Kevin, Doors on Detroit dope pads are sometimes flimsey, some are plywood (absolutely terrible for sticking a sledge thru and getting hung up), and some are reinforced steel with multiple deadbolts....if you couldn't get the door out da frame, youse had to take the frame out da wall. Capisce? Along with the sledge, we had a Halligan tool ( a pry bar made for a Gorilla) which one would sink in the frame, or if necessary, outside the frame using the sledge, and the screetching noise had to be experienced to be believed. Couple that with several people yelling "Police, we have a warrant".....given the element of suprise, along with the racket, often we found defendants rooted to the spot with guns in easy reach, but no attempt to bring them to bear. Safer for us, safer for them. The job was to bring 'em in front of a Judge, not kill 'em. For apartment buildings with narrow hallways, we would take the Halligan and a special 8 pound sledge with a two foot handle for tight quarters. We also had hydraulic "jaws of life" (way too slow) and the biggest damn gas powered circular saw with diamond teeth you ever saw (O.K. for metal doors, but really obnoxious fumes when you are breathing hard). These last two were ?gifts from bureaucrats who obviously had never been on many search warrants, but were truly trying to be helpful. Each raid was carefully planned from which breeching method would be used, all the way down to which Hospital we would take the wounded.
