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Review: Failures In Preparation, Breakdowns In Communication In Greenland Drug Raid

An independent review has concluded a trained tactical team should have been used in a Greenland drug raid earlier this year.

The determination was among numerous critiques in a report issued Friday. 

The review commission characterized the operations plan of the drug raid in Greenland on April 12 as lacking sufficient detail.

The report questioned the timing of the raid and raised concerns about management and oversight of the operation.

“The review commission found that clear and unambiguous lines of authority were not well established within the drug task force at the time of this incident," said Attorney General Michael Delaney, who presented the commission's findings at a press conference Friday.

The town’s police chief Michael Maloney was shot and killed in the raid. Four drug task force members were wounded.

Delaney says 29-year-old Cullen Mutrie fired the shots that killed Maloney from a window in the basement. It’s believed Mutrie killed companion Brittany Tibbetts before killing himself.

The commission concluded a trained tactical team should have been used and that more could have been done to evaluate the risk.

“Specifically, the review commission noted that the drug task force did not use a threat risk assessment tool to confirm the high risk nature that Mutrie presented.”

Delaney says his office is implementing the recommendations in the report, including a system to gauge the risk involved with executing warrants.

The review commission found the team involved did not use a so-called no-knock search warrant it had obtained earlier from a judge because of Mutrie’s violent history.

The team also did not have a floor plan for the house, which Delaney says could have been obtained.

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor.
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