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Originally Posted by dksuddeth
All you have to do is google 'Sal Culosi' and fairfax county. You'll see that they freely admit that they use swat to server all warrants. I'm pretty sure that they are not the 'test case' for swat serving warrants. Just because your particular department does not, does not mean that it's national policy.
How were warrants served BEFORE swat teams? Unless there is solid intelligence that the suspects are armed and dangerous, law enforcement should not be needlessly risking the lives of citizens.
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I couldn't start to tell you how warrants were served before SWAT teams. I know there was a day when the police rode horseback and were greeted at the door with open arms, but we don't live in those days anymore. I didn't do police work "back in the day", but I am all to aware of what we are dealing with on a day to day basis... I am trained to deal with the threats of today, not those of yesteryear.
This will be my last post in this topic, as the debate is growing old. SWAT is no more apt to shoot a subject than a beat cop is. The difference between SWAT and a beat cop is the training, and the type of weapon that they carry. Regardless if eight beat cops serve a search warrant, or if a SWAT team serves a warrant, if someone opens fire, whether they be 8 or 80 years old, the police will return fire. I carry my gun when I respond to domestics, car accidents, missing people, and lost puppies. Regardless of where I am or what I am doing while in uniform, if someone opens fire at me, I will return fire with the intent to kill them.
I understand the value of human life probably better than most of my peers. The reason that I joined our Hostage Negotiation Team many years back is because I value being able to resolve a situation without putting lives at risk needlessly. I also understand that every time that I put on the uniform, there is a chance that it will be the last time I put on the uniform. The cemeteries are filled with police who underestimated the threat they they are up against every day... police that let their guard down.
You want the police to wait until there is "solid intelligence" that the people are armed before using a tactical team to serve a warrant? So what happens when we get into a situation where we didn't have solid intelligence, and we run into a heavily armed suspect? What do we do then... yell "do over" and slowly back out the door?
The case of Sal Culosi, while tragic, is certainly not the norm. Using your own argument, just because Fairfax County uses their SWAT team to serve all warrants, it does not mean that it is national policy.
Here's a suggestion... if you want to "Monday Morning Quarterback" me, the police, or our policies, strap on a vest, lace up your boots, kiss your wife goodbye while wondering if it will be the last time, and stand the line right along side me. Do a year or so in the communities that I walk in, and if you still have your same views and opinions, then we'll debate some more. If you're not willing, be thankful that some of us are.
*****EDIT*****
Regarding the case of the 92 year old woman in Georgia that shot three officers when they served their warrant, I just found this quote: "Dreher said the three drug officers "were well-trained" and had "served hundreds of warrants" over the years. Even though the officers were not required to knock before entering the house, they did, Dreher said."
They were not SWAT officers, but narcotics officers. They knocked, even though they were not required to. You can read the full article here:
http://www.officer.com/article/artic...&siteSection=1