The War at Home
From Occupy Wall Street to Ferguson Missouri and beyond, the work of photojournalists increasingly are revealing a stark truth: the United States is engaging in a wide-scale re-engineering of its domestic police forces. The creeping militarization, however, did not occur in a vacuum; it has a history that represents a martial miscegenation of sorts, where the ethic of “serve and protect” once associated with civilian police appears to have become merged with the “hunt, kill, destroy” ethos of military forces. But this didn’t happen overnight. There is a history that sets the stage for a process that has become accelerated in recent times.
Historically in the United States, private police forces were first employed by wealthy plantation and landowners. These “slave catchers” were hired and paid to hunt African-Americans. Critics argue that we never really escaped this past, even if the legacy connections are not always obvious. To trace these developments, we have to follow the money. Wealthy corporations and allied powerful interests have always employed the police to protect their assets. During slave times, of course, those assets did not simply include material goods they also included people, who were considered property.
Today, the same people continue to pay for private security and invest in public police forces to protect private property [local example: The Waterfront shopping plaza on the river in Homestead is protected by a full-time police police officer, whose expenses are reimbursed to Homestead borough (paid for) by the shopping complex].
There is a racial ideology (spoken and unspoken) that often drives these developments, including resource allocation. While there is presently a contentious debate raging in the U.S. with regard to police funding – some people say we need more funds and others say there is too much funding, there are no easy answers. The problem is socially entrenched. What you think about police funding is going to derive in many respects from your own personal experiences. Do you have police in your family? Were you the victim of a crime? Do you live in a deteriorated neighborhood? Do you live in a racially homogeneous social space?
The police funding equation is not as simple as “more cops (funds) = less crime.” As the research indicates, money is not always an effective predictor of public safety. The data, in fact, demonstrate in a fairly consistent way over time that fewer than half of serious crimes are reported to police. Few, if any arrests are made in those cases. Only about 11% of all serious crimes result in an arrest, and about 2% end in a conviction (Nissen, 2020). Simply put, there are many local complex social factors that impact the degree to which police can be effective in their jobs.
Police Militarization
Scholars have documented the trend in the outfitting of local domestic police with military-style gear (the exorbitant costs of which are paid by the U.S. taxpayer) as having started with the Reagan administration’s “war on drugs. This policy failure is, however, by no means consigned to the past, as it rages on, fueled by another policy disaster – the amorphous “war on terror,” which was launched to coincide with the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is worth noting that we cannot blame one political party while holding the other blameless. Police militarization is truly a bipartisan project; one that has occurred within a socio-political context, where up-armoring of police is but one manifestation of a comprehensive plan to address a wide range of security issues in the wake of 9-11. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have embraced a politics of fear in order to 1) motivate voters and 2) avoid being seen as soft on crime and terrorism. The results are staggering in scale to the extent that they encompass NSA surveillance, drone wars, and the increasing privatization and expansion of the prison/carceral state.
The New Military Urbanism
Author Stephen Graham (2011) discusses the multiple ways in which the “new military urbanism” might be seen in cities like New York City, Baltimore, and London. The development is typified by the increasing proliferation of large militaristic SUVs on city roads, an increase in the number of militarized borders and surveillance zones within and around urban areas, amplified collaboration between military, intelligence and police organizations, as well as patterns of linking neoliberal logics with security infrastructure (i.e. EZ Pass monitoring, photo enforcement of traffic laws). Perhaps most disturbing among these developments is the tendency to conflate internal urban ethnic minority groups with external enemies of the state (Graham, 2011).
Recent research on public attitudes toward police and policing suggests that the Mayberry R.F.D. notion of “officer friendly” has been profoundly ruptured and perhaps along with it the shared public sense of a social contract. Public trust, not surprisingly, goes out the window when policemen patrol neighborhoods as if they are in the middle of Iraq or Afghanistan.
SWAT
In a report entitled “War Comes Home,” the American Civil Liberties Union called attention to how, over the course of the last 25 years, the number of SWAT team raids in the United States dramatically escalated. Their report found that nearly 80% of all SWAT raids it reviewed between 2011 and 2012 were deployed to execute a search warrant. Bear in mind now, this type of “invasion” tactic is being routinely used against people who are only suspected of a crime. Police, in other words, are using a tactic proven to result in significant injury and property damage as a first option and not as an option of last resort.
Who are the targets of these raids? Statistics reveal, more often than not, it’s the doors of blacks and Latinos that are broken down. The same ACLU report found that when they could identify the race of the person/people whose homes were broken into, 68% of the SWAT raids against minorities were undertaken in order to execute search warrants for drugs. The figure dropped to 38% when it came to whites. This pattern was established in spite of the well-documented fact that blacks, whites, and Latinos all use drugs at roughly the same rates. SWAT teams, it would appear, are disproportionately applying their specialized skills to communities of color. What this essentially does is take racial profiling and “stop and frisk” to a terrifying new level.
Organizational Culture
Given these developments and that fact that cities can be dangerous places for everyone. There are questions that remain to be answered. What do we want our police departments to accomplish? Is their mission “Serve and Protect?” or is it “Search and Destroy?” The public seems unsure.
Many among the public prefer to live in nostalgia. Policing, in their view, resides in a mythical past, where the police are always helpful and friendly – like a neighbor to be trusted. Doubtless, there are individual police who are committed to upholding these ideals. Statistical patterns, however, indicate a different reality is emerging.
Strong opinions that exist on both sides of the “good cop”/”bad cop” divide. On the one hand, there are those who defend the “blue line” as they argue #bluelives matter and #notallcops. The problem with the #notallcops argument is that it reduces systemic institutional violence to an individual problem. That is, it suggests we might simply remove the few “bad apples” to fix the problem. Policy accountability efforts are often painted with the broad brush of being “anti-cop.” This type of thinking, unfortunately, gets in the way of prudent action to bring about meaningful institutional level reform through policy change.
On the other hand, many argue that police behavior has jumped the shark; that norms for professional conduct are deteriorating and people are being needlessly harmed and in many cases killed due to police violence, leadership failures, and the failure of police organizations to regulate themselves. From the never-ending stream of videos, showing unarmed black men and children being shot, including the strong-arming/bullying of a nurse, and in one instance, the killing of a woman, Sandra Bland (who refused to put out her cigarette), critics allege the cops are out of control and nothing is being done about it.
In addition to these developments, statistics document contemporary uses of SWAT occur at a rate that is 25 times more frequent than in the 1980s. Again, these happenings did not occur in a vacuum. Violence has a history and a memory. From the original slave patrols conducted in the wake of the U.S. Civil War, through the policing of Jim Crow laws in the old South, and now the involvement of U.S. soldiers in wars overseas (many of whom have become police offices upon return), policing forces are not surprisingly militarized as a result.
The policy apparatus that contributed the most to the funneling of millions of dollars into militarizing local law enforcement was the federal 1033 Program. The 1033 Program provided surplus military equipment to state and local policing agencies. According to a report published by The Guardian, the 1033 program has provided 12,000 bayonets, 5,200 Humvees and 617 mine-resistant ambush protection vehicles (MRAPs) to local police agencies across the United States.
Originally intended for use in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations, military equipment is increasingly being used against political protesters and other local civilian populations. These weapons of war did not magically “appear” on our streets–they proliferated because the federal government paid for them and facilitated their use.
With that, local law enforcement reveals signs they are evolving into a domestic army. Things like bodily comportment, equipment, tactics, command structure, a willingness to lay hands on the public and disregard for basic constitutional protections all indicate that this is happening. Ironically, aggressive foreign policies exercised by the United States that were once universally applauded by Americans, who saw the activity as necessary to “keep us safe” and “spread democracy,” produced what philosopher Michel Foucault called a “boomerang effect.” Violence exercised abroad ran it’s course and finally came home to roost (Graham, 2011).
Here are a few statistics worth noting:
In 1980, there were approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the United States. Now, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country.
79% of the time, SWAT teams are deployed to private homes.
60% of SWAT raids in one ACLU study were shown to target homes for drugs/drug use, not to save a hostage, respond to a barricade situation, or neutralize an active shooter.
65% of SWAT deployments feature the deployment of a battering ram, boot, or other explosive device to gain forced entry to a home.
62% of all SWAT raids involve a search for drugs.
50% of the victims of SWAT raids are either black or Latino.
36% of all SWAT raids indicate that no contraband is found by the police.
35% of the time, in cases where it is suspected that there is a weapon in the home, police do not find a weapon.
7% of all SWAT deployments are for hostage, barricade or active-shooter scenarios.
More than 100 American families have their homes raided by SWAT teams every single day.
Even small towns deploy SWAT teams now: 30 years ago, only 25.6 percent of communities with populations between 25,000 and 50,000 people had a SWAT team. Now, that number has increased to 80 percent.
This is a Public Policy Failure
When the police are used as the “one size fits all” policy arm to address racial injustice, poverty, homelessness, opioid overdose, mental health problems, and inadequate access to healthcare, neither the public nor the police are served. The police are set up to fail and be hated by the public. In this environment, no one can ever feel “served and protected.” Everyone is at risk.
Essentially, we’re putting all our human resources and funding into one bucket (the police) and asking them to do everything (that they are not trained to handle) that more specialized institutions could address for far less money with higher rates of effectiveness. The police, in turn, ratchet up the violence and try to contain problems with the only tool they have – mass incarceration.
Put another way, we “defunded” education and healthcare and gave it all to the police without ever loudly proclaiming that we did this; we provisioned one institution with funds from the others and made our problems worse, not better. That the public largely continues to support this failed approach (obviously, there are pockets of resistance) says something important about the public. What drives them to support failed policy? Why do people time and again choose righteous indignation over support for interventions to change the system?
Sources
Cities Under Siege: The New Military Urbanism, by Stephen Graham (2011)
War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing, published by the American Civil Liberties Union (2014)
For more on the history of SWAT, link to the New York Times report “SWAT: Mission Creep” w/video.
Discussion Questions
What do you think about these statistics? Do these developments alarm you?
What do these trends say about what it means to live in American society?, considering how rapidly we are transferring the weapons of war into the hands of police to be used on U.S. citizens?
Do you think it is a good idea for so many police to have access to/deploy weapons of war on our streets? (to be used on U.S. citizens)?
What really stands out to me is how much this all traces back to history, from the days of slave patrols to today’s militarized police forces. It makes me wonder if we ever really escaped that past. It’s shocking that more than 80,000 SWAT raids happen in the U.S. each year, often targeting homes in ways that seem excessive for the suspected crimes. I can’t help but think about how this kind of policing creates a culture of fear, especially in marginalized communities. And then there’s the fact that so many of these raids don’t even find the drugs or weapons they were looking for–what’s the point of this heavy handed approach?
I’m surprised by this article to learn that there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids happening in the U.S. every year. This high number really reflects the current state of the country and how often these teams are called into action. What makes it even more troubling is that, in many cases, they don’t find anything during these raids. The second statistic, that more than 100 American families experience their homes being raided by SWAT every day, is even more concerning. It’s hard to imagine the fear and trauma those families go through, especially when nothing is found. SWAT teams are meant for serious situations like hostage’s rescues and active shooters, but now their use seems to be causing harm in the community rather than protecting it. I had no idea how often SWAT teams are being used. I always thought they only got involved in extreme situations like mass destruction, terrorist threats, dangerous drug busts, riots, or capturing high suspects. I agree that they shouldn’t be used for most house raids unless it’s really necessary. The only way it makes sense to me is if there were different levels of SWAT teams, with the team size and response depending on the situation.
The term and the use of “weapons of war” being used on the streets is terrifying when coming from a public eye. I personally think the use of these “weapons of war” vary depending on a certain situation. One negative effect of these weapons being used on the street is that it will cause situations to be escalated at certain times. It can lead to a greater likelihood of harm to both civilians and law enforcement on the street. This can be seen as not trustworthy to the community because the use of force is being taken to another level at that point. With having these “weapons of war”, police will most likely resort to violence quicker rather than using deescalation tactics. This will also put the trust of the citizens at risk.
One reason for why “weapons of war” being deployed is a good idea is because of a certain scenario unfolding. I would completely understand if there was an extreme situation going on where one of these weapons would need to be deployed. If there was an encounter of terrorism or even a mass shooting, “weapons of war” would help in those situations to protect the public and themselves. The use of these weapons should definitely be limited and acknowledged during high-threat situations.
The first thing to really grab my attention while reading the article is how often police swat raids occur to members of society that are black and latino. The whole purpose for these swat teams is to search drugs and weapons which they statistically don’t end up finding a majority of the time. And the fact that homes owned by these two groups of minorities are raided half of the time these swat teams are used shows a clear systematic issue of bias. When there is this clear issue of bias it is very dangerous to give members of the police like this military grade weapons such as tanks and explosive devices. There are countries on the earth that have police officers walking around with exclusively non lethal weapons which prevents them from the ability to take another person’s life, and when compared to the arsenal that american police have access to it shows a massive difference in the type of way that the police are viewed.
I think that these statistics are definitely concerning and a bit surprising. There have been more and more swat raids going on., so far there have been 80,000 raids per year in this country alone which is a very high number and should be alarming. Although these swats do not seem like they make public headlines often, it is surprising how 60% of raids are typically targeted and not because of hostage or barricade situations and the fact that there are over 100 families that have their home raided everyday is very sad and is there a pattern with these raids?
These trends kind of show that in American society, you are more likely to get a raid from the swat team everyday due to drug searches/search warrants instead of the raids being used for actual important situations like hostage negotiations or active shooters. The rapid growth of giving weapons of war to the police is a bad decision in my opinion because some police not all are corrupt and by giving them these weapons of war may give them more authority and power and it would probably be used more to attack than protect. If the police are given so much weapons, they are going to have more power on citizens than they already do and what is giving the weapons going to do to the community. Is it going to help it or would it just cause more issues and fear? How I perceive it, is that there is never a good reason to give access to high quality weapons of mass destruction. There are enough problems and I do not think that weapons are the way to save it.
I think the fact that police have access to weapons of war is insane. The term “Weapons of War” speaks for itself when someone thinks about the types of weapons being used, and the location of their use. However, that is not the case. These weapons of war are being used within the community on local civilians. Not only in foreign countries against enemies. When civilians see the police in gear like the military and with weapons that resemble weapons used in battle, they are not going to trust the police. Because in their eyes, the police see them as an enemy. No police officer with the intent of helping people is going to go up to someone with the type of weapons and gear that they have on their person. The police are not an army in the way that the military is. The police are not going up against the type of people that the military goes up against. The police are dealing with situations where they may need weapons and safety equipment, however they do not need what the military has. There is no reason for the military and police officers to have the same type of weapons.
