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An important issue. There's a dangerous trade-off in personnel and
ideas between domestic police and US military and mercenaries in the
Mideast. (The police chief of New Haven years ago said his biggest
problem was keeping "suburban white adventure-seekers" off his
force; he's out, & they're in - as Abu Ghraib and Blackwater
show.)<br>
<br>
<br>
On 10/3/10 11:29 AM, Laurie Solomon wrote:
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<div><font face="Calibri">An interesting critical counter
assessment to what passes as the established point of
view and wisdom. We have seen some of this in the past
in Champaign - in particular - specifically when they
went after a federal grant to buy a SWAT Armored
vehicle, which was not really needed and had not been
used that mush for anything that would require its use.
Part of this was motivated and pushed for by a Sgt. on
the department who was about to retire and had headed
the SWAT unit. He pushed for this so that Champaign
would be seen as on a level with L.A. and the other big
cities, thereby adding credibility to his resume when he
applied for the position as director of the national
SWAT association (<font face="Times New Roman">National
Tactical Officers Association) </font>, which he got
when he retired from the CPD...</font></div>
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<p>Author says police SWAT squads are out of control<br>
Thursday, September 23, 2010<br>
By Sadie Gurman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<br>
<br>
The country's SWAT teams are out of control and largely
ineffective, and their proliferation marks a dangerous
"militarization" of the police force, says a Lawrence
County author whose latest book offers a critical look
at use of tactical teams nationwide.<br>
<br>
Jim Fisher, a law graduate, former FBI agent and retired
Edinboro University criminalistics professor, is author
of "SWAT Madness and the Militarization of the American
Police," which examines dozens of incidents in which
SWAT response ended in injury, death or costly lawsuits
that, Mr. Fisher contends, small departments can ill
afford.<br>
<br>
"If SWAT teams were just costly and unnecessary, that
would be bad enough in bad economic times, when we have
limited law enforcement resources to begin with," Mr.
Fisher said. "But when it's breaking down
police-community relations, when it amounts to high
court settlement costs, when people are being injured
... you have to say to yourself, 'why are we doing
this?' "<br>
<br>
He discussed the book, which is available online but
will be officially published Sept. 30, in an interview
this week as more than 725 officers from 41 states and
several countries gathered at the David L. Lawrence
Convention Center for the 27th annual National Tactical
Officers Association conference. Held in Pittsburgh for
the first time, the weeklong conference is a valuable
networking opportunity, said officers who attended. It
ends Friday.<br>
<br>
On Monday, officers perused the offerings at a vendor
show, where salespeople peddled bulletproof vests and
protective barricades, sniper scopes, armored vehicles
and other items Pittsburgh SWAT Officer Stephen Mescan
called "the tools of our trade."<br>
<br>
Officer Frank Zielinski, of the Grosse Pointe Farms,
Mich., Police Department, studied the $26,000 Pointman,
a robot that takes surveillance footage inside buildings
to allow officers to keep a safe distance during
standoff situations.<br>
<br>
He and other officers said they were looking forward to
a week's worth of training sessions on use of less
lethal munitions, barricaded suspects, waterborne
operations and dozens of other topics.<br>
<br>
Although he declined to comment on Mr. Fisher's book
specifically, Officer Mescan, one of the city's team
leaders, said incidents that have captured recent news
headlines underscore the need for well-trained and
equipped tactical officers. He said they respond to
situations patrol officers don't have time to train for.<br>
<br>
"Tactical teams are life-saving units designed to handle
critical incidents," Officer Mescan said. "We're seeing
these incidents on a more frequent basis."<br>
<br>
Mr. Fisher, however, argues that "fear-mongering"
officials have convinced the public that rapid response
teams are needed even in "low-risk" police work.<br>
<br>
"Today, it's hard to differentiate between a police
officer and someone fighting in Afghanistan," he said.
"They act the same, are trained by the same people, and
they have the same mind-set at a time when violent crime
is down."<br>
<br>
In an early chapter, Mr. Fisher writes that slayings of
three Pittsburgh police officers in April 2009 prompted
McKeesport City Council members to approve a federal
grant for the city's own SWAT team, "unwilling to rely"
on Pittsburgh, Allegheny County or state police teams.
Rural Lawrence County followed suit and formed a
15-officer emergency response team at a cost of more
than $100,000, although Mr. Fisher says the "new
paramilitary unit" would have "virtually nothing to do."<br>
<br>
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