Law enforcement officers investigating what turned out to be a faulty tip about drugs and guns in a Clifton house didn’t follow protocol, communicate well enough, or pay attention to red flags that could have prevented the September SWAT raid on a home inhabited by an innocent family of seven, leaders said.
SWAT officers — who descended on the home near 32 and E roads at about 5:30 a.m. Sept. 14 with a warrant obtained on the belief that methamphetamine and guns were being stored in house — found instead a family with five children between the ages of 3 and 11.
Grand Junction Police Chief John Camper and Mesa County Undersheriff Rusty Callow said in an interview Tuesday that a joint internal investigation has identified several errors made leading up to the raid and has led to discipline, but not the firing, of four of the officers involved.
“There were some serious mistakes made, without a doubt,” Camper said. “But certainly we didn’t see any indication of any intent to cause any harm.”
The problems began when a confidential informant alerted members of the multi-jurisdictional Western Colorado Drug Task Force to the presence of guns and drugs in the home.
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