Judges Rule Against Property Owners Seeking Compensation for SWAT Team Damage

Lawyers said police damage is like condemning property for a new street: Owners should be paid. An appeals court panel saw it differently.

Carlos Pena shows some of the damage done by a SWAT team to his business in the North Hollywood area of Los Angeles in August 2022. Courtesy Institute for Justice

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Nov. 3 that the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team is not liable for damage done to a business while chasing a criminal in 2022.

NoHo Printing & Graphics Owner Carlos Pena will ask the full court to rehear the case, his attorneys from the Institute for Justice said in a statement posted to the Institute’s webpage.