A retired detective writes in response to the WSJ op-ed:

Mr. Balko, thank you for your efforts to sound the alarm about SWAT teams and their misuse, not to mention recent metastatic proliferation with Homeland Security “First Responder” funding.

I have watched this situation develop since the Nixon Administration began giving federal funds and military equipment to local P.D.s and S.O.s in the early seventies. Empire building by department administrators and the acceptance of federal funds also required the adoption of federal hiring and training standards which have led to the existing situation.

I am a detective, and for decades, I and many of my peers have been opposing the use of SWAT for routine calls and warrants but there are those elements who like the idea of these “Dress Rehearsals” as a form of training and some who like the idea of
a massive show of force even when not warranted, which is 95% of incidents, as some form of intangible deterrent on crime.

If anything you have understated the extent or true danger of the problem. Many of us in police work call these people ninja wannabes and they frighten US! It seems these units are largely constituted from people with no military service or training yet they want to dress up and play like cowboy soldiers.

If you doubt me about the influence of federal dollars and hiring and training standards, let me name two places where those over reactive standards were employed and were visible to the public: Waco and Ruby Ridge.

As a security consultant and retired peace officer, I am still connected with many in law enforcement all over the country who are similarly concerned. If I can ever obtain any information for you or try to connect you with an inside source, I will do my best to do it. Continued good luck in your and Mr. Berger’s efforts and thanks for raising the issues. I don’t expect any changes very soon.

This guy wishes to remain anonymous, for obvious reasons. I’m convinced that he is who he says he is, but your mileage may vary.

In my experience, however, this does seem to be a fairly common opinion among long-time and retired law enforcement officials.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 3rd, 2006 at 10:31 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Police Militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.