Combs

I.

Background

After receiving an anonymous tip, Anchorage Police began investigating possible methamphetamine production and drug trafficking at the home of Robert Combs. A search warrant issued, based upon information obtained from the investiga- tion, to search Combs’s home at any time of the day or night for evidence of misconduct involving controlled substances.

On the morning of September 12, 2002, the search warrant was executed with the assistance of a Crisis Intervention Response Team (“CIRT”), a tactical police unit trained and equipped to handle high risk raids on suspected methamphet- amine labs, which may involve exposure to various flamma- ble, explosive, and toxic chemicals. The CIRT officers wore protective gear consisting of flash fire resistant Nomex bala- clavas, gas masks, one-piece Nomex flight suits and Kevlar vests with police insignia.

Anchorage Police Lieutenant Steven Smith was in com- mand. He had spent nearly seventeen years with the Anchor- age Police Department, ten of which were with the CIRT. During those ten years, Lieutenant Smith participated in somewhere between thirty to forty warrant services. In addi- tion to Lieutenant Smith,…