MORE RAIDS ARE BEING EXECUTED, AND MOST RESULT IN DISCOVERY OF DRUGS,
PARAPHERNALIA

Denver police are breaking more doors to search for drugs.

And most of the time they are finding them, as well as guns, cellular
phones, cash, scales and other drug-related items, court records show.

The department's use of immediate-entry search warrants came under scrutiny
last week as an investigation began into whether police raided the right
house in a Sept. 29 raid that left a man dead.

Last year, Denver's Metro SWAT officers executed 148 immediate-entry
searches, mostly in cases where police were looking for evidence of narcotics.

That was a 38 percent increase over the 107 "no knock" warrants issued by
Denver judges in 1997.

Although no figures are available for 1999, SWAT commander Capt. Vince
DiManna said he senses that the number of warrants executed so far is ahead
of last year's pace.

Critics question if the courts are too freely allowing police to conduct
such searches.

Mark Silverstein, legal director the American Civil Liberties Union, said
he is concerned about the growing number of warrants. He worries that
police are able to obtain such warrants "like candy" by simply requesting
immediate entry whenever drugs are involved.

"One of the things that bothers me is that the no-knock warrant is equated
with a search warrant," Silverstein said. "You need an extra showing to
justify that."

Police respond that they are trying to protect the officers, suspects and
neighborhood while preserving evidence by using the element of surprise.

DiManna credits the department's shift to community policing and
encouraging tips from neighbors for the increased number of warrants issued.

"I think there's probably more, especially in cleaning up neighborhoods
through Weed & Seed," DiManna said, referring to a federally funded program
aimed at rooting out illegal drug sales through the use of neighborhood
police officers.

"The most visible eyesore you have is drug sales," he said. "The community
is telling us, 'This bugs us."'

The no-knock figures do not include about 15 to 20 cases annually in which
search warrants are obtained but not executed, DiManna said. Sometimes the
suspects have moved or been arrested elsewhere, he said.

A Denver Rocky Mountain News review of 47 no-knock drug warrants issued
between June and November found very few that came up empty.

Three searches - including the fatal Sept. 29th raid - failed to recover
any drugs. Records for the results of four other searches could not be
located.

But the remaining 40 raids netted drugs as well as evidence such as
weapons, scales, cash, residue and cell phones.

Capt. John Costigan, commander of the narcotics bureau, said catching crack
dealers in the act is often the toughest search. A rock of crack is often
no bigger than a match head and dealers typically do not keep a large
quantity on hand, he said.

Silverstein said the Supreme Court has ruled that such warrants cannot be
automatically obtained because the investigation involved drugs.

The Denver District Attorney's Office is checking the validity of a
no-knock warrant used in a Sept. 29 raid at 3738 High Street.

In that raid, SWAT officers shot and killed Ismael Mena, 45, after they
said he refused to lower a handgun he pointed at them.

A search found no drugs in the home and an autopsy detected no narcotics in
Mena's body.

Neighbors on the block have suggested that the warrant had targeted the
wrong house.

The warrant was based on a neighborhood police officer's statement that a
confidential informant was able to buy a rock of crack cocaine for $20 from
two men in the house.