The statistics regarding SWAT raids are indeed alarming. The fact that 79% of these operations are deployed to private homes, often under the guise of executing search warrants, raises serious concerns about the militarization of domestic policing. It’s especially shocking that 60% of SWAT raids are conducted in drug-related cases, despite the fact that drug use occurs at similar rates across racial lines. This disparity, where 68% of raids on minorities are drug-related compared to only 38% for whites, highlights systemic racial profiling and injustice, so again its shocking even with swats they can pick and choose based on people’s skin color which is very scary to think about.
These changes show a worrying trend in America where police are using military tactics to deal with problems that often come from social and economic inequalities. This mindset creates fear instead of trust when police act like an occupying force rather than community helpers, it destroys the public trust and safety. Also, we need to understand that using heavy equipment against regular people can make situations worse and lead to terrible outcomes, as we’ve seen in many cases of police violence. This way of policing fails to recognize that issues like poverty, mental health, and drug addiction need caring and thoughtful responses, not just a heavy-handed approach. And in the eyes of the outside world, we’re supposed to be the country with safety of human rights But considering that issue, is the USA any different than other countries?
I think the statistics are surprising. Increasing from 3,000 SWAT raids in 1980 to more than 80,000 today is a cause for concern. It highlights the transformation of our police, from helping the community to resembling a military presence. It’s concerning that many raids are occurring in residential areas, specifically focusing on houses due to drug-related crimes. Rather than feeling secure, people may perceive danger, posing a big issue for society.
These trends show a change in our perceptions of law enforcement and public safety in the United States. Instead of seeing police as friends of the community, we are now beginning to see civilians as possible dangers. This outlook originates from a past of racially biased law enforcement and favoring property over people. Overall, it shows that we may have to reconsider the definition of safety in our neighborhoods.
I don’t think it’s a good idea for police to have access to military-style weapons. I think this level of firepower will result in increased violence rather than solving problems. The police motto “serve and protect” could quickly turn to a “search and destroy” mentality which may also lead to fear and animosity within communities, especially marginalized populations. We should concentrate on community involvement and dealing with the root social problems rather than approaching every scenario as if it were a battle.
The statistics are very shocking and sad to know, but also at the same time are not surprising because of what the police and policing has become. One stat that stood out to me was, “In 1980, there were approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the United States. Now, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country”. This plays hand in hand with public policy failure with how the policy is being militarized, and police are being asked to do more than they should, causing them to be more dangerous. Deploying weapons and being more militarized is bad for citizens and the police as well. People are scared of police because of this, and when people are scared they tend to have worse behavior if they were calm and felt secure. It almost feels as if the police system is provoking bad behavior, which if the public’s behavior is seen as ‘worse’ the police system will become more and more strict. This will not make civilians want to support the police, which is what we see today, so these statistics add up and are not surprising in terms of the tendencies, but shocking with the true numbers.
After reading the article and looking at the statistics I can say with confidence that the police in America are basically just another military. I mean we have officers of the law carrying around body armor and high-powered assault rifles which is a recipe for disaster. The statistics show that for a warrant for drugs 68% of the doors the swat busted down were minorities and 38% for whites. This is just another example a racism throughout our justice system. In the article I really liked the way how they questioned the polices code (which is to serve and protect the community). It said that “Is their mission to serve and protect or is it to search and destroy. I felt that this really sums up what everyone is thinking when they see our law enforcement armed to the teeth to deal with situations that do not call for this type of equipment. It really just has to make people think what type of society we are living in. Like it said in the article we are not in Afghanistan where people need these type of weapons. We are in America where our police are striking fear into its citizens with all of their “service weapons” which are extremely unnecessary. The police wonder why they are not respected and its because they decide to take this militarized approach to solve the littlest of problems. Overall, I do not want to defund our police I just believe that they do not need weaponry that belongs to the military to handle, and something needs to change and needs to change fast.
I think the statistics that jump out to me the most is how inefficient SWAT raids truly are. From your research, it clearly shows raids are focused on minorities at an alarming rate. More than half of raids include breaking into homes for drugs or drug use, not to actually save an individual, or for that matter, help the situation. When the research shows that 36% of SWAT raids find no contraband, its important to question why they go to such desperate measures when there are safer and better alternatives. This should be a last resort type of solution, not something that the police feel like they do just because they can. These tactics often come off to people as entitled or being on power trips. I don’t believe heavy weaponry is necessary to deploy on the streets as frequently, however, there are certain situations where officers might need more than just a handgun. I believe the trends seem to only suggest one thing; which is more violence and less protecting and serving. The first resort should not be to use force or deadly force, and it is important to come up with alternatives to reduce violence.
As someone who was a victim of a police raid, it’s not something that other people should be going through especially if they are innocent as well As a child my family was unlawfully swatted leading to my father having accusations of something that was later proven false but being there when they forced entry isn’t something a child should have to witness. These statistics are very alarming and unreasonable, the one that says only 7% of all SWAT deployments are for hostage barricade or active shooter scenarios. This raises the question of what 93% of the deployments are for, where they are being deployed, and what they are doing. When I see videos of swatting, they are almost always in a predominantly black neighborhood. I remember in 2021 the co-founder of Black Lives Matter was swatted three times two of which were in the same week it shows that some people use it as a tactic to endanger people’s lives you see streamers always being swatted as well. I know many swatting are done in search of drug dealers, but I don’t think they investigate things like that before acting on it as even the famous rapper JCole was swatted on suspicion of selling drugs that type of causation could ruin his career
I find the statistics and trends in this post really concerning. The militarization of police forces, especially through programs like the 1033 Program, shows a big shift away from the traditional “serve and protect” role of policing. This change is even more troubling because of the historical links between policing and racial oppression, from slave patrols to modern-day racial profiling. It’s clear that racism continues to shape policing, especially in communities of color.
These trends suggest that American society is becoming more accepting of using military-grade weapons and tactics on its own citizens, often in the name of public safety or national security. This reflects a growing reliance on fear-driven policies, where concerns about crime or terrorism lead to more aggressive police actions. The increase in SWAT raids, especially targeting minority communities, shows how racial biases in policing have been worsened by militarization.
I believe this level of militarization isn’t necessary and often leads to more violence, not less. It also damages public trust in law enforcement, as seen in the widespread protests against police brutality. While some argue these tools are needed for serious threats, I think we need to seriously rethink the role of police and how we can maintain public safety without relying on excessive force.
Some of these statistics are insane. For example, I cannot believe that 79% of SWAT raids are for search warrants while only 7% of these raids are for hostage, barricade, or active shooter scenarios. This means that SWAT is not even being used what they are intended for. SWAT should be spending more of their time towards hostage, barricade, and active shooter situations. It is also crazy to me that SWAT is being used on people almost 3 times more now compared to 1980. They do not have to scare their own citizens with military grade equipment when local police officers could easily deal with search warrant arrests. These trends between 1980 and now show us that SWAT is used a lot more than they used to be. I honestly think SWAT is used more for search warrant arrests is to scare the person they are searching or arresting. They have access to these weapons of war and uniforms that make them look more terrifying overall and honestly makes them abuse their power towards citizens. It also shows us how Americans have normalized the use of military technology in everyday life simply just on the streets. I still think that police officers should have military weapons, but they should not be used unless a citizen is shooting at them with a similar weapon. I also think it would be important for police officers to keep these weapons of war locked away in their cars until they are given clearance to use them by the supervising officer on the scene. This would hold leadership accountable for when these weapons should be used and when an inappropriate time to use them would be. This could potentially start cracking down on police corruption by doing this.
I think that these statistics are very alarming, eye opening and actually sad to believe. With the militarization of police the united states has begun redesign the police force. Around the United States law enforcement officers are now provide with military style gear and weapons to use against their own citizens. These actions have made the public trust in law enforcement drop from massive militaristic patrolling the streets, cooperation’s that involve the military and police. The SWAT division are supposed to be one of the main divisions to resemble the military when we are in dangerous situations but with the way they are in present day and how much SWAT raids have increased, they are used for mostly search warrants now. When thinking about SWAT I always viewed them only coming into situation where mass destruction was happen, terroristic threats, dangerous drug situations or involving weapons, riots, or dangerous suspects. I do agree that they should not be needed when raiding houses, depending on the situation. The only way I can see this acceptable is different levels or units of SWAT teams. Which they may include individuals or others depending what they’re dealing with, but unless they’re a huge threat with weapons or bombs.
All across America, local police forces are using military equipment like tear gas, drones, armored vehicles, and live ammunition to attack people who peacefully and legally protest against police brutality. But it raises the question do the police really need to use things like these in the streets. After doing more research on this topic they don’t need to. Studies show that equipping police officers with military equipment does nothing to reduce crime or protect law enforcement officers from violence. In fact, police forces that use military equipment are more likely to kill civilians than police forces that have not been militarized. It is almost used as a scare tactic to produce fear among people. It also brings up the fact that these weapons are more prone to be used against African Americans and minority-majority communities. That doesn’t sound like a good idea to me just sounds like it’s gonna cause more and more problems in the streets and against our police and civilians. This leads to a bigger war in our communities also and the list of those dying is growing every day as we speak. How many more deaths within our communities do we need to see before there is a change in being able to use military-grade weapons in our streets against our people for their to be a change?
Out of the statistics listed above, there are two that I was alarmed about: There are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country and more than 100 American families have their homes raided by SWAT teams every single day. For the first statistic, it is very eye opening to see that so many happen in only a single year. That not only shows the state of the country that we live in but also the fact that so many times they find nothing is triggering. This leads to the second alarming statistic. I can only imagine how it can feel for those whose homes are completely raided by these teams and result in finding nothing. It is even more shocking to read that their original mission was to respond to situations such as hostage and active shooter, but now it has been seen as harmful to the community. Plus, in my opinion, it creates somewhat of a fearful identity towards people like us.
These trends show that this society is at war with itself. It shows how we are slowly becoming the opposition rather than simply being citizens in this country. Not only are we transferring the weapons of war into the hands of police to be used on the citizens in this country, but citizens are using weapons with no different objective against each other. This shows that we are in the middle of a huge warzone that seemingly has no end. I feel that it is not a good idea for so many police to have access to deploy these weapons of war on our streets. Following the same message as the Combined Systems INC. Photo, these weapons of war will just find their way onto our streets and into the hands of our loved ones. Weapons such as these are what broke our country in the first place and having those on our streets even though it is being used by again “those who are sworn to serve and protect” will send us into turmoil.
The statistics that are viewed within this article are very eye opening and kind of surprising. the main statistic that stood out to me was 80,000 swat raids per year that’s way more than I expected. This is a very powerful, yet interesting topic and I say that because you will really question yourself on the whole logic of these statistics giving. Getting people who sale drugs and wanted for other crimes has always been a big deal big i also feel they don’t take in hard enough to get the murders off the streets. But I also believe it creates a very hateful environment and makes people hate SWAT even more than they already do for just raiding their personal space. I also saw 50% of those raids are on blacks or Latino people which doesn’t surprise me at all. When do you ever really hear of a white’s home getting raided. The problem is, like the atrial stated 36% of swat raids never find any contraband so that means they are basically left walking out empty handed. Me personally please do not come in my home and trash it for no reason because you were never sure if I had any contraband within my home. Doing raids just to have nothing else to do is only making the community hate the police system a little more than they do because it’s like the job you went to get done so you call was never finish so somebody house is just left destroyed. I do feel as though SWAT has a purpose because they are needed when long criminal crimes are taking by large numbers of people all at once. Yes, that’s when I feel they should be there to protect but some way somehow, they always end up injuring somebody in the community. For surely yes it makes the community feel more at harmed when the big weapons are pulled out you never know what may go through a person’s mind when they see a weapon that big.
I am curious to know why people believe that more funds and more cops would solve our “crime problem” when there is a problem within the way police officers are trained and instructed to handle certain situations that may require the use of force. The militarized uniforms and equipment reminds me of war—so, when I see this, I think of a domestic war in America that we are all supposed to be saved from. It is sad how the focus continues to be on urban areas, or in cities in which the population has Latino and Black people. And of course the crimes that continue to be easier to be placed on people are drug-related or gun-related. In the case of Breona Taylor, the four police officers wore similar uniforms and barricaded her home and immediately took a violent turn. There is nothing comforting about police officers dressed in militarized uniforms: surrounding crowds of people protesting, coming out of large armored trucks, wearing vests and helmets. It can be quite alarming and even overwhelming for a person to be exposed to. I agree with the fact that there is too much pressure put onto police to handle situations that require special training (e.g. mental illness, social work related issues). Rather than focusing on how to handle physical altercations or people showing resistance, police should educate themselves on how to communicate to people like they would a close family member or friend or colleague, they need to place people who are more familiar with areas they have either grew up in or lived in for a long period of time, and there should be an equal distribution of police officers in both urban and suburban or rural areas. I also enjoyed the images in this article as they are a reflection of what goes on in the news or media.
The part where it says that the “serve and protect” ethic that is associated with the civilian police was mixed with the “hunt, kill, destroy” ethic of the military forces seems to me to be very accurate in this situation. However, it is no surprise that the early uses of the police were questionable in that they were charged with capturing or killing escaped slaves and protecting the property of the wealthy. This is a behavior that despite having changed somewhat over time can still be observed. An example of this is private security or investments in police forces. This adds further concern to the statistics presented, such as the fact that raid orders increased by 80%. This is a technique that is seen today to investigate possible crime suspects and we must be aware that these are practices that are characterized by destroying property. It is disturbing to think that they have so much access to the properties where we make our lives because at the slightest suspicion they can come and destroy your entire house and your belongings. Sixty-eight percent of the raids were carried out against minorities in the United States when and not only that, but in these raid warrants, you can see how destructive the police can be. This is something that generates annoyance because if we take into account that 68% of these raids are against minorities only 32% are written for properties of white people, which is wrong, especially considering that many times we have talked about the great privilege that white people have when being investigated for drugs or any crime.
The first 2 paragraphs were enough to hook anyone’s attention based on the findings and social media sand point of the side. On social media thousands of photos captured a scary environment of policing. Several or even all the police officers were these scary looking bullet proof armor and suits “riot gear”. These uniforms are seen even during peaceful protests. The amount of death occurring daily from the hands of a police officer are insane. Roughly 3.5 male are killed per day by police. These comparable stats between military style and policing style are becoming very similar. As stated in this article “Hunt, kill”. This has changed from the original roots. This professional career was founded by wealthy slaveowners. The overpower used is shown within this article. SWAT should only be used for last resort situations. Like hostage situations. But routinely its being used for simple search warrants. Just recently they have been seeing a gradual incline of the use of swat in simple situations. Normally the doors that are being broken down are those “suspected” of the crime. There is no vital evidence to proceed with this power. We see this daily in the USA. Obviously, the majority is of that minority are those who are basically being harassed. Are the police supposed to be compared to our military? Because I’m not seeing much differences between the too.
