SWAT madness and the militarization of the American police
Subtitle: a national dilemma
By: Jim Fisher
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Santa Barbara, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
ISBN-13: 9780313391910; 9780313391927
Subjects: Police brutality; Police; Special weapons and tactics units; Law enforcement; Militarization of police
Description: The facts are disturbing: Every year in the United States, Swat teams conduct predawn, no-knock raids of at least 50,000 homes looking for drugs. Unfortunately, a substantial percentage of these assaults occur at the wrong addresses, and law-abiding citizens who mistakenly kill SWAT officers thinking they are criminal home invaders often end up on death row. In the United States, military-style police enforcement is fast becoming the norm--even the smallest police departments now field costly SWAT units. While the fact that police forces have increased capabilities to deal with urgent or dangerous situations may seem positive, this type of aggressive response is problematic: court settlements regarding excessive SWAT raids cost law enforcement agencies millions of dollars every year, not to mention that these bruteforce strategies often traumatize, injure, and kill innocent people.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-277) and index.
Table of contents: title: Strong-arming groups : guilt by association raids; title: Boots in the house : broken-door raids; title: Stomping on sin : prostitution, pornography, and gambling raids; title: Part-time warriors : small-town SWAT; title: Legal pot : the war on medical marijuana; title: Collateral damage : nonfatal wrong-house drug raids; title: Unjustifiable homicide : avoidable drug-raid fatalities; title: Negligent homicide : fatal wrong-house raids; title: Officer down : no excuses, no defenses; title: Conclusion : no easy solution.