jury trial, Fleischaker said the Peavlers wanted to put the issue
behind them.

"I think they think this amount of money is enough to make the public
stand up and take notice," he said. "They (police) assume everybody is
guilty. They figured it was OK to barge in like they did because they
thought they were going to some scum bucket’s home when, in fact,
these people were honest, hard-working people."

Brown told the council that the settlement was in the city’s best
interest.

"It’s undisputed that the officers, even though they were acting in
what they perceived to be the best interests of the city and its
citizens, entered the wrong house," he said.

Brown said the judge who heard preliminary motions in the case had
made it clear he would call for a jury trial. The cost of such a
trial, Brown said, would have been significant.

Brown also said that if the case had gone to trial and the city had
lost, the Peavlers would have had the right to ask the city to pay
their legal fees.

Efforts to reach the Peavlers for comment on the settlement were
unsuccessful.