SWAT raids have went up drastically, a report found that 80 percent of all SWAT raids in 201 to 2012 were deployed to execute search warrants. Just to keep in mind this means people who were suspected to have committed crimes were raided not even being 100 percent sure they did anything. Point being police are using the tactic of raiding first instead of last resort how its supposed to be used. Statistics showed most houses or places being raided belonged to black and Latinos. This took racial profiling and “stop and frisk” to a terrifying new level. According to a report published by The Guardian, the 1033 program has provided 12,000 bayonets, 5,200 humvees, and 617 mine-resistant ambush protection vehicles (MRAPs) to local police agencies across the United States. Military equipment is beginning to be used against political protestors and other local civilian populations. These weapons did not magically appear on the streets, but proliferated because the federal government paid for them and facilitated their use. For statistics, in 1980 SWAT raids in the United States were approximately 3,000 and are now up to 80,000 a year. With the statistics listed and what the article is stating, probably half if not more of SWAT raids are unnecessary and need to be cut back on and used for more serious matters.
I think that these statistics are very alarming, and should be to any individual living in this country. One statistic that surprised me the most was that only 7% of SWAT deployments are for hostage, barricade, or active shooter situations. This is shocking to me because SWAT was originally created for these exact situations, and for only 7% of SWAT deployments to be for these reasons makes me as an individual concerned as to where the road of policing and military will go in the future. Another statistic that was very shocking to me was that 60% of SWAT raids in one ACLU study were shown to target homes for drugs/drug use. This is shocking to me for the same reasons as the prior statistic; if SWAT is in charge of situations that may be out of police’s control such as active shootings and hostage situations, why can police not respond to drug and drug use situations? Why is SWAT in charge of these, and what are they able to do in these specific drug situations that police cannot? These are very concerning statistics and it is just as concerning as to why this is being allowed and there is such a large increase in SWAT’s involvement in cases they were not originally created for.
The statistic are very astonishing to look at. In society a lot of people do not care about the problems that keep reoccurring but once they see the statistics that’s when they want to do something. These issues and statistics are not just brought up to be a topic to discuss, it is something brought up to find a solution. The information is true and accurate in these significant situations.I think these statistics are very alarming and need to be taken as serious as possible with how these weapons are also involved. I do not think it would be a good idea for police to have access to deploy weapons of war on the streets. The amount of fatal things that can occur along with damaging buildings, streets, etc. The fact that our society is, I feel, just now starting to address some of the major issues in our policing is frightening because there is still so many problems hidden. I feel if these police officers had access then it would be even scarier to just take a walk outside because you never know what they are doing. The unlawfully acts that police do without getting punishment or just get a slap on the wrist is never enough then to possibly give them war weapons, I do not even want to imagine what they would do with the weapons.
The data on development statistics raise serious red flags. The two numbers that stood out to me the most were that 60% of SWAT raids in one ACLU research were found to target residences for drug use or drug sales, rather than to rescue hostages, deal with barricades, or stop an active shooter. The number of SWAT deployments for hostage, barricade, or active-shooter situations is just 7% of total deployments. SWAT teams are often prepared and sent out to deal with hostage situations, crowd control, terrorist threats, and anything else that goes beyond standard police enforcement. Situations that are typically considered to be “high risk.” Military tools and techniques are used by SWAT (special weapons and tactics). When I hear the word “military equipment,” I automatically picture using those weapons on anything larger than what the cops normally handle. In the 1960s, the SWAT teams were developed to deal with riot control and violent encounters with criminals. They weren’t designed to go after residences where drugs are sold or used. It’s disheartening to see that now, instead of doing their higher risk operations, SWAT forces target houses 60% of the time. Only 7% of SWAT teams are performing the tasks for which they were actually trained and which are usually assigned to them. The number of SWAT team raids in the US has significantly increased over the past 25 years. According to a study, search warrants were used to carry out 80% of all SWAT operations. But keep in mind that this is being utilized against persons who are being investigated for crimes rather than those who are being charged with crimes. Imagine having your door broken down without even having a search warrant because you were only accused of being a suspect of a crime. But who are these raids aimed at? According to statistics, either Blacks or Latinos make up 50% of this. According to statistics, 68% of SWAT raids on people were carried out in response to drug-related search warrants. This demonstrates to me that SWAT teams assault people of color more frequently than white people, just like police officers do. Unfortunately, it appears that black communities are being attacked more frequently than white ones. Who want their doors be kicked down? No one. Individuals from various ethnic backgrounds are the ones who suffer from fear the most out of all people.
If not already obvious, the statistics cited are quite damning and should alarm any rational citizen. What is more alarming, however, is the lack of political and societal will to do anything to address it, thus continuing the historical trend of violence within policing. What perplexes me is how many will often defend, and even embrace, police militarization. Given the context provided by this country’s history, especially that regarding racial animosity, it arguably makes sense how such an institution would evolve into the authoritative system it is today. Yet regardless of this, these trends, among the many reports of killings by police, illustrate just how starkly militarization and authoritarianism permeate throughout contemporary American society. In a sense, these trends illustrate that the U.S. has two military forces, one abroad and the other domestic. It shows that to live in the U.S., especially if the individual is a person of color, confrontation with police violence is almost a guarantee; be it through accounts provided by media outlets or peers, or through one’s personal interactions with police. Moreover, the use of military gear by the police institution nationwide shows just how rampant fear is in the American society. Such a fear would naturally manifest in those vulnerable to killings by law enforcement. What shouldn’t be overlooked, however, is how such a fear is present within law enforcement itself, otherwise, there would be little to no justification for the use of such gear. In fact, fear and traumatization are shown to be significant factors in the choice to become a law enforcement officer (Eren, 2019). Despite this, the use of such gear seems obtuse considering the context of what they are used for (i.e., drug raids and search warrants), and the looming threat they pose to citizens, disproportionately those of color. With all of this in mind, put bluntly, I am of the opinion that it is extremely unwise, unwarranted, and frankly just stupid that the Criminal Justice system, alongside the political institutions, seems fit to use these weapons of war on everyday citizens. It is grossly negligent of our government to excuse this as a means of “safety” and “keeping law and order” while real people are forced to pay the price with their money and blood.
Nearly 80% of all SWAT raids reviewed between 2011 and 2012 were used to execute search warrants. Do police officers feel that it is there job to “Search and Destroy?” Is the idea that officers are known to be helpful and friendly just out the door? In my opinion, I feel it is necessary for the police to clean up the streets, but not assume who might have a gun or drugs. The opinions of “good cop”/“bad cop” is so divided in our country. I believe not all police officers are bad, but not all are held accountable. Police violence has always been a huge problem, but it is not ending. People are being harmed for no reason and it ends up another person being shot and killed by a officer. It is portrayed on the media and news that usually, an unarmed black man is the one dying. Military equipment is being used on protestors during the Black Lives Matter protests. I understand that some protests turn into riots and acts of violence, but can you blame them? Local law enforcement are truly showing that they are making advancements into a domestic army. Their tactics of pulling out a gun when they are in situations they have not yet experience is simply pitiful. If an officer can not de-escalate a situation without using force, they should not be in this field. With better training and not allowing an officer to be at something like a mental health call, are just two simple solutions to a huge problem.
The statistics I am looking at are very eye opening. 80,000 swat raids is a lot per year. I also saw 50% of those raids are on blacks or Latino people. This is a very interesting topic because I am not sure where I stand. I think it’s great that they are getting drugs, guns and wanted people off the streets. But I also believe it creates a very hostile environment and makes people even more hostile then if the SWAT would not have raided their homes. The problem is, like said in the article 36% of swat raids never find any contraband. So, I think before they do a swat raid they need to be 110% sure that there is contraband or wanted people. Doing raids for the fun of it only hurt the community they don’t help anything. I think another big debate is all the weapons that are used on the public. I think that they do need to keep this stuff, for when big stuff like protest happens and they start burning down buildings and destroying things. I think it does aggravate the public more then they use these big weapons. But they have too, to keep cities from burning down I believe. It is a crazy world we live in and if the police and the US does not make changes it’s just going to keep getting crazier.
What do you think of these statistics? Do these developments alarm you?
I think these statistics are very alarming and quite frankly sad. As the article says towards the end you’re putting the problem on the police which most of it is on them, but the funding is what stood out with me the most and the raids. The jump in the past four decades had more than tripled, with being 50% of the targets being Black and Latino with in total of all races being 35% incorrect for both drugs and guns searches. You split that up 80,000 people to 40,000 divided by 17.5% for drugs searches that’s 2,285 people having their doors kicked in and not finding anything. With another 2,285 people having searches for guns that don’t result in SWAT teams finding anything. In total that is 4,570 people who’s home are being destroyed for absolutely no reason. And that’s not even counting “accidental” deaths in some of these cases like the one that happened to a man in Minnostea, who’s police department SWAT team raided his apartment which he drew his gun from underneath his pillow that he was laying on while asleep that police gunned him down. That was a headline for a article I read during the school year now what the article that was put out by the police statement, changed once the video camera was shown, while the man who did draw a gun had a license for that gun, who did not have a search warrant for his arrest, who was not the target apparent for the raid, the real apparent they were targeting was five floors up and didn’t even end in the same number as his, lost his life because he thought people were trying to break into his house while he was asleep, and was trying to protect himself, got killed because of a raid that didn’t need to happen. I’ve seen some of these raids in person, some for people who deserved it but many that didn’t, and it is just sad and alarming to finally see the statistics that are just being reported with a actual number much higher is truly alarming.
Do you think it is a good idea for so many police to have access to/deploy weapons of war on our streets? (to be used on U.S. citizens)?
I feel that access or even funding for military-like equipment for police is questionable. A hot debate that has lasted a while is police funding. Recently, it has been seen throughout the media, “defund the police”. This has been combatted with the opposite, saying funding will help PDs target and solve crime in an easier manner. What I feel needs to be highlighted within this is what statistics have to say regarding a hole in policing. As seen in paragraph 5, Only about 11% of all serious crimes result in an arrest, and about 2% end in a conviction (Nissen, 2020). In addition to this, it is well known that there exists a large portion of crime that goes unreported. Therefore, I do not see funding as a “cure-all” for crime, nor the depravation of it to absolutely solve police brutality. Back to militarization, funding should not be focused on equipment like that of the military. As infamous with military spending, this equipment is astronomically expensive, possibly costing taxpayers more to arm those that protect the public. That being said, solutions may start with redirecting funding or limiting the power of equipment available to PDs. Similar to the hoops to jump through in the situation of a civilian trying to obtain a license for automatic firearms, it seems that a similar approach for PDs would not necessarily hurt them. The funding is not depleted for necessary equipment (dash cams, body cams, non-lethal solutions, etc), but also disables frivolous spending on military-grade equipment.
When the police are used as the “one size fits all” policy arm to address racial injustice, poverty, homelessness, opioid overdose, mental health problems, and inadequate access to healthcare, neither the public nor the police are served. The police are set up to fail and be hated by the public. In this environment, no one can ever feel “protected and served.” Everyone is at risk. Essentially, we’re putting all our human resources and funding into one bucket (the police) and asking them to do everything that more specialized institutions could address for far less money with higher rates of effectiveness. In other words, we defunded education and healthcare and gave it all to the police without ever loudly proclaiming that we did this. That is to say, we provisioned one institution with funds from the others and made our problems worse, not better.
That the public largely continues to support this failed approach (obviously, there are pockets of resistance) says something important about the public. What drives them to support failed policy? Why do people time and again choose righteous indignation over support for interventions to change the system?
With the militarization of police, the United States has begun redesigning its domestic police force. In jurisdictions around the nation, local law enforcement officers are now provided with military-style gear and weaponry to use against American civilians. This may be a result of our two “war on drugs” and “war on terror” campaigns. Public trust in law enforcement has decreased as a result of the sharp rise in massive militaristic SUVs patrolling ordinary streets, borders and monitoring zones, and cooperation between the United States military, intelligence agents, and police. Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) is a police division in the United States that resembles the military. These police personnel have received specialized training in potentially dangerous situations including hostage crises. But in the present day, the number of SWAT team raids has increased, and they are now used to carry out search warrants 80% of the time. Unfortunately, Black and Latino individuals are more likely to become victims of raids; in 68% of raids, minorities were the victims, and the raid was to carry out a search warrant; the “crime” involved narcotics. White individuals, on the other hand, are the target of these raids 38% of the time. These statistics do not surprise me at all. SWAT teams are disproportionately targeting communities of color with their specialized skills, thereby racial profiling those individuals. It ultimately resulted in the mass incarceration of Black and Latino men. Yes, I am alarmed by these developments. In the United States, there were approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in 1980; today, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids annually. Most of those raids appear to target residences for drug-related offenses rather than violent crimes. SWAT was not established to look for drugs in a private home; it was established to rescue hostages, respond to a barricade situation, neutralize an active shooter, etc. Our neighborhood patrolling police officers should not appear like soldiers in Iraq. Local law enforcement agencies around the United States should turn in their bayonets, Humvees, and mine-resistant ambush protection vehicles (MRAPs) if they wish to regain the public’s trust.
How many young people do you think are now joining the ranks of law enforcement to be para-military “tacti-cool” without incurring the same risk as those who join the armed forces? (get injured in a war, be deployed away from family, endure physical hardships, maintain high fitness levels)?
In the old days, it was rare for a police officer to discharge their weapon even once in an entire career. Now, older officers complain that the young people joining forces are “trigger happy,” just looking for a reason to discharge their weapon into another person. All of these developments are related to the increased militarization of police forces.
After reading this article, I was quite surprised. I had no idea the rates of how much SWAT teams are being used. I always viewed them only coming into situation where mass destruction was happen, terroristic threats, dangerous drug situations or involving weapons, riots, or dangerous suspects (most wanted, on the run, escape, international, etc.). I do agree that they should not be needed when raiding houses, depending on the situation. The only way I can see this acceptable is different levels or units of SWAT teams. Which they may include individuals or others depending what they’re dealing with, but unless they’re a huge threat with weapons or bombs, they should not be involved with raids. On the other side of it I can see why they get SWAT teams involved because civilians can get their hands on almost any weapon and find anywhere on the internet to cause death or heavy damage if something were to go down or they got caught by police. It’s a touchy subject and I’m personally split between both ideas of them being involved. I do believe that their severe use of force should not be use unless necessary, along with their motto of taken anyone or anything in site if also necessary. People are more afraid when they see SWAT because harm or death is usually involved, so to see them in anything else otherwise is a concern due to the nature of their department. It’s a tough topic and with everything going on in the world it is hard to say I would confidently feel safe with them around, so I cant imagine how those feel when they have direct encounters with them especially if they’re innocent or witnessing these things around them (children witnessing a raid, or other vulnerable individuals).
