4 ms·

"SWAT team use has spiked from around 3,000 strikes per year in 1980 to as many as 80,000 raids a year now. A battering ram or other forced-entry device is used

by Maxious 10y ago

"SWAT team use has spiked from around 3,000 strikes per year in 1980 to as many as 80,000 raids a year now. A battering ram or other forced-entry device is used in two-thirds of these raids, nearly 80 percent of which target private homes. The great bulk of SWAT raids are in service of the drug war, though nearly four out of 10 find no contraband at all." https://theweek.com/articles/531458/troubling-rise-swat-teams https://theweek.com/articles/531458/troubling-rise-swat-team...

Cthulhu_ 10y ago
40% is a fairly high success rate though, I think. Of course, it's probably usually just small amounts, a small bag of something or another here and there.
- simonh 10y ago
  Would the success rate be significantly lower if normal police procedures were followed instead? To count as a 'success' fro SWAT they would need to show that SWAT methods were appropriate and necessary.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    It's even worse, as to count as a success, they would also need to show not just that they find something in more cases than without swat, but that the extra disturbance they cause when they don't find anything is worth it too. Not to mention that what they find should be worth found too (e.g. some kid's stash of weed or some guy's coke is not to be counted among the "successes" -- you don't send a SWAT team for that, you send it to major dealers).
- babuskov 10y ago
  "4/10 found nothing" means that success rate is 60%
  - dghf 10y ago
    To be picky, it means that it's no greater than 60%. I'm not sure that an armed raid which turned up, say, the dog end of a joint or a line's worth of speed should be counted as a success.
  - dsmithatx 10y ago
    Given the honesty of the police historically "4/10 found nothing" means a 40% total fuck up rate. 60% who knows wtf really went down.
- SmellyGeekBoy 10y ago
  I'm sure the other 60% who had their property destroyed and fully automatic weapons shoved in their faces while being forced to the ground and handcuffed will be pleased to hear this news.
  - dsmithatx 10y ago
    I'm sure the dead people of those 60% are just dancing in their graves at the "success".
- dogma1138 10y ago
  SWAT makes a courtesy knock then they ram the door open and throw flashbangs before they burst in with their fingers on the trigger and take you down by force. If this is the police response you think is appropriate for the vast majority of police calls then I think you should reevaluate your country of residence.
  - vanattab 10y ago
    ”the vast majority of police calls” you got any statistics to back that claim up? Are you saying that much more then 50 percent of police calls lead to swat raids?
    - tux1968 10y ago
      What he is asserting is that in the vast majority of cases where SWAT is used it is not an appropriate escalation from more mundane police procedures.
    - lj3 10y ago
      In Maryland, 90% of SWAT deployments were to serve search warrants, with two-thirds through forced entry. I'm sure you could go state by state and find similar percentages. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-knock_warrant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-knock_warrant
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- kakarot 10y ago
  What are we defining as success here? I don't think targeting minority demographics via drug raids is successful no matter how often they find drugs. The success rate isn't what we're concerned with. It's simply used to illustrate the larger problem of an overly militarized police state with little regard over its use of force
- psyc 10y ago
  And thank god. Truly a small price to pay for deliverance from the drug epidemic!
- dsmithatx 10y ago
  To invoke a swat team killing people and, given the fourth amendment, I for one, don't think 40% is high or a success. Maybe you are high?
mtempleton 10y ago
Yes, and you're not even mentioning any of the particularly comically-sad, egregious examples, such as last year police using a military helicopter to seize a marijuana plant from an 81 year old woman[1]. The goal of this kind of thing is to condition us to a new-normal. 1 - https://www.rt.com/usa/361982-marijuana-pensioner-police-helicopter/ https://www.rt.com/usa/361982-marijuana-pensioner-police-hel...
dzdt 10y ago
If you search houses at random, what percent contain no contraband at all? A lot of the counted "successes" could be incidental. Swat receives a tip on a major criminal operation, finds a single joint stashed somewhere, calls it a success.

by Maxious 10y ago

Cthulhu_ 10y ago

40% is a fairly high success rate though, I think. Of course, it's probably usually just small amounts, a small bag of something or another here and there.

simonh 10y ago
Would the success rate be significantly lower if normal police procedures were followed instead? To count as a 'success' fro SWAT they would need to show that SWAT methods were appropriate and necessary.
- coldtea 10y ago
  It's even worse, as to count as a success, they would also need to show not just that they find something in more cases than without swat, but that the extra disturbance they cause when they don't find anything is worth it too. Not to mention that what they find should be worth found too (e.g. some kid's stash of weed or some guy's coke is not to be counted among the "successes" -- you don't send a SWAT team for that, you send it to major dealers).
babuskov 10y ago
"4/10 found nothing" means that success rate is 60%
- dghf 10y ago
  To be picky, it means that it's no greater than 60%. I'm not sure that an armed raid which turned up, say, the dog end of a joint or a line's worth of speed should be counted as a success.
- dsmithatx 10y ago
  Given the honesty of the police historically "4/10 found nothing" means a 40% total fuck up rate. 60% who knows wtf really went down.
SmellyGeekBoy 10y ago
I'm sure the other 60% who had their property destroyed and fully automatic weapons shoved in their faces while being forced to the ground and handcuffed will be pleased to hear this news.
- dsmithatx 10y ago
  I'm sure the dead people of those 60% are just dancing in their graves at the "success".
dogma1138 10y ago
SWAT makes a courtesy knock then they ram the door open and throw flashbangs before they burst in with their fingers on the trigger and take you down by force. If this is the police response you think is appropriate for the vast majority of police calls then I think you should reevaluate your country of residence.
- vanattab 10y ago
  ”the vast majority of police calls” you got any statistics to back that claim up? Are you saying that much more then 50 percent of police calls lead to swat raids?
  - tux1968 10y ago
    What he is asserting is that in the vast majority of cases where SWAT is used it is not an appropriate escalation from more mundane police procedures.
  - lj3 10y ago
    In Maryland, 90% of SWAT deployments were to serve search warrants, with two-thirds through forced entry. I'm sure you could go state by state and find similar percentages. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-knock_warrant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-knock_warrant
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
kakarot 10y ago
What are we defining as success here? I don't think targeting minority demographics via drug raids is successful no matter how often they find drugs. The success rate isn't what we're concerned with. It's simply used to illustrate the larger problem of an overly militarized police state with little regard over its use of force
psyc 10y ago
And thank god. Truly a small price to pay for deliverance from the drug epidemic!
dsmithatx 10y ago
To invoke a swat team killing people and, given the fourth amendment, I for one, don't think 40% is high or a success. Maybe you are high?

mtempleton 10y ago

Yes, and you're not even mentioning any of the particularly comically-sad, egregious examples, such as last year police using a military helicopter to seize a marijuana plant from an 81 year old woman[1]. The goal of this kind of thing is to condition us to a new-normal. 1 - https://www.rt.com/usa/361982-marijuana-pensioner-police-helicopter/ https://www.rt.com/usa/361982-marijuana-pensioner-police-hel...

dzdt 10y ago

If you search houses at random, what percent contain no contraband at all? A lot of the counted "successes" could be incidental. Swat receives a tip on a major criminal operation, finds a single joint stashed somewhere, calls it a success.