It's unrealistic for CATO to go digging through court cases across the country. They use aggregate sources of data from other institutions funded specifically t

It's unrealistic for CATO to go digging through court cases across the country. They use aggregate sources of data from other institutions funded specifically to study police. Thus their data is limited to confirmed court cases and available police documents from other organizations. Their success rate for 40,000/yr does properly reveal if the botched raids were a cost of doing business or a consequence of increased militarization. For all we know, stricter scrutiny regarding situations where SWAT teams are used could reduce the raids to 35,000/yr and almost completely eliminate botched raids without decreasing overall safety (the primary reason for using SWAT teams). The point here is to point out excessive force in a few categories of situations, not to put into question the whole purpose of SWAT teams. A cursory search reveals these "botched" raids in 2012 alone: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/swat-team-throws-flashbangs-raids-wrong-home-due-to-open-wifi-network/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/swat-team-throws-... http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/cops-kill-dog-handcuff-kids-in-wrong-house-raid/ http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/cops-kill-dog-handcuff-kids-in-wr... http://www.businessinsider.com/9-horrifying-botched-police-raids-2012-2?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/9-horrifying-botched-police-r... http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/aug/04/arizona_swat_team_kills_man_drug http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/aug/04/arizona_swat... http://rt.com/usa/swat-billings-burns-fasching-312/ http://rt.com/usa/swat-billings-burns-fasching-312/ Or how about this: when the DEA pulled local SWAT resources (the majority of local SWAT forces) to raid Oaksterdam in Oakland (unarmed civilians protected by state law), they failed to respond to a shooting in a university a few MILES away. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/LegalizationNation/archives/2012/07/11/federal-raid-on-oaksterdam-sapped-police-response-to-oikos-university-massacre http://www.eastbayexpress.com/LegalizationNation/archives/20... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/oakland-school-shooting-oaksterdam-university-and-occupy-san-francisco-morning-roundup/2012/04/03/gIQAvWyrsS_blog.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/oakland-sc... The shooter described lining people up against and firing at them Ceaușescu style.