The developments and statistics definitely are alarming. SWAT is used for hostage, barricade, and active shooter situations and now i feel like it is used for police situations. In 41 years the SWAT raids have increase by 77;000 raids. That is scary! I believe police should have weapons in case of serious situations, but especially in todays society I don’t believe they need war weapons for street crimes because of the injustice and lack of care by police officers. I do not believe it is a good idea for any police officer to have access or the ability to deploy war weapons. Why is a handgun not enough?
What do these trends say about what it means to live in American society?, considering how rapidly we are transferring the weapons of war into the hands of police to be used on U.S. citizens?
Do you think it is a good idea for so many police to have access to/deploy weapons of war on our streets? (to be used on U.S. citizens)?
I believe it is so sad that the swat team can think it is okay to barge into someone home and feel like they have the authority to do anything. I always thought about the swat team being a team that would help out the community but after reading the article it seems like they are something else than protecting the community. If the swat team were to actually focus on what they are meant to do I don’t think we would be in situation. It’s really invading your own privacy that you’re not allowed to have which I believe it is really ashame.
I am a huge believer of police officers having access to weapons and being able to deploy them on the streets. The streets of todays society are a complete warzone and the officers out there protecting them are a different bread. They have become waling targets and hated on so badly all because of some bad apples it seems like the good ones are just completely forgotten about. So, with all the riots going on, I believe the police need to be armed as heavily as possible. However, I do not commend some police officers abusing their authority with these weapons. I believe they should only be used when completely necessary. Such as the officer is protecting himself from direct danger or protecting someone else life from danger in any ay shape or form. Also, I see it as a presence thing. If the people see the officers are armed heavily chances, are they will not want to draw attention or cause any issues.
I always noticed swats coming to minor things, but I thought it was the normal cycle of things . To know that it is not , and that they have increased over time is very interesting. These statistics are very alarming. They are also kind of scary to think about. “In 1980, there were approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the United States. Now, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country”. Why are there uses of these extreme forces in private homes ?
These are weapons of war and police should not have access to them at the rate that they do. Instead of building trust among citizens and police , it is causing fear and panic. To know that these rates are higher with black people is even more concerning to me , as a black US citizen . Let’s take a step back and look at how police organizations even began , with Slavecatchers . African Americans only make up about 20% of the population , with such high statistics of extreme forces used by SWAT , it makes me feel like they may be targeted. Although the drug use among races are almost the same. This is a very bad idea for police to have access to deploy weapons of war on our streets , we should trust the police for help and not be afraid of them . This sends a message of war within our communities.
In regard to the statistics that were provided, I feel that they are extremely eye opening. A lot of people in society dot truly care about a lot of problems of think what you are saying is true until you supply them with statistics. When being shown statistics while discussing any issue, it proves that the issue at hand is true and accurate. These developments do alarm me because it was things that I did not know about until reading this. Especially the statistics that stated, “35% of the time, in cases where it is suspected that there is a weapon in the home, police do not find a weapon”. That statistics truly makes you sit down and think about where the police are getting their information from and how much of it is true. These trends have a lot to say about what it means to live in American society. It can say that American society is not what it used to be; the police are not what they use to be. The trends can make American society feel that the police are no longer there to “protect and serve”, the police are now there to “search and destroy”. They can also show that the police within American society are no longer friendly. I personally do not think that it is a good idea for so many people to have access to/deploy weapons of war on U.S. citizens. Unless that U.S. citizen showed an act of terrorism on the United States, then those weapons should not be used. Weapons of war can be said about every other weapon out there, if they fall into the wrong hands, then a lot of people could be hurt, and bad things could occur.
This article is rather frightening to me. It is even more frightening many citizens that are guarded by a military police system. Perhaps this is part of the issue, we all are. The only difference is the size of the target on our backs. As a white, middle class male, I fear police to the extent that they are rude/inconvenience me. However, we see many citizens fear death by police, I do not share that fear. This is mostly due to where I live, the color of my skin and my social class. I see “blue lives matter” as an attempt to make the slaveholder to be a slave. They are all people with crosses to bear, some just happen to chose to send others to be crucified. It is not their fault though, right? It is not their fault for gunning down that 12 year old…he looked suspicious. I suppose being black falls into that category in their eyes. SWAT teams being on the rise are troubling, this means that the subgenre of law enforcement is expanding. I am not saying that we need less policing, just a better form of it. A less racially fueled and violent form of it would be alright as well.
I believe that I was aware of SWAT teams being used, for a majority of the time, on small, not even concrete, drug and weapon charges. However, I never knew that only seven percent of raids were actually on romanticized SWAT team scenarios! (hostage situation, active shooter, etc.) I do not like the idea that these special, heavily-armed teams are used for such minor reasons. I believe that they should be used for potentially lethal situations. I think that there is a place for special weapons and tactics for the police in America. Only if there are high-risk, active crimes being committed. The type of crimes that SWAT is popularly thought to be dealing with like the pre-mentioned active shooter situations, hostage situations, etc. I have no problem with certain officers going through a more combat oriented training and having some military-level equipment as long as they are only to be deployed in high-risk scenarios that average police cannot deal with. However, when it comes to minor drug raids or raids on suspicion of having a weapon that is when the waters begin to get muddy for me. I do not think that they should be deployed on rumors of small drug possession. Maybe, sometimes for raids dealing with a weapon depending on the said weapon.
The amount of SWAT raids a year is astounding. Per the article, most of the SWAT raids are for drugs or sweeps of houses and/or neighborhoods. Calling in the swat to sweep houses for drugs is a bit excessive, yet sometimes necessary. I feel that we should focus on calling the swat for more big, national issues, such as mass shooting, school shootings, bombs and bomb threats.
Years ago when people thought of SWAT it was because they were only seen when things were at their very worst, things were out of control, or when the police needed reinforcement. Today the number of SWAT raids is outstanding. I believe that since so many people are against the police right now, the police force is turning to the SWAT team more and more, to handle cases that the police used to handle. I only believe that the number of SWAT raids will continue to increase and not decrease anytime soon.
No matter what opinion anyone has I will always back up “blue lives matter” and “not all cops”. I understand that policies need changed and they have put cops under pressure. This pressure does cause them to react a certain way because they don’t want to lose their jobs. I have never worked for law enforcement but in class we watched the video that interviewed a cop and they talked about stop and frisk. The cop was push into doing more stop and frisks because people above him cracked down on it. This method has been proven to be over used and on specific people. This is just one of the examples of a situation a cop might be pressured into doing because of higher authorities. With that being said I also want to touch on the fact that not all cops are “bad cops” and just because the policies may need to change doesn’t mean their lives do not matter. The police are here to protect and serve and I believe they go into that roll with that mentality, not the mentality to abuse their power.
These statistics are alarming. 80,000 SWAT raids per year is shocking. As stated in the article only seven percent of raids are done for hostages, barricade or active shooters. Most raids are done to search drugs and it doesn’t seem surprising. J-Cole a famous hip-hop artist had his home raided by the SWAT because a neighbor thought he was a drug dealer. I don’t think equipping police with weapons of war on our streets to be a good idea. As we talked about in class it can have a big psychological effect on how officers think. Labeling things wars, and arming police officers like soldiers will make living in America scary. For some more than others. There are already so many injustices happening to U.S. citizens and giving officers these kinds of tools/weapons will only make it worse. But, sadly I don’t think anything will change. With so many mass shootings happening in the recent years law enforcement, and some of the public think that arming police officers with better weapons and equipment is necessary.
I have visited other countries and witnessed police and military on the streets with machine guns. It was very concerning, intimidating, and in a way authoritatively terrorizing. I felt fortunate that I did not live in a county that enforced laws by the military or militarizing police. To date, I have never witnessed the police strolling about local city streets with machine guns “keeping the peace.” The trends outline in this article describe what may soon be coming to a neighborhood near me . . .. I am very alarmed by the statistics, and I would be even more alarmed if I were a minority. Militarizing police will only increase violent encounters as the police will rely more on weapons and less on communication to keep peace. We need community policing not machine gun wielding police officers with attitudes. We need to trust law enforcement not be terrorized by them.
While reading the words “serve and protect” and thinking of the police, I just wonder what the police have turned into. I think about these words and think are the police there to serve and protect their communities. Looking at statistics at the end of the reading, I find it crazy that 62% of the SWAT raids involve drugs while another statistic shows that 50% of the victims in SWAT raids are black or Latino. The purpose of the SWAT is to respond to hostage, barricade and active shooter situations. Another statistic shows that only 7% of all SWAT deployments are for hostage, barricade, or active shooters. Knowing the purpose of SWAT and looking at the statistics show that the SWAT is turning into something else. 30 years ago there were only 25.6% communities with SWAT teams and now that has increased by 80%. This is a huge jump just by 30 years. I find it crazy looking at the statistics and seeing that more than half of SWAT raids are for drugs.
Honestly when I looked at the stats the first time I was confused on why hostage situation was only 7% with everything going on today with multiple situations of having active shooters in school it would be higher then what it is. it is very alarming to know that there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country and that 62% of all SWAT raids involve a search for drugs and that only 35% of the time officers do not find anything. These trends say in my opinion that we the people are under attack from resources that we pay for and have to protect us are being used excessively for all the wrong reasons I don’t think that police officers should have all of the resources that militaries have soldiers are not the same as police officers ! no I do not think it is a good idea for so many police officers to have access to these weapons some officers maybe but only if they have the proper training and are mentally and physically able to handle them officers who can be trusted and ones who are respected.
A couple of points here i would like to address here. First off, if you compare the year 1980 and today. We as a country went from 3,000 SWAT raids to 80,000 SWAT raids. SWAT was only for hostage, barricade, and active shooter situations. It has escalated to much more than that. Things such as targeting homes for drugs is one major change. It all focuses back to the topic of targeting black and latino people. Another important thing to look at is how all of the protective gear that is worn by SWAT teams were only originally used for counter narcotic and counter terrorism operations. Look t todays world, it is used for almost anything. It is as if the gear is being used just to look cool or just to use it. Just like the article says, the gear is used for strikes and protests and other similar things. This in turn is where we are and what the article is called, “The war on the streets.” In my opinions, i feel we have become so scared of people on the streets because of our own prejudice and racism. We created this beast that is social and racial division. That is why we have gone from 3,000 to 80,000 SWAT raids a year. All because of fear of the public that was created by the criminal justice system itself.
This article was very interesting to me because when I was 12 I was at a friends house. We were about to have dinner when all of a sudden about 12 SWAT members busted in their door telling us to get against the wall and don’t move. As we were faced against the wall SWAT begin to go thru the whole house turning tables, cutting open couches, smashing pictures off the wall. That was my first experience with the police in this type of way. One thing I want to mention that in the article are the phrases “serve and protect”and “search and destroy”often times officers that I encounter with are more focused on the search and destroy part then the serve and protect part. It’s crazy how this 1033 program financed a lot of money for resources for the police department which runs in the millions and we still need plenty of resources for proper education for our children. Knowing how the slave patrol came about and the purpose they had, and now looking at our present time and how our police force operate really is not so different then back then. All states should follow Utah and start keeping record on how SWAT is used in the community.
These statistics did in fact alarm me because I was unaware at how invasive the SWAT team is becoming. When I learned that more than 100 American homes are invaded everyday, I was shocked. Also, the images provided in the article make the streets look like a war zone, therefore, the title is very fitting. It is sad to come to terms that this is what modern day civilization has come to. At one point in the article, the SWAT team and the police force in general were defined as a “domestic army”. This makes me not only wonder, but worry about what the police force will look like in the future and how quickly things may escalate.
As a United States citizen, these statistics on police officers today, in fact do alarm me. I say this because, there is definitely more efficient methods to handle violent situations, rather than have swat teams handle them for us. In reality, these trends (statistics being shown) will not benefit to society as whole, both in the eyes of the people and the police themselves. With that being said, when police or swat teams are seen on the internet brutalizing and ignoring peoples rights this will only add fuel to the fire. As well as, these statistics depict that the United States is relying heavily on swat teams, more and more every year. For instance, “in 1980, there were approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the United States. Now, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country”. These numbers are very astonishing, especially when in fact swat teams were only suppose to be utilized for narcotics and hostage situations, but in today’s world they are used for almost every situation. Even when looking at these numbers, guns play a very key role on how and why these statics are effected. On one side I agree with police having the resources to use weapons of war on our streets, however at the same time I disagree. I agree with this because, police should have the ability and means to handle any situation, such as a school shooter or terrorist plot, ultimately being prepared, rather then unprepared. On the other hand, I disagree with this because these guns and “weapons of war” cost US citizens a lot tax payer money, when in reality this tax money can be utilized and benefited elsewhere (like free college).
I would like to say I’m surprised by these stats, but I’m not. At this point it looks like police are just looking for an excuse to get fully suited up and raid something. Sadly, I have first hand experience when it comes to a police raid. When I was about 14, I used to work for my uncle in auto repair shop, organizing his inventory and cleaning around the shop. I was aware that there were some illegals working under him, but not one of them were the criminal type. They were all just looking for an honest way to make money. One day, while I was sweeping some leaves out of the lot, a caravan of black SUVs rolled into the lot and men pulled out with their guns pointed telling everyone to get on the ground. Everyone was handcuffed and started taking names, to separate the citizens from the illegals. Being a 14-year-old, it shook me to my core to have a gun pointed at me. To this day it annoys me, how they treated me because they thought I was an illegal immigrant. They wouldn’t let me speak or move. But one thing specifically made me sick to my stomach, while I was looking around I noticed a few of the uniformed men, just talking and laughing as if they were a bunch of coworkers “shootin’ the shit” at the water cooler. That scene is forever stuck in my head. But I digress. These trends paint a pretty vivid picture about how we live in America having to worry about being scared by the people who we thought would protect us. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have police armed with so many weapons, but it also depends on the scenario.
I think these statistics a reasonable especially of how the relationship between law enforcement and citizens has got so bad. It seems like swat teams are used more often because there are better trained and better equipped and who they end up being called to deal with is based on an ethnic demographic based on where most crime is reported. the least shocking statistic to me is that 79% of SWAT are used for households. The reason being is that domestic disputes are the most common type of crime and one of the more dangerous What it says about America is that law enforcement is upgrade so it is able to take on criminals who are more better equipped. It also shows the trend that police don’t take crime in America lightly. I do not think it is a good idea for them to have weapons of war but at this point in time I think they don’t have a choice since things are so out of hand.
