Rev. Jackson calls for nationwide end to no-knock warrants
CHICAGO - Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. on Wednesday called on law enforcement nationwide to end the use of no-knock and quick-knock search warrants.
No-knock warrants have made national news, leading to the deaths of Amir Locke in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
No-knock warrants are currently allowed to be used between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. in hostage and active shooter situations or when officers feel that an announced entry would give suspects time to hide evidence.
Quick-knock warrants allow police to enter a home in less than 20 seconds after announcing their presence.
Jackson said both types of warrants disproportionately hurt the Black community.
"From Trayvon Martin, to George Floyd to Amir Locke represents the terror of black men and how to kill the black man," Jackson said in a statement. "It is a reign of terror."
In Chicago, police used a no-knock warrant during the botched 2019 raid on the home of Anjanette Young.
Chicago City Council approves $2.9M settlement for Anjanette Young
The Chicago Council on Wednesday voted to pay nearly $3 million to a woman who was handcuffed while naked by police officers during a 2019 raid of her home.
Young was undressed and getting ready for bed when police burst into her home looking for a man with a gun, who had not lived in that residence for four years. Young had to remain in handcuffs and naked for 40 minutes in a room full of male police officers.
Young received a $2.9 million settlement from the city of Chicago.
"It is really an experience of militarizing police departments and putting not only the common citizens in harms-way but the police officers as well given the fact that neither one is aware of the circumstances an officer is coming into a residence or if a citizen has armed himself feeling they are being robbed or under attack," Jackson said.
Last March, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a series of reforms to the city’s search warrant policies.
No-knock warrants will be prohibited except in specific cases where lives or safety are in danger. In those extreme cases, they will need to be approved by a deputy chief or higher.