LAPD raid goes from bad to farce after gun allegedly sucked onto MRI machine
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Read the whole article because it's hilarious.
Holy shit, they pulled the emergency release on one of those MRI machines. I think that adds a zero or two to the cost of bringing back online.
I'm just an XRay tech. But I would expect at least one whole day, for a pair of engineers to get it running again and re-certified. $20-50K for their time, plus missed revenue from the lost day. Best case could total $100K easy. Way more, if the damage is more than cosmetic.
Yeah, quenching the machine makes bringing it back online $200k+ depending on the system
Yeah, that liquid helium and the MRI down time are super expensive
even if it was quenched the right way: downtime, helium, restarting the entire thing would also cost pretty penny, and maybe replacement of damaged magnet too if that's what they did
At one point, an officer walked into an MRI room, past a sign warning that metal was prohibited inside, with his rifle “dangling… in his right hand, with an unsecured strap,” the lawsuit said.
Honestly this might be a case where his laziness saved his life. If he'd been strapped in properly depending on where that strap goes he could've taken a nasty ride. And that would have been priceless to watch.
If that had happened, I'd bet money they would have arrested clinic staff for assaulting an officer or some other bullshit charge. They already do this when police shoot innocent bystanders.
Officers allegedly raided the diagnostic center, located in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, thinking it was a front for an illegal cannabis cultivation facility, pointing to higher-than-usual energy use and the “distinct odor” of cannabis plants, according to the lawsuit.
MRI machine probably draws quite a bit
The real takeaway here is that they bullshitted smelling an odor of cannabis when there was none as an excuse to justify starting the raid in the first place. Some officer(s) lied on a form somewhere.
I don't know if there is any single takeaway here, this story is just fucking ridiculous on every single level.
This can't be real. I'm fucking dying over here. Please let there be bodycam footage of the cop speaking in a high pitched voice after. (I know the helium was probably not released into the room, but one can hope I guess)
Didn't they recently rule that cops can no longer use the "I smelled weed" excuse as reasonable suspicion/probable cause? Maybe that was just one state.
Seems doubly ridiculous that this happened in California
claiming the odor of pot is, was, and will always be a bullshit lie and manufacturing of probable cause.
Is it even a justification? That's legal in California.
Cut off the motherfucker's nose, let's all recognize potsmeller when he's walking down the street.
Argh, the fucking police being powertripping cunts really gets me going.
Or an employee regularly smokes a joint in the alley. Article says there was one employee in the office during the raid.
MRI machine probably draws quite a bit
Not after dumbass broke it.
it most certainly drew a lot of energy while the gun was inside of it lol
The icing on the donut:
The officer then grabbed his rifle and left the room, leaving behind a magazine filled with bullets on the office floor, according to the lawsuit.
Hey, y'all need to chill out. The cops have qualified immunity because they are better trained and educated than the average civilian. Y'all think this was a medical imaging center!? You don't know that! They could have been growing dangerous Marijuana that immigrated here illegally from Mexico to eat the dogs and cats!
Thank God our boys in blue took the time to clear this potentially dangerous building of any possible threats! That MRI machine nearly got one of them until they disarmed and detained it!
Just another dangerous day on the job!
Do you know how racist you're being right now?
It's the Haitians who eat the dogs and cats. The Mexicans take all of our jobs.
Get it right. Jeez.
They were absolutely trying to bust an MRI center, but were disappointed and confused when it didn't mean Marijuana Resonance Imaging
An officer then allegedly pulled a sealed emergency release button that shut the MRI machine down, deactivating it, evaporating thousands of liters of helium gas and damaging the machine in the process. The officer then grabbed his rifle and left the room, leaving behind a magazine filled with bullets on the office floor, according to the lawsuit.
The shutdown did have to happen (because the cop is a dumbass) but it obviously should have been done by someone who knows what they are doing. The guy should be suspended for being a dumbass and also for leaving his loaded magazine.
The mechanism they are describing here is the emergency one (like if a human is trapped against the machine by something metal and is being crushed - you need to kill the magnet NOW). There is a slower, much safer mechanism for deactivating the magnet that should have been used here but that would require the officer admitting he had made a mistake and asking for help.
Also I just want to point out that the rifle should be considered no longer safe to use unless thoroughly inspected by an expert. In a similar case some years back, the police officer’s sidearm was pulled into the machine. After retrieval it was found that the weapon had been magnetized by the scanner and as a result the firing pin was able to spontaneously release.
After retrieval it was found that the weapon had been magnetized by the scanner and as a result the firing pin was able to spontaneously release.
Just hit it against a table a bunch while shouting "stop being a magnet".
Hey, fingers crossed the dude's weapon goes off somewhere in their ammo storage area, taking out as many of these chucklefucks as possible.
Also I just want to point out that the rifle should be considered no longer safe to use unless thoroughly inspected by an expert. In a similar case some years back, the police officer’s sidearm was pulled into the machine. After retrieval it was found that the weapon had been magnetized by the scanner and as a result the firing pin was able to spontaneously release.
Something tells me he won't know that.
well i mean to be fair, if a rifle is ripped out of your hands, and into an MRI machine (which is going to be very loud) and you have no idea on how dangerous/bad for the machine it is. You're going to hit the (probably) very big and very red button marked "E-STOP"
in fact the operator probably doesn't even care about this, they probably only care about the raid itself lmao. The damage is just a function of the raid.
To give some background on this, the huge magnetic field in an MRI machine is created by a superconducting magnet. A magnetic coil submerged in liquid helium that keeps it ultra cold has virtually no resistance, so the electricity can keep going round and round and round like a racetrack without being bled off by resistance. This lets the machine maintain a very high magnetic field with very little power input.
