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Lakeland (FL) SWAT Team Puts New Ride Into Action (Blow out windows on house no one was in)
THE LEDGER ^ | Saturday, April 19, 2014 | Stephanie Allen

Posted on 04/19/2014 6:19:28 AM PDT by Sam's Army

Lakeland Police SWAT team officers looking for stolen motorcycles tried out their newest technologies Friday evening while serving a search warrant on a house in South Lakeland.

Police said detectives have been investigating motorcycle thefts in Polk, Hillsborough and Orange counties.

After conducting surveillance and gathering information for a judge to sign a search warrant, LPD called in its SWAT team to execute the warrant at a house on Empress Way in the neighborhood near Kelly Recreation Center, Sgt. Mike Lewis said.

"We did not know if anyone was inside and we had information that the persons involved were armed," Lewis said. "It was a safety issue."

It was an opportunity for police to see how well their newly acquired Lenco BearCat armored vehicle would perform. City commissioners last year approved the purchase of the 22,000-pound bullet-resistant vehicle to replace a 1967 armored vehicle. The BearCat features new technologies, air-conditioning, cameras and seating for 12 officers instead of six.

On Friday, the SWAT team drove the BearCat down Lakeland streets and onto the front lawn of the house. The officers crouched behind and inside the vehicle, unsure of what was inside the house.

The officers used tactical maneuvers to blow out the front windows, leaving curtains lying in the yard, and they gained entry into the attached garage.

After more than an hour of searching, officers cleared the house. No one was inside, Lewis said.

"(The vehicle) completely revolutionizes things because we can bring cover up to a location," Lakeland Police Lt. Mike Spade said. "We went on the assumption that someone could be armed in the house. We needed to be safe."

Detectives were searching the house Friday night.

Lewis said, so far, about 30 motorcycles across Polk, Orange and Hillsborough counties have been identified as stolen. No one has been arrested.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: confrontationwatch; corruption; domesticterrorism; donutwatch; feos; gearqueers
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Tiny Washington, Iowa just took delivery of a Mine Resistant Military vehicle that probably gets 5 miles per gallon. Why ?

Because all the 3 mile per gallon ones were already
taken?


61 posted on 04/19/2014 10:11:58 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Sam's Army

A well placed shot from the window for the one in the turret and a little grazing fire and they'll scadder like a flock of birds. First rule off combat never bunch up

62 posted on 04/19/2014 10:37:32 AM PDT by piroque ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act")
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To: piroque
First rule off combat never bunch up

Sometimes I hear in my sleep, "keep five...keep five."

5.56mm

63 posted on 04/19/2014 10:41:22 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
"...typically the SWAT is used when the individuals who live at the location have criminal history that includes credit vocation for violence involving weapons and or ownership if firearms."

That's certainly what was more likely the case some years ago. Interesting that you slip in the "and/or ownership if(sic) firearms" as a qualifier.

Times, they are a-changin':

"Dozens of federal agencies now have Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to further an expanding definition of their missions. It’s not controversial that the Secret Service and the Bureau of Prisons have them.Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?"

Source: The United States of SWAT

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/376053/united-states-swat-john-fund

64 posted on 04/19/2014 10:45:27 AM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: M Kehoe

Keep u’r intervals , DI still hollering in my ear .


65 posted on 04/19/2014 10:57:16 AM PDT by piroque ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act")
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To: null and void

Ping!


66 posted on 04/19/2014 10:59:54 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Richard Warman censors free speech.)
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To: Sam's Army

the and/or means ownership of firearms would probably make swat serve it even without a history of violent convictions...but normally you try to stop the suspect away from the location...like in a car.


67 posted on 04/19/2014 11:40:00 AM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (I am the Tea Party bully who took Mitch McConnell's milk money.)
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To: Sam's Army

I have no idea why BLM would have a swat. But I am a lowly street cop so that is way out of my lane of travel.