These statistics regarding the SWAT invasions were certainly alarming and in my opinion unnecessary. At this rate, it seems as if the Police are simply morphing into another form of SWAT and that isn’t necessary. We have a simple Police force to enforce the law among civilians but a SWAT team is only necessary for heavier situations, there’s no need for them to practically be the same. It’s a rather unnerving thought to know that “100 American families have their homes raided by SWAT teams every single day”. This alone is concerning and the fact that the weapons of war are now starting to become within the possession of the Police does nothing to assure safety. Lest we forget the “50% of victims of SWAT raids are either Black or Latino” which is incredibly biased and dangerous. Police are supposed to be able to set aside their bias to deal with crimes of any kind or color and if they aren’t even able to do that much, then how can we trust them to handle more dangerous weapons? It’s life-threatening. I do not believe that the Police having these weapons is a good idea.
Before we entrust the Police with these weapons we first need to solve the problem at hand that we already have. We cannot create another problem before solving the one that we already have, if that’s the case then we’re only making matters worse. Fixing the bias within our Police officers is one thing but then giving said biased Police officers weapons that carry heavier impacts is another.
These statistics are crazy. I honestly had no idea that the raids of the SWAT team in the Untied States became so high. The statistic that caught my attention the most was 100 families in the U.S. get their homes raided a day. It blows my mind. I think the rest of us Americans should know when a SWAT raid takes place. The thing is if this were to be on the news, I feel that there would be more protests and fights. I believe that our world is too fast at making assumptions off of these tips. Its making Americans feel unsafe and uneasy in their own homes. I understand the argument of if these people who are being raided shouldn’t be scared and let these police do their job because if they’re not doing anything wrong they have nothing to worry about. I still think its a little harsh.
After reading this article. I have to say that while some statistics were surprising to see, I have to say sadly that I’m not completely shocked by them. All one has to do is turn on the news or go to social media to find all the stories they want revolving around the police and horror stories surround them. I think a terrible side effect of having such large and continuously growing cities is the fact that the community police are no longer able to be on a name basis with the people they serve. This militarization of policemen and women is a shining example of this, where the faces of the community they’re effecting turns out to be simply numbers to them instead of names to faces with families. Police who make an effort to talk to and befriend those they serve is a great way to help not just the community feel safer and have more trust in the law enforcement, but it also would help the police make better decisions themselves. It’s much harder to decide to shoot somebody when you know them on a name-to-name basis, for instance.
The police should be there to serve and protect, that’s what the ideal is, what is taught in schools. Children don’t grow up wanting to be police officers because they want to be the person that ruins people’s lives. This concept of police being “agents of repression and/or ‘revenue generators'” is completely terrible, but sadly, it actually is how the world is changed in many places. With how we’re living in such a broken world, where we can’t even trust those tasked with our protection, it’s no wonder that some are turning to try and protect themselves with their own firearms. Everything is cause and effect, and it’s going to take a lot of change and hard choices to break the cycle.
These trends of transferring the weapons of war into hands of police says a lot about what it means to live in American society. Society is allowing and is perfectly fine with police handling weapons that normally SWAT only uses. Society is trusting the police to only use their weapons if necessary. In my opinion, I do not think that the police should have these weapons that are meant for war in their hands. Coming from a African-American and Puerto Rican family we already have people labeling us with all the typical stereotypes. We are already more targeted by police because we are a mixed family.
These statistics don’t surprise me at all. In the times we are living in everyone is offended by and afraid of everything. Yes the amount of swat situation have increased,I know that this is not always the case but if you have done nothing wrong then you should have nothing to fear. To live in American society today is a place that is called safe, but needs its police to have military grade weaponry. There are good and bad points to this, one the situations that do turn out to be real and have drugs, guns, or other illegal items have been dealt with and are no longer able to do harm to a community or individual people. For the other percent of the time that the situation turns out to be just a hunch or fake, people get theirs houses damaged or even the death of a person. To say that there is no good coming out of this increase in swats and militarization of cops would be very wrong, but there certainly is a lot of bad that comes with the little good that comes from this.
Personally, these statistics do not alarm me. There are many factors not looked at about these wrongful swat raids such as did anyone in the house have a criminal record and be involved with some suspicious activity or was the swat team called wrongly because of false information such as this dangerous prank that went around known as swatting. we also need to take into account what types of people we might be facing when the swat team is called. If a suspected drug dealer is the person in question, nobody knows what could be behind the closed door. it could be men with shotguns, dogs trained to attack on command, or any number of different situations.
Another idea mentioned in the reading is the use of these military grade vehicles and weapons in public gatherings and peaceful rally’s, yet many of these gatherings have turned violent. many have turned into raids full of destruction and disturbing the peace. many places such as Ferguson required this kind of equipment to handle the situation that went down on the streets those nights. i do agree with what this article is trying to say, the police are beginning to lose sight of what their real job is, and begin to abuse power, but to who ever wrote this, i feel i have to agree with what the comedian Bill Burr has to say about many of theses situations: “they go to ‘i’m right .com’, they memorize all this useless statistical information, and they just spew it….. even if it doesn’t apply.”
I think that it is a very bad idea for police to have access to weapons of war on our streets. The definition of war is “a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state.” I instantly zeroed in on the words “armed conflict” and that is exactly what is going on, except, not really? Let me explain, there are two armed sides, and they are in a state of conflict, they just aren’t going after each other. There are citizens in the United States who can definitely be considered irresponsible or illegal gun owners. Basically, people who use guns to kill, injure, and/or threaten others. These types of people are dangerous and need to be removed from society in order to maintain public safety. One would think that these are the types of people that police would be going after. Unfortunately, only “7% of all SWAT deployments are for hostage, barricade or active-shooter scenarios.” What could the other 93% of all SWAT deployments possibly be for if not to go after actually dangerous people with guns? People who either don’t have guns or are responsible gun owners. There is a war happening, police vs. people who pose a threat to innocent people. Unfortunately, instead of going after each other, they are both attacking mostly non-violent United States citizens for doing things like going to school, or peacefully protesting, or being accused of having illegal drugs. One of these groups, however, can be controlled more easily than the other. We can’t stop the flow of weapons to criminals, it’s just impossible. We can control the weapons being handled, and the crime-control strategies being used by the police, though. Our current strategy is to fight fire with fire, and everyone is just getting burned. By increasing that 7% of SWAT deployments to situations where military forces are actually needed, and decreasing the 79% of private homes that are SWAT raided, where I’m assuming that there isn’t a large amount of innocent people in serious danger of being killed, we can turn this “war” into one where the 2 opposing sides are actually going after each other. The “war” that is happening in our country cannot be ended, and more mostly non-violent people will be harmed.
The statistics about the increase in SWAT raids since 1980 are shocking. Knowing that the SWAT raids have increased that much is also concerning to me. I originally thought that SWAT was still mostly being used for its original purpose most of the time. Seeing that SWAT’s original purpose is what they are now being used for the least shows that they are becoming larger and more involved in smaller crimes. The way that SWAT is raiding hundreds of people’s homes daily is shocking and explains why many people are more afraid of law enforcement. With the way SWAT are trained to enter houses, it is reasonable to believe that many peoples homes are being torn apart while they are searching for drugs or weapons which are not even found 35% of the time. The other most concerning thing is how the police are essentially being made into an army with the weapons they are being given to use against citizens. Unless it is expected that the situation is dangerous to other people there should not be need for unnecessary force by SWAT teams or other law enforcement with military grade weapons.
I think these statistics show how biased the system is. Is sad that 50% of the victims are either black or latino. Why is there a need for excessive force towards the black and latino people.? These statistics are very alarming especially the statistics of the raids on private homes. I don’t think the SWAT team needs to be going to homes and raiding them it should be the police. I do not think the police should have weapons of war. I as a black male do not feel safe with the police having these weapons on the street.
These statistics were certainly out of the ordinary and unexpected. With the statistics that were showed to me, I can arguably say that I have not one clue what the main job of a swat team is. What I mean by this is, is the SWAT team meant to protect or to raid houses that contain harmful substances whether it’s drugs, guns, etc. With these trends, it is clear that American society is dangerous to live in nowadays. Some places may be safer than others but overall you never know what could happen no matter where you live whether it’s in the suburbs, projects, or a rural area. I personally don’t have an opinion on whether or not I think it is a good idea for police to use “weapons of war” on our streets as well as to be used on our citizens.
These statistics do seem alarming because it seems like the new police look is to look like a military. They are basically a SWAT team. The statistics about the SWAT teams where in 1980 there were 3,000 raids in the U.S. compared to now having 80,000 SWAT raids this year is very alarming. Also the statistic about how “100 American families have their homes raided by SWAT teams every single day” is amazing to think about. Police and SWAT teams look like military these days and its alarming to think that at any moment they are ready to attack regardless of what the crime is. I feel like the police take advantage of the authority they have and seeing that the weapons the police use are becoming the weapons use at war is something that needs to be seen. I don’t understand the point of having police have weapons that are used in war to be used on American citizens. It does not seem like it is necessary because a simple arrest could escalate into something worse because of the weapons they have on them. I do not think it is a good idea for police to have these types of weapons.
The statistics from the “War on the Street’s” are very alarming. Just from looking at the photos that were displayed on the website, the police look like an armed military force ready to gun down whatever and whoever gets in their way. One major statistic that stood out would be “The Guardian, the 1033 program has provided 12,000 bayonets, 5,200 Humvees and 617 mine-resistant ambush protection vehicles (MRAPs) to local police agencies across the United States.” This is alarming because all of these agencies need weapons and such to defend themselves, but 5,200 Humvees and 12,000 bayonets seems a bit excessive. One other comment that stood out to me would be “With that, local law enforcement reveals signs they are evolving into a domestic army. ” This is somewhat true in my opinion because of the vast amount of weapons that are being distributed to policemen. One statistic that was on the bottom of the article was also pretty interesting in my opinion, “50% of the victims of SWAT raids are either black or Latino.” This is a super important stat because if the officers that are invading the victims homes have racial biases against Latino or black people, there could be some big problems if those opinions are negative. Policemen and SWAT members should not have biases against other races because it could affect their performance and possibly lead to deaths if things get out of control. Weapons are being deployed to policemen so rapidly that if an officer gets aggravated with someone, they could just discharge their weapon whenever they want if they are feeling that it is needed, there should be some restrictions on the amount of guns that are distributed amongst police officers.
The most alarming thing about these statistics to me is how much time they put into drug raids. The one statistic says that 62% of the raids are dealing with drugs. I think they are spending too much time worrying about drugs and should worry about more important things. They should be focusing on more important things such as terrorist and the mass shootings we have been having lately. There has also been a big increase in weapons provided to the police for war on the streets. I believe the police should have all these weapons because just in case something happens we expect them to be the ones to jump into action. Although I think they should have all these weapons I think they are too quick to use them. They should only uses these weapons if they really need to or if the citizens are getting out of hand. I believe the police are too quick to use their weapons on citizens. Such as the big peaceful protest such as Ferguson ,Mo. Those citizens were not doing anything wrong and the police were getting violent with them. Looking at all the statistics of the swat raids and how many there are its hard to believe that this is going on in the land of the free.
The SWAT team raids and conducts operations that a regular beat cop isn’t trained for. There are situations such as drug ring busts, gang raids and warrant pick ups that can be extremely dangerous. The primary weapons that are used are non lethal and only resort to deadly if all other options have been exhausted. I see no issue with the use of non lethal such as: tear gas and bean bags that are deployed from a shotgun. The assailant is more inclined to cooperate and deadly force is not needed. Yes , he statistics seem like a lot but understand that the the operations being conducted are for a good reason. Do mistakes happen? are some individuals in the wrong? of course but ultimately the use of SWAT/counter terrorism is important, especially in bigger communities. This isn’t just using weapons on civilians, there is very much a war on our home front, whether it be for drugs, terrorism or just highly violent criminals. SWAT is needed.
SWAT teams were put into place to help everyday people in situations that need to be detonated. Drugs are not one of those situations and the statistics following this with the amount of raids that are occurring having to do with the search of drugs and weapons is out of control and something more people should see. While having a SWAT team is a great idea, there are some flaws. If the invasions could be anything like they appear on any crime show, then that would be more useful of the tax payers money. This issue is something more people should become aware of. Police and SWAT team members have an extreme amount of authority that should not be abused in the sense of home invasions for anything short of a extreme situation without a warrant. Not only the amount of authority they obtain, but the amount of trust the we all hold in them. If there is any sort of problem, the first people we want to help should not be the same people we fear barging into houses everyday. Awareness needs to be raised and action needs to be taken.
After reading the post “War on the Streets” I am amazed at the statistics showing how police use their excessive force on civilians as if we were the opposition. From the amount of SWAT raids in the 80’s until now has risen 267%. As much as I was amazed by these numbers I am not surprised. From my point of view, I see how people of inner cities are treated and how these trends are becoming more popular now that social media has played it’s role by capturing home videos of SWAT invasions. Now that technology is constantly advancing, we are building weapons that can wipe civilizations off the face of the earth. My question is why? Why do we need to go to these extreme measures? I am proud to be a citizen of the United States but I don’t like the fact that we have to boast about the power and weapons that we have. I do not think it is a good idea for police to have access to deploy these weapons.
Do you think it is a good idea for so many police to have access to/deploy weapons of war on our streets? (to be used on U.S. citizens)?
After reading the text, I believe that it is not necessary for police officers of any nature to use or deploy weapons out on the street that are used in foreign countries. The wars that the United States are involved in, are much more diverse and most definitely different from we as Americans live with on a day to day basis. As a country we have our crime and deaths, as well as day by day issues, but the problems that our officers, swat team members, and state officials deal with are no where near what our soldiers in the services deal with. None the less, the police officers and other officials do not get the extensive training that the military spends millions of dollars on to protect our citizens from harmful disaster. On the streets of any city, I firmly believe that we do not need the tactics of war, or the instruments they use. I do believe however, that we have serious encounters that need personnel with extensive training, such as armed robberies, kidnapping or hostage situations, etc, but in all honestly, still under those circumstances there is no need to deploy military grade weapons. With the election of the president, and the riots throughout many cities and county’s, there are ways to take the harmful matter off of the street. It takes two to fight. If our officers do not fight, but rather see illegal activity and take in the suspects, the matters would settle down. I understand a suspect flipping out over an arrest and the offices protecting themselves in any matter necessary, but that also brings up a controversial topic of officer brutality. Officers have the right to protect themselves when they are put in a matter of harm or death. I can not comment on how much force they are willing to portray, because I have never been in the shoes of an officer held at gunpoint, or shot at by an offender. Yes, at that point they have the willpower to do what they need to do to keep themselves alive and return home to the family that needs them. At a certain extent, the deaths of innocent people, the brutal beatings for no reason is not tolerable and need to be dealt with by our justice system. Officers on a daily basis encounter many hazardous encounters, and near death experiences, but in all honesty our officers need to figure out right from wrong and only use force that is necessary to get the job done.
