Omaha suspends use of no-knock warrants after SWAT kills unarmed Black man during raid

The Omaha, Nebraska, police department has suspended the use of some no-knock search warrants, after a SWAT team officer fatally shot an unarmed Black man in August during one such raid.

The department plans to suspend its use of standard entry (limited penetration) no-knock raids, in which police breach a door without warning and then make loud verbal announcements about a search, pending a full review and assessment of best practices.

“My feeling is, there will be times where a limited penetration is necessary, just because of the extreme circumstances, but we’re going to look at whether we can do other methods on certain cases to try to bring that risk down,” deputy police chief Scott Gray said on Friday, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

“I don’t think that means that (standard entry warrants) are going to completely go away, but maybe we use one of the other tactics. Or maybe we develop something new that is going to work better.”

Omaha police officer Adam Vail shot and killed Cameron Ford, 37, as officers served a no-knock warrant on August 28 while investigating Ford for allegedly selling fentanyl.

After being inside Ford’s home for about 12 seconds, and making repeated announcements about the search, Vail said Ford came charging at him without his hands visible.

Vail was wearing a body camera, but footage of the encounter was obscured by the officer’s ballistic shield.

No-knock warrants came to national attention in 2020, when officers in Louisville killed Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman who wasn’t accused of any crimes, during a raid on her boyfriend’s apartment.

Taylor’s killing, alongside the murder of George Floyd and other deaths of Black people at the hands of police, helped inspire nationwide Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

After Taylor’s killing, the Omaha PD made changes to its no-knock warrant policies, requiring such warrants to get the approval of a captain or deputy chief, as well as be served by a SWAT team once above a certain threat level.

Earlier this month, the Douglas County attorney declined to charge Vail, who told investigators he feared for his life.

Critics have called for an independent investigation into the shooting and an end to no-knock warrants.

“The use of no-knock warrants has too often led to avoidable violence and heart-wrenching loss,” Wayne Brown, president and CEO of the Urban League of Nebraska, told the Associated Press on Saturday. “It is time to reevaluate these tactics and replace them with strategies that prioritize the well-being of both the officer and the residents.”