just a few questions about US Law Enforcement

[sierra129]

Hi guys. Sorry if my questions are a bit..err..whack, but I'm not from the US and want to know a bit about SWAT regulations. If my questions were posted before, please don't flame me and just direct me to the right thread. Thank you for the help.

1. I know that Police Officers must issue a warning before opening fire on any armed suspects. Is this absolutely true for CT personel? (Such as SWAT team members?) Because sometime if you yell a warning while storming, say, a house or building, it can be a dead give away to other baddies in other parts of the house and they can start executing hostages.

2. Under what circumstances are SWAT to be called in? In other words, are there any specific or special circumstances that allows SWAT to be called in and not before?

3. Is there any situation in which Military CT teams may be called in to operate inside the US? Or does it always fall to either local PD SWAT teams or FBI HRTs?

4. Why is there an obsesion with US PDs (correct me if I'm wrong) that SWAT should not look military? For instance i heard that some SWAT teams gave up their camouflage uniforms because they look too much like the military. What is the back ground of this?

Thank you for any help that can be offered.
Cheers

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[mdb23]

Hi sierra129,

1. I wouldn't say that PO's must issue a verbal warning before firing upon ANY armed suspect. There are circumstances, such as when a weapon is unexpectedly pointed at a PO by a suspect, where a warning is neither legally mandated nor practical. As for the SWAT guys, I will allow one of them to answer that part of the Q.

2. The circumstances under which a SWAT team is deployed differ widely from department to department. Many large departments allow their field officers to handle calls which are usually given to the SWAT teams of smaller depts.

3. Yes. In 1987, SFOD-D was deployed to Atlanta, GA in regard to a federal prison riot. FBI HRT was deployed to the Oakdale Prison in Louisiana and was unable to respond, and, according to Oliver Revell (Assistant Director FBI), Delta was needed because they possessed a breaching and counter sniping-ability that the district FBI SWAT teams did not, at least at the time, have. The prisoners surrendered before any action was taken by Delta.

4. Community Oriented Policing. The new fad in LE is to integrate the Officer into the social framework of the community, thereby reducing the "us vs them" mentality. The politicos want the citizens to view the Officer as a sort of "friend" who is there to protect and serve the community, rather than as an authority figure. They fear that military garb and weaponry will cause the citizens to view the police as an occupying force rather than as "friendly neighborhood coppers."

[This message has been edited by mdb23 (edited 01-17-2001).]

[grrlcop74]

I have to tell them first??!!! Dammit I knew I was going wrong somewhere.

<practicing>

"YYYOOHHHOOOOO Mr. Badman!!! Put the shiny thingy down or I'll have to shoot to wound!!!"

How's that?

Kristen http://www.specialoperations.com/ubboard/biggrin.gif

"A successful lawsuit is the one worn by a policeman"--Robert Frost

[jnc36rcpd]

SWAT personnel are generally under the same use of force policies as other law enforcement officers. Verbal warnings are generally only required if practical.

As noted, agencies vary in when tactical units are deployed. Locally, virtually all drug warrants are deemed high risk and are served by the Emergency Response Team. In other jurisdictions, narcotics investigators serve their own warrants.

Deployment of a military counter-terrorist unit for operational purposes is extremely rare. It usually requires a Presidential directive. There will be, of course,certain exceptions such as mentioned above. This might also occur if martial law were declared after a disaster. Military units do provide training and other support for law enforcement on a more routine basis.

mdb23 is spot on about the political correctness factor. At least one team (I believe the Idaho State Police tac unit) transitioned from woodland BDU's after the State Supreme Court was highly critical of the supposed confusion that ensued during one urban takedown.

Be safe. Cheers.

[sierra129]

Thanks for all the replies. Greatly appreciated.