68 posted on 04/19/2014 11:46:58 AM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (I am the Tea Party bully who took Mitch McConnell's milk money.)
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To: Sam's Army

.50 cal slap rounds would go through that thing and the shield turret on top like swiss cheese.

But up agains’t an empty house it works great. :-)


69 posted on 04/19/2014 11:47:46 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig

If you’re a street cop God help you hanging around FR.

.


70 posted on 04/19/2014 11:52:28 AM PDT by Mears
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To: Sam's Army
From Swat Team Salary in Lakeland, FL

"The average salary for Swat Team in Lakeland, Florida is $89,732. If you were to work as a Swat Team in Lakeland, Florida you could expect a starting salary of $73,897. You could expect to make a salary of around $105,567 after some time."

Hey, pretty good wages for strutting around in neat tactical gear, shooting dogs and blowing out windows of unoccupied houses with new military-type toys

It looks like the SWAT team in Mesquite, NV (Near Bundy's ranch) are pikers. Plugging in Mesquite's zip (89027) reveals:
"The average salary for SWAT Team in Mesquite, is $53,786. If you were to work as a Swat Team in Mesquite, you could expect a starting salary of $44,294. You could expect to make a salary of around $63,278 after some time."

71 posted on 04/19/2014 11:52:49 AM PDT by Oatka (This is America. Assimilate or evaporate.)
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To: TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
My FRiend, you are one of a vanishing breed. You are, in my opinion, one of the good guys, Or to borrow a phrase from Eugene Sledge, The Old Breed. When the policeman was respected because he gave respect.
72 posted on 04/19/2014 11:59:43 AM PDT by sport
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To: Sam's Army
At their current average wage, there's over a half million dollars worth of "talent" in that photo.
73 posted on 04/19/2014 12:01:56 PM PDT by Oatka (This is America. Assimilate or evaporate.)
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To: Mears

Ha...I been a freeper since before I was a policeman.


74 posted on 04/19/2014 12:06:39 PM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (I am the Tea Party bully who took Mitch McConnell's milk money.)
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To: sport

Nobody makes movies about cops doing the right thing or news stories either. It is why the perception has become out of whack with reality.

Kinda like the movie Airplane isn’t exactly an accurate representation of air travel.

People need to be more concerned about what Eric Holder and Barry’s other hired leftist clowns are doing to policing than the local swat team wearing scary black clothes and helmets.


75 posted on 04/19/2014 12:09:21 PM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (I am the Tea Party bully who took Mitch McConnell's milk money.)
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To: Sam's Army
Of the Federal Agencies you listed only one IMO should have armed guards and then limited only to their specific facility. Tennessee Valley Authority power plants and main Transmission Switching Stations do need such protection. The thousands of miles of lake bank from the hydroelectric dams? NO!

IT's time to demilitarize 99% of all federal agencies, ALL State & Local police forces all the way down to the locals. Only a few federal agencies need armed police. The ones needing this type equipment the most and has true justification is The Border Patrol. You'll notice they can barely have side arms.

I live in a county where TVA has several major assets. Over a decade ago I can remember hearing on my scanners TVA Security monitoring local Sheriff Dept Radio Comms and in some cases responding as back up to their calls. A new sheriff ended that issue.

76 posted on 04/19/2014 12:54:09 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: Sam's Army
After conducting surveillance and gathering information for a judge to sign a search warrant...

"We did not know if anyone was inside...

Those two statements seem to be at odds with each other.

77 posted on 04/19/2014 12:57:09 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Traveler59; Sam's Army
...some nutcase with a grudge is going to scour the web and come up with the recipes for IED’s and put a whole new world of hurt on the Keystone Kops and their toys.

More likely, the nut case will scour several sources, then either wait for the cops to "go home safe"; or wait until the cop leaves.

78 posted on 04/19/2014 5:52:24 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Love me, love my guns!©)
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To: Sam's Army

Lewis said. "It was a safety issue."


79 posted on 04/21/2014 8:31:58 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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