Posted on 03/21/2006 5:52:09 AM PST by Carbonsteel
The recent killing of an unarmed Virginia doctor has raised concerns about what some say is an explosion in the use of military-style police Swat teams in the United States.
Armed with assault rifles, stun grenades - even armoured personnel carriers - units once used only in highly volatile situations are increasingly being deployed on more routine police missions.
Dr Salvatore Culosi Jr had come out of his townhouse to meet an undercover policeman when he was shot through the chest by a Special Weapons and Tactics force.
It was about 2135 on a chilly January evening. The 37-year-old optometrist was unarmed, he had no history of violence and displayed no threatening behaviour.
But he had been under investigation for illegal gambling and in line with a local police policy on "organised crime" raids, the heavily armed team was there to serve a search warrant.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Actually, Ronnie Cox was an Addison officer, and he was shot by Dallas tac or narcotics officers (don't remember which). I worked for DPD then. I don't think it was ever fully resolved, or ever will be. (What was Cox doing in the house, why was the entry team so quick to fire, where was the communication, etc., etc.).
A really bad situation, and it wasn't the last one, either. David Bromley was shot by fellow officers while in the back seat of a car trying to make a buy that turned into a robbery (they didn't know what seat he was sitting in), and Harold Hammons was shot by a fellow entry team member with a shotgun in a south Dallas raid.
There are very few good reasons for dynamic entry (life threatening emergencies, etc). Preserving a few ounces of narcotics as evidence is not a good reason, IMO.
It's those "100,000" new cops the Clintons gave us (many of whom are Clinton sycophants). Now that they're hired, they gotta justify their salaries.
Also, the money that didn't go to hiring went to all kinds of cool toys, courtesy of military surplus caused by defense downsizing. See how it all fits together so nicely?
....or someone wasn't getting their cut of the action
British police are also edging towards militarization largely in response to ethnic crime, though the number of minorities in Britain is still quite small.
Ronnie Coleman, the current Mr. Universe, has been called at various times a part or full time police officer. Lou Ferrigno just joined the Sheriff's department as a reserve deputy. I don't know if Lou still juices, it looks like he occasionally might. The organizations these two belong to don't seem to take anti-steroid laws very seriously.
All one needs to do is apply a careless mix of Multicultural, Multi-ethnic Affirmative Action and you get Turd World results...
Dress and arm these folks as "Swat Teams" and you have a recipe for disaster...
Semper Fi
Cox was hand cuffing one person at gunpoint (on the floor) and he got a full auto burst up the back. The number of rounds that hit him (5 if I remember) was not revealed until a year or so later.
Bromley was a bizarre case. The backup team was not paying attention to the situation and they fired into the backseat. The lady cop did good to roll out of the front seat.
Yes that may be it.
I remember we had something like that occur in our small town.
The local sheriff wanted a new hot DARE car so one of the deputies planted a bag of marijuana on the car of a local kid.
The cops looked sort of stupid driving around in a souped up car with DARE written on the hood.
Right On.
cops justify hard line tactics, body armor, and automatic assault wepaons because they have been killed before in the line of duty and face such violence, yet, more innocent people are killed each year by cops than cops have been killed.
It would be insane to say that we need hard line tactics, body armor, and automatic assault weapons to defend ourselves against cops.
We seriously need to cut back on these Army Ranger wannabees and thier killing of innocent people.
That does ring a bell now. Thanks.
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Gangs only get stronger when the community bans private ownship of guns.
An armed society is a polite society.
Not in my city. They are used to serve high risk warrants and anything where a weapon is involved and the incident allows for waiting and planning.
Then it sounds like your city is doing it right. Far too many aren't. Many small towns with little to no crime are receiving funding from higher levels of government to start S.W.A.T teams that they don't need. Once these small police forces have them, they feel the need to justify their existence, so they are sent out to deliver make arrests for low level drug offenses or, in this case, gambling. In fact, Fairfax County, Virginia conducts nearly all of its warrants with S.W.A.T. teams. (Check it out.)
The increased use of S.W.A.T. results in a greater likelihood of violence between suspects and police. See the names of some people who are no longer with us because of botched raids here.
Agree with your #39 completely.
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Government agencies were interested in the property of this reclusive millionaire. A warrant was issued based on concocted "evidence" of supposed marijuana plantings, and a major raid was conducted with a 32-man assault team. Scott was shot to death in front of his wife. No drugs were found.
A later official report found: "It is the District Attorney's opinion that the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to seize and forfeit the ranch for the government. Based in part upon the possibility of forfeiture, Spencer obtained a search warrant that was not supported by probable cause. This search warrant became Donald Scott's death warrant." |
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Via Drug War Victims |
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"As officers approached with their weapons drawn, tragedy struck. A handgun was accidentally discharged, fatally wounding Dr Culosi. " An acdidental discharge?
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