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I glad that folks around here are becoming concerned about this but frankly this has been an issue in the making for more than forty years when the first special weapons and tactics unit was formed by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964. In 1967 the Los Angeles Police Department established its unit and it was off to the races for major police departments across the country mainly as a force to be used to "combat" radical organizations like the Black Panthers.
In 1968 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act established within the U.S. Justice Department the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration that began funneling money and training into local and state law enforcement agencies. The block grants provided by the LEAA was like putting candy in front of babies, departments that had no foreseeable need for SWAT teams found it hard to resist the grants that the LEAA made available to buy weapons, body armor and other tactical equipement. The LEAA and the FBI also provided the opportunity of local and state police departments to train at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center at Quantico, Virginia often under the tutelage of members of the armed forces. For police who already saw themselves as para-military organizations the development of these paramilitary forces was a natural progression.
As a result, I think that it was inevitable that old style law enforcement tactics would give way the a military concept of applying overwhelming force. And while it is certainly true that in the late 60's and the era of the Cocaine Cowboys, the dangers to law enforcement posed by exceedingly violent and well armed criminals grew exponentially justifying the use of these units and their tactics, as that threat subsided the mere presence of these units and the money that they represented to police budgets became guided by the principle of use it or lose it. So today we see the ever increasing use of swat teams when the community would be better served by more traditional police methods.
I glad that folks around here are becoming concerned about this but frankly this has been an issue in the making for more than forty years when the first special weapons and tactics unit was formed by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964. In 1967 the Los Angeles Police Department established its unit and it was off to the races for major police departments across the country mainly as a force to be used to "combat" radical organizations like the Black Panthers.
In 1968 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act established within the U.S. Justice Department the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration that began funneling money and training into local and state law enforcement agencies. The block grants provided by the LEAA was like putting candy in front of babies, departments that had no foreseeable need for SWAT teams found it hard to resist the grants that the LEAA made available to buy weapons, body armor and other tactical equipement. The LEAA and the FBI also provided the opportunity of local and state police departments to train at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center at Quantico, Virginia often under the tutelage of members of the armed forces. For police who already saw themselves as para-military organizations the development of these paramilitary forces was a natural progression.
As a result, I think that it was inevitable that old style law enforcement tactics would give way the a military concept of applying overwhelming force. And while it is certainly true that in the late 60's and the era of the Cocaine Cowboys, the dangers to law enforcement posed by exceedingly violent and well armed criminals grew exponentially justifying the use of these units and their tactics, as that threat subsided the mere presence of these units and the money that they represented to police budgets became guided by the principle of use it or lose it. So today we see the ever increasing use of swat teams when the community would be better served by more traditional police methods.
Exactly right. Those that saw this coming were called crazy fear-mongering conspiracy theorists, and now that it's undeniable - you still have some idiots saying they see nothing to be concerned about.
Exactly right. Those that saw this coming were called crazy fear-mongering conspiracy theorists, and now that it's undeniable - you still have some idiots saying they see nothing to be concerned about.
I don't recall ever being called a fear mongering conspiracist because where I come from the militarized of a police force acting more like an occupying army that was in plain sight for everyone to see. I mean come on the LAPD SWAT TEAM had their own TV program styled after them... with van included.
What I do recall was the unquestioned white conservative support for SWAT teams and the LEAA until they started showing up in their neck of the woods. The wake up call came for them at Ruby Ridge and Waco despite the fact that both events had been presaged by the SLA shoot out and the fire bombing of the MOVE house in Philadelphia two events that conservatives never mention.
I don't recall ever being called a fear mongering conspiracist because where I come from the militarized of a police force acting more like an occupying army that was in plain sight for everyone to see. I mean come on the LAPD SWAT TEAM had their own TV program styled after them... with van included.
What I do recall was the unquestioned white conservative support for SWAT teams and the LEAA until they started showing up in their neck of the woods. The wake up call came for them at Ruby Ridge and Waco despite the fact that both events had been presaged by the SLA shoot out and the fire bombing of the MOVE house in Philadelphia two events that conservatives never mention.
Just another day in the land of Schadenfreude.
I was being supportive. Don't know why you felt the need to turn this into an attack on white conservatives. Seems to me we are all in this together.
In general, we wanted Janet Reno and company held accountable, but nothing came of it. The majority of people still don't know what really happened at Waco, and the liberal media didn't ask questions, they just reported what they were supposed to.
I wonder what Obama's 15,000 well trained riot and crowd control, ARMED to the TEETH Russians, will think of that bad ass van?
Not much I bet.
I met Va SWAT before LOL I still own some of their gear
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