An MRI technician can gradually ramp up or down the magnetic field power by slowly adding or removing current from the magnet. To retrieve the officer's rifle, they could have slowly ramped down the power with a magnetic power supply while the magnet stayed cold.
When the guy slams the emergency button that does what's called a quench. It adds resistance to the magnet, which starts turning that power into heat, and that heat boils off all the liquid helium and rapidly ramps the magnet down to zero. This should only be done if for example a patient is trapped in the machine by a metal object or similar emergency, because it damages the magnetic coil and also boils away the liquid helium, which itself is worth thousands of dollars.
LAPD (or more specifically, the California taxpayers) are in for a pricey repair bill.
"Should" be in for a pricy repair bill.
Unfortunately there's a lot of precedent, up to and including loss of life, where the police "cannot be held accountable because it might impact their ability to do their duty in the future."
You don't have to quench a magnet if it isn't an emergency, field engineera can ramp it down slowly. Jfc what a moron.
you mean to tell me someone who isn't an MRI tech doesn't know how to operate an MRI?
That's weird.
Suspended?
With pay of course.
Then a medal for bravery against a magnet.
Later a promotion after his buddies clear him of all wrong doing.
All this to find some weed. Like why even bother?
Because if they find any cash they will take it, even if there are no drugs!
So very true.
Does LAPD specifically hire the dumbest dumbfucks they can find? 'Cause if this is their best, well ...
Supposedly yes police departments actually do hire people without higher ed
I've heard that higher ed disqualifies you for hiring. They don't want people who can think for themselves.
They’re 1000 officers short of what a city that size should need, and anybody who you would probably actually want to be a cop doesn’t really want to be a cop. Especially in L.A. So, yes. They literally take anybody.
I'm not surprised by the rubber stamped warrant. Cop shops are known to shop for judges that will just stamp off. I'm sure they didn't mention that it was a MRI business but the odor of weed even combined with high energy usage shouldn't be enough for a raid IMO. There should be some other evidence, especially in LA where it smells like weed pretty much anywhere.
I'm curious how this will go. I assume LA will settle out of court because they don't want a precedent set that they actually going to be responsible for private property damage during raids.
I can tell you one thing- the police union won't be paying.
I didnt know they could use the "I smell weed" excuse to raid buildings and stuff now.
Thats just like, the magic words that make all rights disappear, innit?
The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that smell isn't enough of a connection to illegal activity. Weed is legalized there, as well. California apparently needs someone to take up a case.
California has legal weed too.
If that fails, they can just say the MRI machine was the wrong color.
"Look out, it's got a gun!!"
\
[police open fire for 5 minutes]
Proof that Magneto would win if you bring guns.
Idk, he might still be mentally scarred from that time someone brought a wooden gun.
I've never seen this. Legitimately hilarious!
As if the bus station scene in X-man 1 wasn't proof enough. Leave it to the police to test trusted truths and make asses of themselves.
An officer then allegedly pulled a sealed emergency release button that shut the MRI machine down, deactivating it, evaporating thousands of liters of helium gas and damaging the machine in the process. The officer then grabbed his rifle and left the room, leaving behind a magazine filled with bullets on the office floor, according to the lawsuit.
High energy usage and a smell of cannabis. If they got a warrant for this raid then there was also a judged who fucked up.
"Why would a MEDICAL IMAGING FACILITY have a high power draw? I BET THEY ARE GROWING WEED IN THE MRI MACHINE!"
Maybe it helps people not to move so much inside?
Don't forget -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LASD_deputy_gangs
There's enough to make a list?!
In most metro areas even.
This is the dumbest damned thing I've read about all month. What the absolute fuck???
Good God. What a bunch of morons.
That's the LAPD for you. Racist meathead morons.
This officer likely faces more punishment for damage to his rifle than the damage caused by the raid.
Wait, but... It's California? They don't even do grow ops in la, they do it less than a day's ride up the coast? You know, the biggest weed producers in the country? Hombolt?
The judge that signed the warrant needs to be removed from the bench as completely incompetent. A simple inquiry into the type of business would have resolved the power consumption issues and belie the weed smell as the lie it was.
Some days I feel like the only thing I can do to make a difference is become a cop and do nothing but arrest wealthy people and state that their property was used in the furtherance of a crime. Just start doing asset forfeiture against everyone and anything that currently believes themselves insulated.
Hell, become a cop and use asset forfeiture on the police station because we have public record of the crimes they've perpetrated.
This officer should have gone to Trump University and and would have learned you can defeat magnets by just getting them wet. A cup of water, BOOM, no more magnet!
Also, did the officer believe upon entering the outside room that they were somehow growing pot plants in the MRI tube behind an invisible curtain or something? Why would you need to walk into the room? Also, buying all that medical equipment would be a pretty big investment as just a front to grow a few pot plants. How does a warrant like that even get signed off on? Increased power compared to other non-medical buildings, and someone who thought they smelled pot? I'm sure it couldn't have been someone in the waiting room that smoked up, or was around someone smoking before before going inside, right?
Wow that's like a circus lmao
Why did he leave the magazine though? What if he would have encountered some pet dogs later that day?
"The only thing that stops a bad MRI with a gun is a good MRI with a gun."
Not saying drugs haven't ruined lives, but the war on drugs has ruined far more.
True. But at least we get the occasional comedy out of it.
Like the DARE program!
Alcohol has ruined far more lives than the drugs the "war" is based on.
Tobacco as well.
It's nice that this time, we can just laugh at it. It's not like all the other times where they beat up a black guy and shot his dog for allegedly counterfeiting a twenty.