Rise of the Warrior Cop

[ravdin]

I came across this article in the WSJ the other day and I was interested enough to start reading a new book called Rise of the Warrior Cop, by Radley Balko:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323848804578608040780519904.html

Balko's take: it's a relatively new phenomenon that we accept that the police can break into your house at any time, without knocking or any warning, often based on nothing more than a tip from an informant. Balko claims that prior to the 1960s SWAT style raids were very uncommon, and it was accepted that except in extreme circumstances the police in carrying out a warrant would knock on the door and give the occupant an opportunity to surrender peacefully. He believes that botched raids where children are present, family pets are shot, and occupants are unnecessarily treated with excessive force have become the norm, not the exception.

The trend to militarize the police went on the rise during the Nixon administration with the War On Drugs and went into overdrive in the last decade with the War On Terror. Now (also according to Balko) there are 100 SWAT style raids in private homes in the USA every day. Federal agencies such as NASA and the Department of Education have SWAT teams. Many of the raids are carried out on nonviolent and consensual crimes- e.g. private poker games.

I'd like to add that I am not anti-police. Most encounters I've personally had with the police have been positive. I am however anti-politician and I blame police militarization and the abuses of bad cops mainly on bad politicians and the bad policies they pass into law.

 

[Nessie]

I think the war on drugs and terror is correctly identified as the cause. Prior to that searching for stolen property, which is hard to flush down the toilet was the main use for a warrant.

 

[Kestrel]

Illegal drug distributers have too much evidence to flush down a toilet. So why do we use SWAT teams for low level retail dealers and users?

 

[Checkmite]

I think police wearing armor during raids is more a side effect of the increased likelihood the person they're busting possesses a MAC-10.

 

[Kestrel]

I think police wearing armor during raids is more a side effect of the increased likelihood the person they're busting possesses a MAC-10.

Or you could look for an arrest opportunity that avoids doing a frontal assault.

 

[triforcharity]

I think police wearing armor during raids is more a side effect of the increased likelihood the person they're busting possesses a MAC-10.

Really? Citation required....

 

[Seismosaurus]

Federal agencies such as NASA and the Department of Education have SWAT teams.

NASA has SWAT teams? Wow. That's a really surreal image...

 

[ravdin]

NASA has SWAT teams? Wow. That's a really surreal image...

Yep.

 

[Checkmite]

Or you could look for an arrest opportunity that avoids doing a frontal assault.

Given the luxury of time and constant surveillance, perhaps indeed.

 

[Checkmite]

Really? Citation required....

You need a citation before you'll accept that law enforcement officers wear bullet resistant equipment expressly out of a concern for being shot?

 

[newyorkguy]

Actually one of the things that triggered the rise of SWAT teams was the fact that back in the 1960s and 1970s the police were consistently being out-gunned by the bad guys. It was also hard for them to go up against some of the well-armed assailants because of the use of high powered firearms.

I know cops who say, when they swear out a warrant for someone who is or is likely to be heavily armed and ready to shoot, it's a great tool to have -turn over the apprehension to a SWAT team.

 

[thaiboxerken]

I think the arms manufacturers are also making this happen.

 

[newyorkguy]

Sometimes they go a tad too far though-

A U.S. Department of Education SWAT force burst into Kenneth Wright’s Stockton, Calif., home in June 2011. “I look out of my window, and I see 15 police officers,” Wright told KXTV. Wright said one officer forced him by the neck onto the front lawn. “He had his knee on my back, and I had no idea why they were there.” While officers searched his house, Wright said, “They put me in handcuffs in a hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids,” then ages 3, 7, and 11.

The feds sought Wright’s estranged wife, apparently for suspected financial-aid fraud. However, she had moved away a year earlier.

Link

For financial-aid fraud? Seriously?

 

[Belz...]

You need a citation before you'll accept that law enforcement officers wear bullet resistant equipment expressly out of a concern for being shot?

Although your retort is hilarious, I think Tri was asking for evidence for the MAC-10, specifically.

 

[gumboot]

Sometimes they go a tad too far though-

Link

For financial-aid fraud? Seriously?

Ahem...

The Education Department is confirming that its inspector general authorized a raid on a California home Tuesday, but it says the officers were conducting a criminal probe, not pursuing a woman because she could not pay her student loans, as has been reported.

...

Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that the officers that raided the home were not a SWAT team, although the man who lives there thought they were one.

 

[Checkmite]

Although your retort is hilarious, I think Tri was asking for evidence for the MAC-10, specifically.

Oh, yes of course - my bad. Granting the objective truth of the matter as relayed by ravdin:

Balko claims that prior to the 1960s SWAT style raids were very uncommon, and it was accepted that except in extreme circumstances the police in carrying out a warrant would knock on the door and give the occupant an opportunity to surrender peacefully.

...then the pieces fall into place. SWAT raids were "very uncommon" prior to the 1960's and more common afterwards. The MAC-10 was invented in the 1960's (1964 by one G. Ingram to be exact). Coincidence? Surely not.

Although in fairness I could have been referring to the proliferation of more dangerous firearm technology in general among the civilian (and, by extension, criminal) population during the time period in question; particularly among the illegal-drug-supply community (the up-stepped enforcement against which I believe was also mentioned in ravdin's article).

 

[ravdin]

Oh, yes of course - my bad. Granting the objective truth of the matter as relayed by ravdin:



...then the pieces fall into place. SWAT raids were "very uncommon" prior to the 1960's and more common afterwards. The MAC-10 was invented in the 1960's (1964 by one G. Ingram to be exact). Coincidence? Surely not.

Although in fairness I could have been referring to the proliferation of more dangerous firearm technology in general among the civilian (and, by extension, criminal) population during the time period in question; particularly among the illegal-drug-supply community (the up-stepped enforcement against which I believe was also mentioned in ravdin's article).

How does that reconcile with using heavily armed, military style assault teams to enforce laws against illegal gambling and underage drinking?

 

[ravdin]

Ahem...

The woman in the warrant was suspected of financial aid fraud. Sending 15 cops to the house, breaking down the front door, grabbing a civilian (who was not a suspect in the case) and hauling him outside without letting him get dressed all seems more than a little unnecessary. They really couldn't have knocked on the door before executing the warrant?

 

[Checkmite]

How does that reconcile with using heavily armed, military style assault teams to enforce laws against illegal gambling and underage drinking?

As for the illegal gambling, it's not uncommon for such events to be "protected" by armed individuals; if there really are "heavily armed military-style raids", certainly it's in case of that eventuality.

As for underage drinking; I suspect the nature of such "raids" is being exaggerated - like the claim about the "SWAT team" raiding over financial aid; actually I suspect it's more likely that underage drinking is addressed by LE teams dressed perhaps in black utility clothing but otherwise equipped the way police are normally equipped.

 

[ravdin]

As for the illegal gambling, it's not uncommon for such events to be "protected" by armed individuals; if there really are "heavily armed military-style raids", certainly it's in case of that eventuality.

As for underage drinking; I suspect the nature of such "raids" is being exaggerated - like the claim about the "SWAT team" raiding over financial aid; actually I suspect it's more likely that underage drinking is addressed by LE teams dressed perhaps in black utility clothing but otherwise equipped the way police are normally equipped.

Yes, paramilitary weapons and tactics really are used to protect the public against the scourge of underage drinking.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/10/02/blotter/doc4ca7e7b45e206554047434.txt