Columbia Police Clears Itself of Wrongdoing In SWAT Team Raid

Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton

​The Columbia Police Department held a news conference yesterday to announce the findings of its internal review into a much-publicized February raid of an alleged drug dealer's home that left a dog dead and a family traumatized.

According to the investigation, the police department's SWAT team had acted appropriately when conducting the February raid -- even though the search of the home did not find the major stash of marijuana that it hoped to uncover. The owner of the home was charged with possession of trace amounts of the pot and for having drug paraphernalia.

At the news conference yesterday, Columbia police chief Ken Burton said that while people may debate drug enforcement, it's his department's responsibility to enforce the law. As for shooting the dogs -- a pit bull that died and a corgi-mix (that resembled a boxer) that was shot in the paw:

"The officers in question were there that evening. The rest of us were not," Burton said. "They had to evaluate the dogs face to face and access the behaviors they were exhibiting."