Author says police SWAT squads are out of control
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The country's SWAT teams are out of control and largely ineffective, and their proliferation marks a dangerous "militarization" of the police force, says a Lawrence County author whose latest book offers a critical look at use of tactical teams nationwide.
Jim Fisher, a law graduate, former FBI agent and retired Edinboro University criminalistics professor, is author of "SWAT Madness and the Militarization of the American Police," which examines dozens of incidents in which SWAT response ended in injury, death or costly lawsuits that, Mr. Fisher contends, small departments can ill afford.
"If SWAT teams were just costly and unnecessary, that would be bad enough in bad economic times, when we have limited law enforcement resources to begin with," Mr. Fisher said. "But when it's breaking down police-community relations, when it amounts to high court settlement costs, when people are being injured ... you have to say to yourself, 'why are we doing this?' "
He discussed the book, which is available online but will be officially published Sept. 30, in an interview this week as more than 725 officers from 41 states and several countries gathered at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the 27th annual National Tactical Officers Association conference. Held in Pittsburgh for the first time, the weeklong conference is a valuable networking opportunity, said officers who attended. It ends Friday.
On Monday, officers perused the offerings at a vendor show, where salespeople peddled bulletproof vests and protective barricades, sniper scopes, armored vehicles and other items Pittsburgh SWAT Officer Stephen Mescan called "the tools of our trade."
Officer Frank Zielinski, of the Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., Police Department, studied the $26,000 Pointman, a robot that takes surveillance footage inside buildings to allow officers to keep a safe distance during standoff situations.
First Published September 23, 2010 12:00 am
