Marijuana Policy Project

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr is, apparently, a close reader of news about Prince George's County.

The former Republican congressman from Georgia released a statement on his campaign Web site about the July 29 Prince George's police and Sheriff's Office raid on the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo.

County law enforcement officers investigating a suspicious package addressed to Calvo's wife that was filled with 32 pounds of marijuana broke through the mayor's door without knocking and fatally shot his two black Labrador retrievers. Police announced last week that Calvo and his family were victims of a drug-smuggling scheme. Local and federal reviews of the raid continue.

On his Web site, Barr opens his statement with a joke: "We typically make fun of bungled police operations by saying they were conducted by the gang that couldn't shoot straight. In this case they could shoot straight — as a result, they killed a family's two dogs in the midst of a misguided drug raid."

He goes on to decry the lack of investigation into the Calvos before the raid and law enforcement's serving of a search warrant at the house without knocking and announcing the presence of officers, usually required by law.

The raid, he wrote, "illustrates how the drug war threatens the liberties of all Americans."

He said law enforcement has become more arrogant and less accountable, usually with very little public attention. He promises to improve the situation if he becomes president.

"As president I will ensure that federal law enforcement agencies set a good example for the rest of the country," he said. "In a Barr administration, government officials will never forget that it is a free people they are protecting."

No word yet on the raid from presumptive presidential nominees Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) or Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).