In the 1960s violent riots became more prevalent and more sophisticated in America than at any time in our nation’s history. In response, the Los Angeles Police Department established S.W.A.T. (special weapons and tactics) units to combat the crisis. The establishment of SWAT teams was an unprecedented response to an unprecedented threat to public safety.
SWAT teams were not established to stifle peaceful protests. Rather, they were initially established to combat para-military insurgents like the Weather Underground (a/k/a The Weathermen—-how sexist can you get considering that there were many female members), the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Black Panthers radical wing (there was a series of schisms in the Black Panther movement) and a variety of other groups engaged in para-military operations all sharing the goal of violent protests and/or the violent overthrow of the American government.
In the current vernacular, these folks would have collectively been referred to as “domestic terrorists”. But alas, that term did not become part of the American lexicon until one Timothy McVeigh manifested his sociopathic and senseless idea that mass murder was an acceptable way to express his disapproval of the ways of the American government. Back in the day, SWAT teams were deemed necessary if not indispensable to combat para-military groups Hell bent on blowing up courthouses, killing cops and generally waging a violent war against American institutions. The “insurgents” were 99% American citizens. Again, today we would label them “domestic terrorists”.
Fast forward to the 1980s.
More and more SWAT teams and units of that ilk were formed at the Federal, State police and local police departments nationwide to prosecute the “War on Drugs”. As opposed to confronting and combating domestic terrorists, (“para-military groups” waging war against America), these units were mainly charged with executing search warrants against suspected drug dealers. The results have been mixed. While peaceful searches and arrests have increased, absolutely ridiculous and unjustified shootings and killings by SWAT teams have increased, including cops shooting innocent occupants and breaking into wrong homes and terrorizing the occupants thereof.
Fast forward to the 1990s.
I was personally appalled to see, from the courthouse window, Portland Police Officers trotting in formation around our city wearing “Paris Island” garb with flag bearers at the lead as a show of force particularly in some neighborhoods. This all went on as our city’s department was about to be investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for a series of excessive force claims. Although my city has not experienced the cop versus citizen violent confrontations which have “seemingly” beseeched so many other cities across our nation, I fear that it is coming.
Fast forward to today.
Approximately 50,000 police agencies now have SWAT teams. SWAT teams are, by any definition, para-military units. How does that exponential increase comport with the limited number necessitated by the events of the 60s and early 70s?
The U.S. Department of Defense has donated thousands of military grade weaponry and other equipment to local domestic police departments since the 1980s War on Drugs. That is one factor. The police academy training emphasis: “us against them” mentality versus “serve and protect” is another. The line between the roll of domestic law enforcement and domestic military operations has become increasingly blurred . The blame pie has likewise become increasingly blurred.
The citizenry is not without blame. The “us versus them” attitude that many cops hold is not entirely without merit. No thinking person can deny that the respect, traditionally given to those sworn to serve and protect, has deteriorated significantly. Public distrust and disdain for police officers is at an all-time high. If you think that that reality is totally the fault of the police, you are wrong. You may be wrong because you have been misled by the media, pundits, race baiters, your own predilections to hate and/or distrust cops or some combination of the foregoing non-exhaustive list of factors.
The execution style murders of police officers simply because they are police officers is sickening to any thinking person. There is no justification or excuse for it. These are acts perpetrated by sociopathic cowards acting under the guise of seekers of a warped sense of social justice. Protesters chanting “What do we want? (Refrain) Dead cops! When do we want it? (Refrain) Right now! Do nothing other than further widen the already broadening schism between police officers and the public at large.
If the goal of the well-known race baiters is to close the schism, the gap, please explain how. Folks wearing $5,000 suits, who only peak above the tree line when a white officer kills a black man, have no interest in closing the gap. Those folks never show up for black on black killings or black on white killings. There is simply nothing in it for them. No money, no publicity.
The bottom line is that the overwhelming majority of police officers are good, decent people who believe in their role: to serve and protect. They are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and siblings. They are your neighbors. In certain areas of our country, when a cop leaves the home to go to work, that cop’s spouse and children literally wonder if that will be the last time that they see their loved one alive. That is the reality. Think about it. Please, think about it.
Would I like to see SWAT teams limited? Yes. SWAT teams and there deployment should be limited to areas and situations in which they are truly needed: to confront para-military opposition.
Likewise, the overwhelming majority of citizens do respect police officers and the service that they provide: to selflessly protect and serve us. Community policing is on the rise in my city and nationwide. That is a good sign. I hope that the small minority of “cop haters” will recognize that and reach back out to police officers. That will go a long way toward closing the schism, the gap between law enforcement officers and the public as a whole. Unfortunately, there will always be the fringe rogue cops and fringe cop haters. If we can lessen those folks to an insignificant minority, we have a legitimate chance to bring the public and the police officers, who have sworn to protect and serve them, together.
To comment or contact me, go to www.nicholschurchill.com. If you need help with an OUI or any criminal case, call me at 1-207-879-4000. I am now located at 1250 Forest Avenue, Suite #10, Portland, ME 04103.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide general, not specific, information about Maine law. The publication of this article does not constitute an attorney-client relationship between the author(s) and the reader(s).
