The newspaper in Riverside, California published my testimony before Congress on SWAT teams and paramilitary police actions as an op-ed last week, probably because of a recent botched drug raid there. That sparked a curt response from the local sheriff, as well from another writer who rather amusingly implied that I’ve done “no research to back up” my criticisms.

This morning, I received another email from a longtime police officer who–as many longtime officers do–shares my concerns over the new breed of warrior cops. Full text of his email after the break.

Dear Mr. Balko,

I read and thoroughly agree with your article on SWAT as published in The Press Enterprise in Riverside, CA this past Sunday. This morning’s edtiorial page has a letter from Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle disagreeing with you. I had to chuckle. I was in law enforcement for thirty years. I ran against Bob in his first election and I was forced out of the department after being branded a traitor tot he department and losing to the political machinary in the county. I made several speeches and op-ed letters where I called for less military hardware and a more human approach to police work at the line level.

Bob has a correspondence school doctorate degree and is representative of so many in command positions in law enforcement - ’smoke and mirrors’ without any critical thinking or rethinking on developing trends in the profession. They do not exhibit any real leadership qualities and are generally content to let courts dictate policy. How else could you excplain the lack of movement on the continued growth of high and slow speed pursuits in California or the fact that Riverside County has more more officer-involved-shootings than in Los Angeles? Until city and county officials demand change in the leadership of law enforcement, I am convinced we will coninue to see the same old plain vanilla cookie cutouts we are forced to accept as leaders. I have often thought community groups or various citizen components should be a part of any panel determining new chiefs of police.

I’m glad to see your article and I can attest to the accuracy of your concerns over the developing militarization of our police. When I led the transition team acquiring property from the downsizing of the former March Air Force Base in Riverside, I was contantly beseized with requests for surplus military property from helmets and M-16’s to armored personnel carriers. I started out my career with a six-shot revolver, no handi-talkie and I carried a roll of dimes in my briefcase so I could call the station or dispatch. One of the first things my field training officer did to me was make me get out of the car and walk up and down both sides of a residential street and meet and talk with the residents and then walk back to him and recap the conversations. He told me I would do more talking than fighting and I would get farther with my mind than my fists. He didn’t have a college degree, but he was definitely smarter than Sheriff Doyle.

I am a member of the Riverside Coalition for Police Accountability and I sit on the Riverside Chief of Police’s Advisory Board. I am tired of beating my head with my former associates who dismiss all criticisms with phrases such as “come work a beat before you say anything”. I teach sixth graders where I know I am making a difference and a change for the better. I was trained at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Academy, I retired as a sheriff’s lieutenant and held a CA POST Management Certificate. I developed the project that turned 386 acres of March AFB land into the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center. If I can ever assist you in your work on police matters, please do not hestitate to call.

Sincerely,

Mike Crichton

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 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.