Pubdate: Thu, 02 Dec 1999
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Section: National Briefs
Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/395484
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html

NO-KNOCK POLICY CHANGES

DENVER -- Police have changed their policy on so-called no-knock
search warrants because one man was killed in an apparently unfounded
raid.

Ismael Mena, 45, was shot eight times by Denver SWAT officers during a
Sept. 29 raid. Officers said they found Mena in a shooting stance,
pointing a gun at officers and refusing to lower it.

Mena's son, Heriberto Mena, said his father's friends and neighbors
think he may have thought he was protecting himself against an intruder.

Police and the Denver district attorney's office are
investigating.

Under the new policy, a police supervisor must now approve all
requests for search warrants written by street officers.
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