After reading this article, the data on the militarization of America’s police forces tells a very troubling story. Originally intended to be used in hostage, active shooter, and barricade situations, analysis of SWAT teams’ deployments show that 79% of their operations were spent executing search warrants in 2012. Of that percentage, 62% of those searches were drug-related. Another statistic that really struck me was that 50% of all victims of SWAT raids are either Black or Latino. Despite making up a small percentage of the U.S. population, it was troubling to think about SWAT teams being disproportionately called on minorities.
Regarding the discussion question that asks what an acceptable response would be to an unarmed individual running away from a police officer – Especially today, after seeing so many viral interactions of police officers with civilians, many are quick to judge the actions of police officers, failing to consider every factor that caused the police officer to take that specific course of action. That is not to say that decisions made by those we entrust to serve our communities are always objectively right. As viral videos show, there are instances in which additional training would have resulted in a better outcome. The difficulty of a police officers job is shown with this: A situation in which a 5’8 150lb police officer is dispatched to respond to an unarmed civilian who is pushing 300lbs and is 6’2 clearly shows the logical flaw in what this question is really asking. Does this civilian pose a lesser threat to the officer solely because he does not have a weapon? Maybe, but does the risk that the officer is taking with his own life outweigh the unpredictability and possible fatal outcome that could arise from this encounter?
The drastic in crease in the use of such high speed units and equipment in the civilian world is both shocking and deeply concerning to me. Police militarization is a dangerous overstep of the government. It is a frightening day when the government doesn’t even need to implement Marshall Law to sustain military-level control of the population. I feel as though we have only just started this process of police militarization which could lead our nation down a questionable path considering the current state of our leadership. We can already see in the statistics above that this is a very productive and efficient way of suppressing certain demographics in our nation, and these numbers are continuously growing. I’m afraid to see what these charts will look like four years from now.
I am shocked at these statistics. The evidence is entirely overwhelming and I had no idea that these were commonly used tactics. In movies and TV shows you see SWAT teams everywhere for drama and effect, but to use them so commonly in real life is awful. The property damage is expensive and unnecessary most of the time according to the statistics. It is becoming increasingly more dangerous to be an American. The military grade weapons have no place on the street, especially when being used for drug raids and not an active shooter situation. The fact that only 7% of the SWAT raids were in response to an active shooter really surprised me. I had the notion that that was a main function of SWAT teams was to deal with armed shooters, not drug busts. Like most things in our country today, race is definitely a factor. To have half of all SWAT raids on homes of black or Latino families is not a coincidence. They are often portrayed as the “druggies” and the “bad guys” in the media, and that carries over to real life. Stereotyping is a problem, and this is a major example of it. Even SWAT teams seem to target POC. This is an issue I hadn’t really thought about before, but it is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
The statistics shown overall are shocking. The dramatic increase of raids from 30,000 to 80,000 since 1980 is surprising. The statistics also point out how blacks and Latinos are the main target for a majority of these raids and when comparing this statistic to most raids being about drugs and illegal substances this is not shocking. Police are stereotyping groups to have more involvement in this behaviour and are not always accurate. One of the most dramatic statistics illustrated in this article is the one that states out of all of the SWAT raids 36% of them do not find anything that is contraband. Its alarming that after the use of battering rams and gassing people out of their own homes, destroying them to try and find something, a large amount come out with nothing to show for it. This alongside of the statistic of over 100 families are raided by SWAT teams every day demonstrates with all the effort put into these scenarios not everyone is successful. It is shocking that when using SWAT forces only 7% actually are for hostage situations which people tend to think of more when they think of SWAT teams. This low percent adds into the refocusing on drugs and drug busts than on other uses for SWAT.
I have to wonder if the prominent military culture of the United States plays a role in the increase in usage of counter-terrorist level equipment by the police. The military is likely among the mot respected institutions within the country, and their usage of such equipment overseas is lionized, seen as a necessary deterrent against potential threats. The police, although more divisive, are similarly popular in a number of circles, as they are seen predominantly as the keepers of the peace, risking their lives to keep us safe. And, just like with the military, their usage of such equipment is seen as justified against potential threats. But such a view overlooks the practical difficulties in implementing such weaponry in domestic policing when compared to military usage. The most obvious being, of course, that overt military threats are simply far less likely to occur in domestic cities, essentially rendering much of the equipment as entirely overkill. The implementation of this equipment also comes at increased cost, and it gives another violent tool to the police, who have themselves shown how such power can be abused. All of this, likely, in order to satisfy largely baseless fears about the “war on the streets,” in spite of crime rates being at their lowest in decades.
The increase in raids from the 1980’s is tremendously unsettling. The shift in raids related to hostage situations to the search for illegal substance has greatly influenced the types of people who have encounters with SWAT teams the most. These people are not surprisingly Latinos and Blacks who are falsely associated with possessing illegal items. It is also alarming to learn that the communities are being raided, yet the actually stats show that very few of these raids end up with SWAT teams actually finding anything. It’s no wonder that there has been a drastic shift in attitude towards those in law enforcement. It’s even more alarming to learn that only 7% of SWAT team operations are for hostage situations.
According to the article, the SWAT organization is used to react to an active shooter who hostage citizens. The current statistics shown in the article does not include what the SWAT team is used in America, now. These statistics presented is alarming, however it’s not too shocking. It states that nationwide the police are taken for a greater level, they are converting to the military. I think this does not really surprise me because I felt like society knew this was bound to happen someday. Because, technology has been advancing, you would assume authorities would be broadening the governmental scope. Though, it fears me because our society cannot live without the police making crimes feel similar to a war zone. It also fears me that the police would abuse their power to higher level.
These developments do alarm me because the article states that, “Now, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country.” It is dishearten to read that over the many years that has passed, the SWAT formation has significantly changed. Instead of utilizing how the standard SWAT team was designed, it is inevitable that even local police will use the team as violently raiding homes of people. Many families and individuals will be put to current danger in many communities. Those statistics are alarming and activating these higher authorities and local levels to a military status is definitely a dark and contradiction towards everyone in America.
I was very surprised to read about how often the SWAT team raids people’s homes and especially how much these invasions increased over the past 20 years. I think of SWAT teams only getting involved in the most serious of matters, not only just to execute a search warrant. People should not be treated like criminals and have their property damaged just because they are only suspected of a crime. After learning more about systematic racism, I was not surprised that the majority of houses invaded are owned by Blacks and Latinos. It is true that not all cops are bad, but I see how this argument ignores the problem and does not solve anything. I think a SWAT team’s involvement should only be for dangerous situations and as an option of last resort.
I think these statistics are definitely alarming. I feel the one statistic that stuck out most to me and really made me think was that in 1980 there was approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the U.S. and now there are more than 80,000 per year. That just really blew my mind and kind of opened my eyes how things have change so quickly between that 36 year time period. It is also crazy how more of the SWAT raids were for drugs than for hostage or shooter scenarios. The fact that weapons are now used for other people’s use rather than just war can be a little alarming if put in the wrong hands. The fact that more than 100 families get their house raided everyday is crazy, personal I feel unless it is 100% necessary not all these families need their house raided by SWAT, if the reason for getting their house searched is not too extreme then the police can do it, SWAT should be used for extreme problems and scenarios.
It is definitely alarming to see that weapons that were created for war are being used not in war zones but in our own country. The United States has a problem with the fight between law enforcement and minorities. I must admit that I did not notice this problem until the riots in Baltimore when it was right in front of my face. To me the police were always the good guys, they were the people there to protect us. However, that is not always the case. I do like the fact that this article also focuses on the fact that not all police are violent and brutal. Most police take their job seriously when it comes to protecting everyone. I unfortunately was not surprised when I read that 50% of SWAT victims are black or Latino. This is something that has become so evident in today’s society, the fact that blacks and Latinos are discriminated against even if they have done absolutely nothing wrong. The most surprising fact to me was that 100 families have their homes raided by SWAT every single day. I feel like if it is necessary for a house to be searched it should not be done by a SWAT team unless need be.
The numbers given in this article were very alarming. It is very interesting to see how the SWAT teams are deployed, and in which circumstances. It is strange to me that 62% of all SWAT raids involve searching for drugs, while only 7% are for hostage or active-shooter scenarios. I would like to think that they are trying to be preventative of anything happening and the whole “rather be safe than sorry” argument, but these numbers are too skewed to hold up. These numbers show, clearly, that searching for drugs or having an inkling that drugs may be on the premises, is more important than intervening when there is an active shooter on a property or a person being held hostage. I question if a full SWAT team should even be involved if it is simply involving drugs. Unless the people involved are deemed dangerous, why is a SWAT team deployment even necessary? It is alarming to see that in almost 1/3 of all raids that occur involving the search for drugs, no contraband is found by the police, as well as no weapon is found when there is suspected to be one. These numbers are alarming and should be brought into question as to how we are using our SWAT teams, and how effective their deployments may or may not be.
It is shocking to find out just how many SWAT teams are called in to action every year. Furthermore, it is also concerning that they usually target minorities more often than whites, but this does seem to, unfortunately, tie in with the racial bias of law enforcement as a whole. What I find most interesting about the militarization of law enforcement though, is how average streets can parallel those of active warzones. Large, armored vehicles simply do not belong on any residential street in America and the fact that police forces across the country have access to them is quite threatening. I fear that in the near future all police departments will become similar to small militaries which may stifle protests in the name of security. Additionally, I believe that due to law enforcement’s militarization, more violent clashes will occur, especially in minority neighborhoods where over-policing is already common. Ironically, many more lives might be put at risk, rather than protected by militarizing the police. Furthermore, by transforming the way law enforcement works, the government has also jeopardized the rights of every American citizen, yet they either do not realize it or do not care. No matter what though, I hope that this tide of militarization of the police reverses because in a few years many of the rights that we hold to be indispensable may be stripped away from all Americans.
It frightens me to think that one day, when I am grown with a family that a SWAT team could come streaming through the doors because my family and I are people of color. Seeing all of the videos online about these attacks only makes me not want to be anywhere near the danger that is happening. I used to not think twice about having a family here, and now I have to think about the world and if they are ready for me to bring children into it. This mindset is not something that all people have to worry about, but it is not something that should be discarded. What about all of the people who have already had children? What are they supposed to do? It makes me wonder if they had thought about before they had families to worry about constantly. The stats at the end of the article are not ones that are easy to accept because once you see it you cannot unsee it. I’m not sure what else can be said about this matter except that it is unsure that the numbers have gone up so high in these years.
America’s police are becoming militarized as seen in recent years. According to the article, the SWAT organization is used to “respond to hostage, barricade, and active shooter situations.” Statistics show that is not what the SWAT team is being used in America, today. The statistics presented in the article is alarming, not surprising. It shows that the police, all over the United States, to a great degree are becoming militarized. When we turn on our televisions, look on our smart phones and there is a demonstration taking place, what do we see in the background? Most of the time we see police officers in military grade uniforms, sometimes military vehicles in the background of the demonstrations. It makes me think that we cannot have civil demonstrations without the police making it feel that it is a war zone that they are patrolling.
Instead of using the SWAT for what is designed for, local police are utilizing the team for “suspected drug sellers” and violently invading homes of people where there is no clear and present danger to the community. It is minority neighborhoods are the ones being raided by the SWAT team. Moreover, it “is taking racial profiling and “stop and frisk: to a terrifying new level.” The article states, “In 1980, there were approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the United States. Now, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country.” It is disturbing to see that over 30 years how SWAT deployment has increased.
It is surprising to find the federal government has SWAT teams for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, N.A.S.A., Department of Education, US National Park Service, and Food and Drug Administration. What is the justification of having SWAT teams for these agencies, is the US National Park service afraid that a grizzly bear, from Yellowstone National park, will take a human hostage? Is N.A.S.A. expecting to deploy the SWAT team on potential aliens from invading the United States? It makes me wonder who is benefiting from the all of the creation of SWAT teams within these government agencies. These statistics are alarming and militarizing the local level authorities is, undoubtedly, having a negative effect on us as a nation.
The transition to police militarization has mainly affect poor minorities, due to the “war on drugs.” The war on drugs was created by the government in my opinion due to conspiracy and with the transition to police militarization the SWAT team has the authority to raid private homes. Living in a community where raids and police militarization heavily takes place I’ve experience a neighbor go through this traumatizing process. Due to assumptions of drug dealing, the block was completely shut down and the police was ready for war with heavy weapons out. The process and treatment that is faced by these families is horrific and for the benefit of the government. Now in days families are more afraid of involving the police than the actual crime that they are experiencing, we are more fearful of the police than actually crime.
Most shocking was the stat “62% of all SWAT raids involve a search for drugs”. What makes a drug bust so dangerous that a SWAT team but be involved? Are drug users statistically more prone to violence to the point where a militarized force must be used? I haven’t heard that. I think this speaks to a wider systematic issue that the War on Drugs has created in conjunction with long lived racism and classism here in the U.S. I think it is a slippery slope to deploy “troops” like the SWAT teams or even policemen in kevlar with shields and military grade equipment to protests like Occupy Wall Street. When does it stop then? Why not just enter a system of Marshall Law and have the military run everything. It is very 1984 (Orwell) to be surveilled constantly and have the police becoming militarized with actually military grade weaponry. This speaks to how the government views its citizens, how society is drastically shifting toward that of mistrust and misplaced power and how privacy is basically a thing of the past. If you ask me a search warrant can be carried out by policemen, unless it is a warrant to search the house of a suspected violent serial killer or bomb maker it seems a little excessive that a costly and militarized unit such as SWAT should be used in a now seemingly routine drug bust. I think this brings into question where government is headed in terms of control and how military spending and the focus on the military in this country is going to shape our society moving forward.
I can honestly say that I had no idea what the main purpose to SWAT was. From watching tv or movies I figured SWAT was only used when there were huge threats to a place like hostages or a threat of bombs or when someone is shooting up a place. From reading the stats, I see that their actual job is the lowest percentage to what SWAT has been called in for. The usage of SWAT has been increased to 80% and the majority of that is for raiding people’s home with the suspicion on them having drugs. The SWAT has been used as a regular police for like NYPD. And that should not be done. Why is SWAT being called in for protest? That makes no sense to me. Local police forces can handle things like that. There should be no reason for calling in a tactics team for some people with blow horns and signs. The fact that the government thinks its okay to call in SWAT to small towns shows that they want us to see that yes they have the power and we should fear them. The people should not fear their governments, the government is suppose to fear it’s people. Situations such as Ferguson with the shooting of Michael Brown showed how SWAT teams really come in and just throw things out of proportion, not saying that the people of Ferguson were right for destroying their town, but having SWAT there didn’t make things any better. I never really thought about any of this until this class because I guess it never really dawned on me that this is what was happening. But now that I see the information I am appalled by these numbers. In my opinion, because SWAT is always called in, this does not give local people the opportunity to learn how to handle things on their own because they rely on SWAT to do their jobs. That will never help anyone because local police are who we have to deal with and interact with on an everyday basis. Next thing you know, we’ll have tanks and police cars.
