Salena Comeau

CCDE 110
Assignment 1 Summary Response
9/6/14

In Radley Blankos article Rise of The Warrior Cop He questions about the proper role
of law enforcement and the effect of the drug war on our community. He believes that the SWAT
team crosses boundaries and is always just assuming which leads to the worst. Yes, there may
be times when over stepping but I believe that most the time it is necessary. I will be addressing
his point of view then later stating my opinion on the subject.
Throughout the article he tries to show that SWATs tactics have become more sever over
the years. The tactics are pretty much what you would expect, breaking down doors, rushing in
with military weaponry, tear gas. They went from being guardians of our homes at night to
knocking down our doors in the morning. The no knock policy established was established in the
1970s agents began knocking down doors without warrants and terrorizing innocent people.
This later resulted in in congress repealing the no knock law in 1974. He states that 50 innocent
people have died due to SWAT and tells many heart felt stories of their deaths.
Blanko believes that officers are prepared for the battle field and not like they are going
into civilians homes. Getting rid of swat would be a very difficult process but yet he thinks that it
should start by the government not funding them anymore. There are increasing levels of
disrespect and distrust between law enforcement and communitys. The black armored cop has
become the norm, and the cop on the corner or knowing the local sheriff is a memory lost along
with black and white TV. This is not an anti-police book, but a serious look at the growth and use
of SWAT and military style tactics, at Americas war on drugs.
All though his point of view is very reasonable I do disagree with him an extent. Yes their
tactics may be sever but 80% of the time its necessary. They didnt establish these tactics just
because they felt like it. They were made because they thought it was needed. 1500 officers have

Salena Comeau
CCDE 110
Assignment 1 Summary Response
9/6/14

died in the past ten years due to criminal confrontation. 150 alone in the past year.

personally think he makes it sound like SWAT is just knocking down doors and killing innocent
people all the time. Im not justifying that its ok that these innocent people are dying but officers
arent going around killing these people intentionally. They had reason to believe that these
people were criminals. Another way I see it is that the innocent people are killed by mistake but
officers are killed intentionally.

Both of my parents have worked at a police department and some of the stories they have
told me are horrifying. I myself would not want to go into these situation without the protection
of SWAT. SWAT used to be the last resort but now a days they end up being the first people
called. Yes, I do agree that it is completely unnecessary to call in the team for poker games and
underage drinking. People cause major up roars when an innocent person is killed and all they
had was a cell phone in their jacket pocket but 70% of the time they refuse to listen to what the
officers are telling them to do. Whether youre innocent or not if a cop is giving you orders you
need to follow them. Because when you have just a phone in your pocket and you are not
cooperating it gives the police reason to believe that you do have a weapon on you.
All in all there are many different opinions on SWAT. Whether you agree with their
tactics or not someone is all ways going to be upset. Keep them, people will complain. Take
them away, people will complain its inevitable. Radley Blanko makes great points and I found
his article very informing.