[Ramius]

That's just it. Nowadays every little po-dunk town thinks they need a "swat" team because they like all the neato toys and the black jumpsuits. Problem is, they then have to justify all the cost by using them for things that don't need that sort of force.

There are only a handful of professionals that truly have the time, the budget and the training to be a *real* SWAT team, a la the FBI HRT, Navy Seals. Perhaps some of the bigger police departements like LA, NY could devote the right people to this sort of training. But most police departments just buy all the gear, get some MP-5's and black jumpsuits and say they have a "SWAT" team. It's stupid, and all it does is get some good cops and good citizens killed because they're using them in the wrong place at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Nowadays every little po-dunk town thinks they need a "swat" team because they like all the neato toys and the black jumpsuits."

And the reality is that most every town of 50,000 or more has such a team and military attack gear. Paid for by the feds.

This is truly the "standing army" our founders feared.