Law enforcement joined community organizations, including the ACLU, on Thursday to support legislation making it more difficult for police to get no-knock warrants that allow them to break into a residence without warning.
Attorney General Aaron Ford said SB50 was drafted after the killing of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky a year ago when police broke into her apartment seeking a suspected drug dealer and ended up shooting her.
Ford credited Nevada law enforcement, including the state’s two largest agencies, for already having policies in place making no-knock warrants very rare. He said SB50 would put those same requirements into law.
But he said the bill doesn’t completely ban them because there may be instances where a no-knock warrant is justified.
But SB50 prohibits no-knock warrants for misdemeanors, property crimes or simple drug possession.
He said they would only be available for, “felonies that involve the imminent threat to public safety.”
Ford said officers would also be required to have body cameras and clearly identify themselves as police.
Finally, it requires the officers at the scene make a final determination whether the no-knock warrant is still required before making entry in case circumstances have changed.
SB50 also provides judicial penalties if an officer deliberately misstates or omits a material fact to get a no-knock warrant from a judge.
Assistant Attorney General Jessica Adair said no-knock warrants are available in cases where the suspect has demonstrated he or she may be violent toward police officers and announcing their presence may make it more dangerous to the officers.
Assistant Attorney General Kyle George added such warrants will be executed by officers trained in the rules for no-knock warrants.
“When we seek and execute a no knock warrant, we should be held to a higher standard,” he said.
Assemblyman P.K. O’Neill of Carson City, a veteran of more than 30 years in law enforcement, asked whether an officer falsifying information to get the warrant would void all evidence obtained in the ensuing search or arrest.
Adair told him the bill gives the court discretion to determine whether the false information justifies voiding the arrest and all evidence obtained. But she confirmed that perjury by the officer would still be a crime itself.
The committee took no action on SB50, which has already been unanimously approved by the Senate.
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