I agree. I figured that SWAT teams were only used in situations where there was a national or federal threat that needed to be dealt with immediately. The statistics are appalling. There is literally no good reason to send a SWAT team into a neighborhood or for minor things like suspicion of drugs. This is scary because it goes to show how the lines are blurred. Why should any American have to possibly endure the same feeling of threat as let’s say a terrorist? I was shocked as well when they sent a SWAT team into Ferguson. It was completely unnecessary. If anything, that kind of military presence made the community extra determined to fight for power. They ended up destroying their entire town. Had the proper authorities been used, that reaction wouldn’t have been so strong. Why should anybody have to fear their own government? It just doesn’t make sense especially in America, which is called the land of the free.
I thought that the statistics are definitely appalling, since they have so much unchecked power now against the people.
In a way, since 60%+ of our taxes go to the military, and since the police/SWAT teams are getting their new equipment from them, it is possible to see this as an increase in funding to suppress protests, to remove more and more minorities from society and into jails, and possibly even to just scare the population and keep everyone in line with the search warrant raids and display of power to stop future uprisings.
Combined with the ineffective training of police officers as we discussed earlier this semester, these military-grade weapons can really cause a lot of unnecessary problems and deaths in the country.
It is also possible that without the transparency laws, illegal actions by the SWAT teams can go unchecked in the same way the military’s actions overseas can go unchecked for a very long time.
New surveillance equipment such as night vision and infrared vision helicopters, the installation of cameras in more and more places (even trains now), as well as cyber-cops monitoring our online activities around the clock, the possibility that law enforcement will be able to access our phone’s information, plus the emergence of drone technology are all cutting away what is considered private space that is “not in plain sight.” This will make it more and more likely that a search warrant raid will be used against a person’s house, especially if the level of alertness and paranoia the military sees everything with carries over to our law enforcement.
The use of the SWAT teams can also possibly label and brand a whole neighborhood and even race as violent and evil, which makes it seem more to the public that this amount of force is required to deal with these people. This will probably get worse if the raids (or the aftermath of it) are publicized and glorified, which will increase the public’s support of the use of this excessive force, and validate the police’s presence in the area, which can really worsen the proportion of minorities being targeted.
It is also possible that like the wars in the Middle East, the people making money off of all these raids (the police departments, the defense companies that are selling their products to SWAT teams more and more) do not want this war on drugs to end, which may explain why many politician are against legalization and decriminalization of drugs. In other words, the SWAT teams and the endless war on drugs is too profitable for too many people to end, and it will conceivably become worse and worse as new technology is given to these cops and as more policies emerge to support this behavior.
SWAT: paramilitary police units originally intended for special situations that fall outside the capabilities of regular police, such as hostage and active shooter situations. But from 1984 to 2005 the rate of SWAT teams has raised in numbers from 26% to 80%, estimated percentage of towns with a population between 25,000 and 50,000 that have SWAT teams. And the stats continue to get high in prevalence of SWAT teams all over the nation. Personally, I had no idea about these rising stats in SWAT teams, the only place that I’ve seen SWAT teams were on movies, but I was very oblivious to the fact there is so much more prevalence in these SWAT team numbers.
The numbers clearly are showing that the use of these needed SWAT teams highly increased but what is the reason? Well, SWAT teams were initially meant to be in use for counter-terrorism/counter-narcotics, but now it is used for protestors, and on our local civilian population. This to me is very shocking. This is not making individuals feel safe but rather causing us to become more feared when we such intimidating SWAT teams on local streets. In other words, although these teams can be protecting us, it can also somewhat be freighting to the public when seeing men in ” S.W.A.T” uniforms with weapons and such.
The statistics are extremely shocking, knowing that many homes has been raided by SWAT teams should alarm everyone. The fact that the government has placed the SWAT team to be a fearing image instead of protective have caused a mistrust between citizens and the government paid officials. If the growth of SWAT team gets distributed into other government related organizations would better the environment a lot better, like U.S Fish & Wildlife service, N.A.S.A, Department of Education and etc. Another statistic that caught my attention was the fact that 79% of the time SWAT teams are deployed to private homes, why would a family need a SWAT team in their private business. If that statistic is true, can you imagine how many people have been harmed mentally and physically due to the fact that a SWAT team is in their home? Yes, drugs are dangerous and we want to see a decrease in that; how about poverty? Human trafficking? Climate change? Our education system? Inequality? Health Care? Gun control? Unemployment? Moral decline? And so many more, the list can go on. What they’re doing the protect Americans are great, but they should come up with a new tactic to do so.
FEAR: That is what they want us to feel. Is a SWAT team really necessary for a normal police call? The government has taught us to fear the police rather than feel protected by them. How can anyone justify an increase from 25% to 80% of SWAT team calls. How can you send heavily armed foot soldiers to people’s private homes and expect them to embrace the police and government. There is a clear reason why people are afraid of the police. It would make sense if the SWAT teams were actually deemed necessary, but the fact that they are only successful in 10% of drug raids is pathetic and embarrassing. Our citizens live in fear because of the constant threat of excessive police force coupled with a terror squad appearing at their very own door. Something needs to change and we must find a way to entrust our lives in the police again. Using force will not help and the only way to change this is to stand up for ourselves and our rights. No matter what race or religion you are.
I believe the creation of SWAT teams, is growing out of hand. No other states, except for Utah monitors how often SWAT teams are used. Instead of having more SWAT teams, why don’t we emphasize more of community policing to build a friendly relationship with residents and law enforcements? During the past few years, we see how excessive police force is used, due to lack of experience, cultural competency, training and sensitivity of a person or community. Our “democracy” is no longer a democracy. In a sense it feels like we are chess pieces in a game, awaiting to see what will the government do next. More cameras have been installed in both indoor and outdoor areas. At the same time, there are more crimes and accidents going on. If SWAT teams were effective or to focus on “high-risk” tasks, then why are so many civilians still hurt? According to one statistic, “62% of raids involve search for drugs”, what about gun violence, poverty, subway slashing, sexual assault, violence, robbery, theft or murder? There is a lot of money going into the military and SWAT teams, which theoretically may work or promote safety, but progress seems to be minimal or even worse. The implementation of the SWAT team, allows for the “very powerful” to rule people, but not allowing the people to participate in decision-making or exercise their basic rights.
SWAT was created for active shooters, hostage situations, barricades, and things of that sort. It’s mind blowing that nowadays, it’s treated almost like a police force with fancier weapons. This is exactly why so many people have such a mistrust of the police force, is it really necessary to have SWAT be deployed in regular community settings? The incredible growth of 25.6% of SWAT teams being deployed to 80% is absolutely crazy. Apparently, “79% of the time, SWAT teams are setting up in private homes.” Why do we need SWAT in these homes? Is deploying our police force on civilians not enough? Maybe this is why the police force is so trigger happy… Not only that, but it seems to way too common how SWAT teams are being used to raid homes to find drugs… and less than 10% of the time actual drugs are found? This shows an absolute waste of manpower, energy, and not to mention, terrorizes people and further induces the public’s anger and fear towards the police. This article was extremely mind blowing.
These statistics are just mind-blowing. Swat team are known to use specialized or military equipment and tactics. We know that the SWAT team is normally called in high-risk situations like bomb threat or hostage or even terrorist threats. Whenever the SWAT team is called into a scene is because regular police officers can’t handle it. For a SWAT team to be called into a private home for a search warrant for drugs is outrages. A lot of time innocent people get killed that live in the house as well. It is a very concerning issue because we know the SWAT team once in the scene they are there to end the problem and most of the time someone dies.
What do you think about these statistics? Do these developments alarm you?
The statistic that are given are very alarming to me even though I already knew this was going on. All of this started because of the war on drugs the government felt that using militarized police would solve everything but they were wrong. Swat should not be used in drug cases swat wasn’t created for that and drugs is a low level offense swat is for high risk offenses. Swat team are taught to think like there in the military so when they raid a home they get into nasty conflicts which the end results are not good.
Reviewing the charts and statistics of SWAT teams raiding are shocking. SWAT teams should have hard evidence on people having weapons or drugs in their homes before busting the door open and raiding the place. SWAT teams are supposed to protect citizens from important life threatening situations like bombings , not invade innocent peoples homes. How can citizens feel safe when this occurs. It should’ve been eye opening to see that most of the raidings they do , nothing is found.
The statistics are extremely alarming. It is unfortunate that once again race became an issue. Something that really alarms me is the militarization of the police force and SWAT team. I’ve heard about small towns that own tanks. What situation exactly requires the SWAT and local police force to use a tank? To dive deeper into this issue, you have to begin to talk about the deaths caused in SWAT raids. One that always sticks out to me is that of 7 year old Aiyana Jones, killed while sleeping during a SWAT raid. These stories are becoming too often now and the use of excessive force is once again taking center stage. Also I guess you can also say misinforming become an issue as well. Throughout this whole article I kept wondering what happens to the victims of accidental swat raids? This makes me so scared because it could easily happen to me.
In my opinion these statistics are very mind blowing. It’s hard to believe that the number of raids has increased so much in the years that have passed by. What is also hard to believe is that most of the victims that are affected by these raids are minorities. I feel that these raids are at times unfair because families that are innocent are highly affected. I believe that these developments are very alarming because they are increasing at an alarming rate and because these raids are not being used for their intended purpose.
There is many reasons why the SWAT team are the ones who are called in to deploy. The statics that are shown before is really surprising. I did not know that the percent of houses that get raid each year, especially in the United States have been increasing ever since the 1980’s. The percent of drugs that are found when a house is stripped down is ridiculous. I knew that there will be a big chance that statics will show a large amount, even the drug searches is a large amount. There is enough information here that has surprised me. I just believe before a SWAT team breaks into a home and do their work, they should make sure that there is something going down in a house before going in to action.
Back in the day around the 1990’s, the swat teams used to help out the neighborhoods and the people who were in need of help but once drugs came apart of the job they were out of control. I watched a documentary on Swat teams and there were some tragedies that had occur which were terrible. By these statistics, I did not know that it would be so high as the years went by. Last, I also believe that these police officers or swat teams shouldn’t have all these equipment as a military. That’s just ridiculous.
It is well known that after 9/11 tragedy police became militarized. American citizens wanted to be prepared better if anything like that would happen again. We want to make sure that the borders are protected, suspicious trucks and objects are searched, yet we react negatively as soon as it interferes with our daily activity. Where is that thin line? Where the protection and preparedness stop? We want the job to be done without having any interaction with the authority, and to have our lands protected from within without the use of military. If police is suppose to be community based, we assume that police could do the job of the military without becoming one. Impossible. Plus the drug searches can not be performed by a plain uniformed police. The traps, lead pallets and explosives in the light bulbs, hazardous chemicals and toxins can cause serious bodily injury or death. Those types of searches must be performed by highly trained and equipped personnel. According to professor of police studies Peter B. Kraska, since SWAT uses extreme response tactics “they actually fire fewer shots”.
Back in the day around the 1990’s, the squat teams used to help out the neighborhoods and the people who were in need of help but once drugs came apart of the job they were out of control. I watched a documentary on Swat teams and there were some tragedies that had occur which were terrible. By these statistics, I did not know that it would be so high as the years went by. Last, I also believe that these police officers or swat teams should have all these equipment as a military. Thats just ridiculous.
I didn’t expect the statistics of SWAT teams invading places to be so high. The developments do alarm me. Esspecially, the percentage of when they are deployed to private homes. 79% of the time is way too high! I think everyone should be aware of this because this is very serious stuff. People don’t want a whole SWAT team to come into their house out of nowhere. That’s scary.
After reading this both fascinating and interesting article I couldn’t help but think about the movie Captain America 2; there was a part where Captain America was talking to Nick Fury about a plan where SHIELD a government agency wanted to have anybody that had the genes or showed any signs that they could be a criminal or a terrorist eliminated before they could carry out their crime or terrorist act. Captain America felt that doing so was “Un-American” and taking away people’s rights but Nick Fury felt it was necessary. This article hits so close to home because me being a black male growing up in Paterson, NJ it’s easy for me to get stopped for no reason and questioned about “Where I’m going? Why am I going there? or What town am I from?” Til this day I still don’t understand how knowing why am I going to a certain place helping them or why they need to know that. I hear a lot of my fellow black and Latino friends often say “I hate cops or I can’t stand the police.” Articles like this explain exactly why we feel that way about cops. More and more of our rights are being taken away and it’s not fair specially to minorities.
I thought that this part of your website was very interesting but more eye opening than anything. Before reading these articles and statistics I did not know too much about SWAT. I knew that they were called in when there was a hostage or barricade situation, a drug bust, or simply when a situation was too much to handle by the police. I did not know that they were called in for political and other protests. This is concerning to me because SWAT teams are using numerous vehicles, weapons, and other warfare accessories to contain people who should not be targeted. From my understanding most political protests in the United States do not break out in a violent mob so I do not understand why SWAT teams that are equipped with weapons funded by the government stand by and wait to be called upon. SWAT teams as you said in your article are making cities dangerous places to live.
An interesting stat that stuck with me was that 35% of drug raids by SWAT end having drugs at the scene and ironically 35% of weapon raids by SWAT end up having weapons at the scene. So SWAT is telling us that 65% of the time they are completely wrong with their raids? That does not seem like a comforting percentage to me. Another interesting stat that stood out to me was that more than 100 American families have their homes raided by SWAT a day. That number seems way too high and makes me believe in most cases SWAT is looking for things that simply isn’t there.
Clearly, in regards to the raids, they were able to get a judge to sign a warrant because they had reasonable suspicion; that’s not the same as saying they had “evidence.” The raids very clearly are being conducted as a means to procure material evidence. But given, as you point out, that so many raids are being conducted that DON’T produce evidence, we have to take a step back and think about that. Because basically, we’re employing an incredibly risky, violent, and expensive asset, all on the whim of suspicions that statistics prove are wildly innacurate. So the question is: why do they do it? Or better yet, why do we let them?
