Rise of the Warrior Cop

[BDKJMU]

Read this article in the WSJ last month. Was going to post it, but that was one of the days the CS was down. Just saw that the book came out. This is a little Expanosesque, but I think the author does raise some valid points....Article is a rather lengthly read, with a # of stories of things gone bad..Just included some excerpts from the article.

"Rise of the Warrior Cop
Is it time to reconsider the militarization of American policing?

..........................Since the 1960s, in response to a range of perceived threats, law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at every level of government, have been blurring the line between police officer and soldier. Driven by martial rhetoric and the availability of military-style equipment—from bayonets and M-16 rifles to armored personnel carriers—American police forces have often adopted a mind-set previously reserved for the battlefield. The war on drugs and, more recently, post-9/11 antiterrorism efforts have created a new figure on the U.S. scene: the warrior cop—armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers, and a growing threat to familiar American liberties.

The acronym SWAT stands for Special Weapons and Tactics. Such police units are trained in methods similar to those used by the special forces in the military. They learn to break into homes with battering rams and to use incendiary devices called flashbang grenades, which are designed to blind and deafen anyone nearby. Their usual aim is to "clear" a building—that is, to remove any threats and distractions (including pets) and to subdue the occupants as quickly as possible.

The country's first official SWAT team started in the late 1960s in Los Angeles. By 1975, there were approximately 500 such units. Today, there are thousands. According to surveys conducted by the criminologist Peter Kraska of Eastern Kentucky University, just 13% of towns between 25,000 and 50,000 people had a SWAT team in 1983. By 2005, the figure was up to 80%.

The number of raids conducted by SWAT-like police units has grown accordingly. In the 1970s, there were just a few hundred a year; by the early 1980s, there were some 3,000 a year. In 2005 (the last year for which Dr. Kraska collected data), there were approximately 50,000 raids. Some federal agencies also now have their own SWAT teams, including NASA and the Department of the Interior........

........SWAT teams have their place, of course, but they should be saved for those relatively rare situations when police-initiated violence is the only hope to prevent the loss of life. They certainly have no place as modern-day vice squads.

Many longtime and retired law-enforcement officers have told me of their worry that the trend toward militarization is too far gone. Those who think there is still a chance at reform tend to embrace the idea of community policing, an approach that depends more on civil society than on brute force.

In this very different view of policing, cops walk beats, interact with citizens and consider themselves part of the neighborhoods they patrol—and therefore have a stake in those communities. It's all about a baton-twirling "Officer Friendly" rather than a Taser-toting RoboCop..................
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 19904.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BDKJMU]

The book:
http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Warrior-Cop- ... 1610392116" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ibanez]

I've spent the last week with sniper and dive teams from around the country. Every one of them is moving towards more military training and tactics.


Sent from my iPhone

[Ibanez]

I've spent the last week with sniper and dive teams from around the country. Every one of them is moving towards more military training and tactics.


Sent from my iPhone

[Grizalltheway]

I've spent the last week with sniper and dive teams from around the country. Every one of them is moving towards more military training and tactics.


Sent from my iPhone

It was only a matter of time before the defense contractors decided to dip their snouts in the law enforcement trough.

[Ibanez]

I've spent the last week with sniper and dive teams from around the country. Every one of them is moving towards more military training and tactics.


Sent from my iPhone

It was only a matter of time before the defense contractors decided to dip their snouts in the law enforcement trough.

Um. No. DHS test products and PAYS police to test and eval equipment. Actually, we have a guy from Tacoma.
It helps them make better buying decisions.

So, what were you saying about the trough?

[kalm]

I have family in law enforcement and the highlight of their year is flying drug interdiction sorties with the National Guard over E. WA looking for pot growing operations. I don't blame them as, if I were in their shoes, I'd want to saddle up, high tech, and kick some ass too.

Reminds me of the Die Hard scene where agent Johnson says to the other agent Johnson (no relation) ' whoooo just like in Nam' and the other agent Johnson replies 'you were 9 years old asshole'.

FTR, I agree with BDK's concern here that the militarization of local law enforcement is problematic on many levels...not the least of which is funding.

[GannonFan]

From the little excerpt I read in another paper one of the problems too is for dog owners - good chance that if a SWAT team comes to your house the dog is going to be shot.

I understand the desire for cops to feel as safe as possible while performing their job, I wouldn't want to get killed either in the course of just doing my job, but obviously the book makes a good point that we've gone a little beyond reason in many cases.

[CID1990]

From the little excerpt I read in another paper one of the problems too is for dog owners - good chance that if a SWAT team comes to your house the dog is going to be shot.

I understand the desire for cops to feel as safe as possible while performing their job, I wouldn't want to get killed either in the course of just doing my job, but obviously the book makes a good point that we've gone a little beyond reason in many cases.

This post is pretty much spot on across the board

[Appaholic]

From the little excerpt I read in another paper one of the problems too is for dog owners - good chance that if a SWAT team comes to your house the dog is going to be shot.

I understand the desire for cops to feel as safe as possible while performing their job, I wouldn't want to get killed either in the course of just doing my job, but obviously the book makes a good point that we've gone a little beyond reason in many cases.

Agree. Very telling remark about "doing whatever to come home safe". While I can understand the sentitment, you've also chosen a line of work which is inherently dangerous. Using overwhelming force via SWAT tactics is lazy police work. Yet one more reason you do not compromise on 2nd amendment. Good for Mr. Stewart....

[JohnStOnge]

I once read a discussion of alcohol Prohibition. It talked about how the idea was that banning alcohol would reduce crime. Prohibition was associated with a reduction in alcohol consumption but violent crime increased along with increased activity by organized criminal gangs. Law enforcement found itself turning more and more to aggressive and intrusive techniques in its largely futile effort to stop people from consuming alcohol.

As time went on, at least in the author's opinion, people began to see that law enforcement was getting out of hand. Constitutional rights were being violated. Law enforcement agencies were becoming too aggressive. And that was a factor in public sentiment to repeal prohibition.

To me it's obvious that what's happening now with the recreational drug prohibition is following the same general pattern. I just wish a critical mass of the people would come around to seeing that the drug prohibition is both immoral in that it intolerably interferes with personal liberty and also counter productive as a practical matter. I think it will happen sooner or later. But it can't happen soon enough.

It's amazing to me that we even started down the current road given that we had a glaring historical lesson with respect to the folly of what's going on.

[mrklean]

Now Departments are calling on SWAT/SRT Teams form the start. Thats a lazy azz Police chief. You call in SWAT/SRT last, when all other options fail.