Upon reviewing the percentages, and visually seeing the increase – it’s crazy. It almost seems that the concept of a SWAT team has been extended. As stated SWAT was for hostage/barricades/active shooter issues – but now its like a higher up police department if you will. It is alarming – all of this is super expensive. And not for nothing – only 7% found a weapon when they thought there’d be one – but i mean – who is to say its not necessary? i’m on the fence – its difficult because i want to ensure the safety of myself and my family – but it urks me when theres so much hostility toward the people who are trained to keep us safe and yet those same people have such hostility towards the citizens that they take an oath to protect. You had mentioned today in class that the institution itself would need to be revamped and started over – and no one wants to do that so it becomes an individual issue. i agree – i think a variety of ideas within the law enforcement branch need to be reevaluated because things that worked well 30 years ago arent going to work like they used to – the world changes and i dont think the changes are keeping up or meeting the needs of what is necessary.
It is absolutely horrifying to know that there are modifications that have been made that, instead of captivating and/or strengthening our society, are endangering and causing the harm in the city landscapes. It is with the violence and the evolving of “essential protections” that is what’s making the people doubt, or rather, lose trust in our government. The increase happening on the militarized borders such as lack of privacy and invasion of property has substantially generated a problematic space between “security solutions” and simple “friendly like” or “helpful” environments.I mean, even the from the boost in small cities: 25.6 percent of SWAT teams being deployed and now growing 80 percent MORE is absolutely appalling. Just to think that “79% of the time, SWAT teams are setting up in private homes” has genuinely made me recognize how our government isn’t using given “devices”, privileges and/or power toward intended function but toward innocent homes and families.
After reading the section entitled war on the streets off the web page I must say my reaction is one of more shock. I never really thought of police militarizing as a problem we are having currently. Granted I have noticed over the past years that the image of police is becoming individualized, Meaning that everyone has their own views on police based of where they are from and based off their experiences and encounters. I however didn’t realize of how often the police were raiding people with swat teams for drugs and not even finding any wasting time and man power. After reading about the war on the streets I was intrigued on what other tactics the police now use which only further militarizes them and I was shocked at what I found. The police really can have an eye on you every where you go from high ways to gas stations to street corners using cameras all over the place that are now installed. One thing that really blew my mind is how the police for crowds now have a humv with a satellite on top of it which is used to produce a sound frequency that will force large crowds of rioters and protesters to become discombobulated and loose form. Personally I think that’s just too much what happened to the constitution.
I am in complete shock at the amount of SWAT teams that we have here in the United States. What was a really shocker was the amount of SWAT invasions there are per day in America which came out to be 100. Just to think of something like that happening to me in my home is frightening. Some of the people who are being invaded for drugs and weapons and proven to be innocent and that really upsets me. Its so upsetting to hear about innocent people being accused of things they never did . SWAT teams and police are suppose to be here to protect us not bring more fear to us. When a police officer or SWAT teams invade privacy or instill fear on our citizens it causes a terrifying situation because we no longer have someone that can assure us protection.
Firstly, as has previously been stated, these statistics are incredibly horrifying! Secondly, however, I am finding it difficult to conceptualize this information. In this form this information is just facts on a web page. There are no names or faces attached. I cannot make an emotional connection. I have not had the ‘pleasure’ of such an encounter with local or national police. Finally, It is difficult for me to reconcile this information with my own ideas on how the police are supposed to conduct themselves. I fully believe that there are many officers who find it difficult to be passive. Yet, I have rarely witnessed anything other than a passive-aggressive if nonchalant attitude among “brothers and sisters in Blue”. Like many of us, the officers I have come in to contact with are at their daily grind and seek no pleasure or have any passion in their daily business. My only positive portrayal of police officers has come from movies and more so television.
These statistics provide a probing insight of how warfare, political violence, military and security imaginaries are entering the cities. It is very disturbing to see that SWAT teams were originally intended for use in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations so we can feel “safe” and “secure” and now they are being used against political protestors and other local civilian populations. In our need for safety and security we’ve allowed the weapons of war to enter our streets. This is the landscape of postmodern civilization, the new era of total security, governance, and control.
First of all, I would like to say that I love how user friendly your website is. Also, the images and statics you that you choose were very interesting.
I think that many of the statics are alarming. I personal think ever state should have to release the amount of times they use a swat team and should have to disclose whether or not they found what they had a warrant for. Our constitution and country was founded on check and balances and today, somehow, there are not many laws they help govern or even punish our government. If there was some way to monitor the use of swat teams, I believe we would still be using the swat team for its intended purpose. Lastly, I have no problem with technology and militarized policing, but only if it truly works and protects citizen. Our crack down on crime, drugs, and the advancement of technology and militarized policing only benefit the private owners for our prisons, not society.
Thank you, Dameon. I put a lot of work into this for my students, because I believe visual imagery is a key part of telling the story. Images can help us think through abstract concepts as we try to make sense of difficult topics in connection with conflict and violence. Visual imagery, in this respect, can be very powerful to the extent that helps translate what we are thinking and feeling, but might not always be able to express in words.
The thing that strikes me as odd is that why are the SWAT members raids need boots or explosive devices to get into the homes? I’m pretty sure that is endangering the people around the home (like the neighbors) and definitely the environment. People are not made to be around explosions, so I do not understand why the explosive devices are needed, if the SWAT members have a good amount of weaponry. How much money are the SWAT members even paying for those devices? Clearly, these devices should only be used for necessary instances only, like wars. Not home invasions with already armed SWAT members.
When I picture SWAT teams, movies and crime shows were the only thing that came to mind, they depicted the SWAT teams as hero’s and saving the day. I never even thought about terror and the complete invasion of privacy for those people who are innocent. For there being 100 raids a day I’m extremely surprised that we don’t hear more about them in the news or media, making it seem more acceptable and less of a deal than it actually is. The militarization of the police force is a slippery slope. The lines between the two should not be blurred, they are supposed to be there to protect and serve not threaten and fear.
I have never seen a SWAT raid but I can only imagine how terrifying it may be. The statistics are mind blowing. 100 American families homes are raided by the SWAT team everyday? This is not protection but invasion of privacy. Only 7% of all SWAT deployments are for hostage, barricade or active-shooter scenarios? The SWAT is suppose to be present during dangerous situations like hostage, barricade and shooting scenarios more than any other situation but the stats show that over 50% of the time SWAT teams are busting in homes and searching for drugs and weapons. I’m sure the police can handle half the things the SWAT teams are dealing with. As a child, having your door explode open and watch 20 people wearing SWAT vests running into your house with guns pointing at you is traumatizing. The idea of wanting to protect the civilians is great but they are overdoing it and it is hurting us more than anything.
I think these statistics are absolutely crazy. I really had no idea that the amount of SWAT raids in the U.S. were so high. 100 families in the U.S. get their homes raided a day was the statistic that really shocked me most. Its not right that we never hear about any of these raids on the news. If we did hear about the daily raids, I think there would be protests and law suits around the clock. What these raids say about our democracy is that they are quick to jump to conclusions based off of race or un-investigated tips. Sending in the SWAT team should only be an option in the cases they are actually trained for like live shooting; not family raids. Our democracy is making Americans feel unsafe in their own homes.
I didn’t include my last name in my comment…
Amalia Chasmar
It’s okay. I got it./s
After reading this article I was blown away with the stats of the SWAT teams since they are extremely high. We do not realize how much crime in coming into the country which means more protection. The increase of the SWAT teams is definitely because of the amount of crime that occurs. I thought it was a little crazy that the SWAT force themselves into peoples homes to search for drugs, I think that is a little harsh, but I do understand they are trying to keep the criminals out.
I believe that the statics are true because when I watch First 48 and the police raid into people homes they are almost always black or Latino. I also think having a SWAT team around is a good thing because people will feel like they are always being protected. But what really alarmed me was how the number of Swat Teams increased since 1982/1984.
I believe that the statics are true because when I watch First 48 and the police raid into people homes they are almost always black or Latino. I also think having a SWAT team around is a good thing because people will feel like they are always being protected. But what really alarmed me was how the number of Swat Teams increased since 1982/1984.
The statistics in this article of the SWAT teams are so high. We are not truly aware of the rising statistics of crime in this country. The number of SWAT in the US has dramatically increased. The fact that SWAT teams are forcing themselves into people’s homes with the intent to find drugs and/or weapons when they’re not certain is insane.
It amazes and embarrasses me that I was truly unaware that this many SWAT teams are here in the United States. All of the statistics in this article are alarmingly high. I know I am only one of the many Americans who have been in the dark about these statistics. It is terrible that it takes a situation as drastic as what is happening in Ferguson to occur for people to become aware. On top of it, even though the events in Ferguson are in the media, these statistics about the SWAT teams are not included and it still required farther research to learn.
It is quite disturbing that the police or swat are now more then ever barging into innocent civilian’s homes without any evidence, because they think that some family is breaking the law by having drugs or weapons in their house. It is very disturbing, since I was watching a video not so long ago about a guy who was broadcasting a video game live, and he had his camera set up so that his room was visible along with him. In that video, swat invaded his house, since they thought that the man was involved in some gang. The video was about nine minutes long, and through most of it they were harassing the guy, even though he did not do anything. It turned out that they got the wrong house, yet, the guy was attacked by them for no reason where as they did not do their job right in researching and locating the right house.
It shocks me that more families are being victims to this each year, and that the numbers on swat increased over the last decade. I think that having so much swat barging into homes or roaming the cities around does not limit crime rate, only it makes it slightly more difficult but it creates a whole new problem for the civilians. I think that the state of democracy that we live in would require tons of changes, since most of the things that are suppose to help civilians are now making our lives more difficult.
The reading about “War and Society” is something I just always known. When I look at these statistics it only just prove what I always believe was right. I grew up in the projects and I would see raids and nothing found. I would see children being traumatized over witnessing this stuff happening to their family and police not caring. It’s very alarming to me, and it worries me a lot because my daughter’s future is going to be very scary. These statistics just prove we don’t live in a democratic society. Those in charge just want us to be zombies I call it. They want us to follow their rules and life style. It’s just really scary.
What will hopefully be different for you now is to see how this type of violence is not random and without purpose; rather, it is part of an orchestrated system of institutinal violence. As you mention here, you have a personal biography that allows you to reflect on the problem of violence in a very personal way. There are other people, lacking this biography, that tend to see this violence in a different light, namely, as justified. Or they think (because this never happens to them) that people should willingly submit to police searches of their body, house, car, etc., because if they’re not doing anything wrong they have nothing to worry about.
The entry about “War and “Society” was very eye opening. I would never guess the statistics that were shown. I think the SWAT should stick to their original purpose as stated in the article which was to respond to hostage, barricade, and active shooter situations. They should have the local police deal with searching for drugs and if they need the SWAT they should contact them. If the SWAT is doing regular police work, who are the police going to call when they need higher enforcers. After reading this, I can see why people probably do not get along with the police and or SWAT teams. The SWAT come raiding with a lot of men and big weapons, all suited up. They are making a big scene, disturbing people and looking for drugs or weapons and in most cases they do not find anything. The SWAT just needs to go back to their roots.
This article, along with our reading by Stephen Graham, opened my eyes to the militarization of police that is occurring in our country and especially our cities. This has become so normalized in our culture that we just accept the fact that police exist in certain places to instill fear rather than provide protection and keep us safe. This realization is extremely unsettling to me because police hold so much power and if that power is used to attack and intimidate our citizens rather than protect them, then a very frightening situation is taking place.
The statistics that are given are alarming. Especially the one that says, “7% of all SWAT deployments are for hostage, barricade or active-shooter scenarios” since this was the original purpose of SWAT. This shows that SWAT teams are being overused and not for their intended purpose. They are invading peoples privacy and to think that in “1980 there were only approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the U.S and now there are more than 80,000 per year” is crazy how much has changed. This says a lot about the state of democracy that we are living in because instead providing safety and protection, “these developments have made our cities become dangerous places for everyone” and also a way of invading ones privacy.
The statistics that more than 100 American families have their homes raided by SWAT teams every single day is alarming to me. It was something I was unaware of. I think the frequency in which the SWAT teams are used and also where they are used says a lot about the state of democracy since the SWAT team is more commonly used for other purposes than what it was originally intended for. Rather than being there for protection in dangerous situations like hostages and active shootings the SWAT teams are now being overused as an invasion of privacy.
This is ignorant! Do you need a college education to become a Police Officer or SWAT official? Obviously Not! It needs to be mandatory for them to have major college coursework in anthropology, philosophy, sociology and to study abroad to be able to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. They are invading innocent people homes to start. As soon as they invade everyone is going down including babies and children. They threw a grenade inside of the wrong home and the grenade ended up in a baby’s crib and tore the babies mouth open. Now that is not someone with a normal mental state, that is a Swat that is sick and ill-willed. Let’s not mention the drug raids and who the REAL DRUG DEALERS are, and WHERE THE REAL DRUGS COME FROM. This is just the beginning can’t talk further there may be drones outside my door.
I’m not sure what you mean by “ignorant” in this case. Certainly, the behavior in question would suggest that what perhaps lies at the root of it is a lack of education, empathy, and understanding, which evidence-based research demonstrates is not emphasized in contemporary police training. The military model, a model that emphasizes masculine gendered qualities of toughness and strength as indicators of successful role performance, is a model predicated on the administering organized violence. Regrettably, however, this approach tends not to favor conflict resolution in problem solving, which might go a long way in mitigating violent encounters with the public.
After reading this and looking at all of the pictures it’s truly horrible to see these swat teams coming in to people’s homes because of drugs or weapons that the swat team feel they have inside there home. This is just so disturbing and I cant believe just how mean swat teams can be and how they can hurt poor innocent people for no reason at all!! In America it blows my mind how much of a big epidemic the swat teams and police are becoming. The fact that back in our parents time this problem of peoples homes getting raided by the swat teams was never an issue and now in 2014 more than “100 American families have their homes raided by Swat Teams every single day” is so crazy and I think it’s a invasion of people’s privacy. I feel that this type of behavior is very wrong by the police officers and the swat team and they should stop this immediately. Before reading this I never knew just how bad the Swat Teams really were so this article definitely caught my attention and I hope in the future things get better.
The development of these statistics definitely alarms me because more and more of people’s homes are being raided for “drugs” or “weapons”, when majority of the time the SWAT team finds nothing. I believe that SWAT teams should only raid homes for dangerous/violent situations. The police first should get a warrant for a search before any other bigger team steps in.
This type of behavior from SWAT teams or policemen show that they base a lot of these raids on someone’s race. The police force has become very stereotypical and racist when it comes down to them doing their job.
People are surprised because they expect the police force to handle their weapons and jobs seriously and to protect us, not hurt or have unnecessary behavior.
As a latino, these statistics alarm me as fifty percent of swat victims are black and latino. I haven’t personally noticed the realization of these statistics; however I don’t doubt that they could one day affect me or my family. Policemen are supposed to keep our country safe and not act as another aggressor towards the people. seventy nine percent of swat raids also occur in private homes. How are the American people expected to feel safe in this country when people with guns and military equipment are busting in through houses everyday?