View Full Version : Maryland Report: Use of SWAT 4.5 x/day
If you get beyond the first part of the article, data is emerging that SWAT teams are being used for much more than the hostage barricade scenario
http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/01/45-swat-raids-per-day
4.5 SWAT Raids Per Day
Maryland's SWAT transparency bill produces its first disturbing results
Radley Balko | March 1, 2010
Cheye Calvo's July 2008 encounter with a Prince George's County, Maryland, SWAT team is now pretty well-known: After intercepting a package of marijuana at a delivery service warehouse, police completed the delivery, in disguise, to the address on the package. That address belonged to Calvo, who also happened to be the mayor of the small Prince George’s town of Berwyn Heights. When Calvo's mother-in-law brought the package in from the porch, the SWAT team pounced, forcing their way into Calvo's home. By the time the raid was over, Calvo and his mother-in-law had been handcuffed for hours, police realized they'd made a mistake, and Calvo's two black Labradors lay dead on the floor from gunshot wounds.
As a result of this colossal yet not-unprecedented screw-up, plus Calvo's notoriety and persistence, last year Maryland became the first state in the country to make every one of its police departments issue a report on how often and for what purpose they use their SWAT teams. The first reports from the legislation are in, and the results are disturbing.
Over the last six months of 2009, SWAT teams were deployed 804 times in the state of Maryland, or about 4.5 times per day. In Prince George's County alone, with its 850,000 residents, a SWAT team was deployed about once per day. According to a Baltimore Sun analysis, 94 percent of the state's SWAT deployments were used to serve search or arrest warrants, leaving just 6 percent in response to the kinds of barricades, bank robberies, hostage takings, and emergency situations for which SWAT teams were originally intended.
Worse even than those dreary numbers is the fact that more than half of the county’s SWAT deployments were for misdemeanors and nonserious felonies. That means more than 100 times last year Prince George’s County brought state-sanctioned violence to confront people suspected of nonviolent crimes. And that's just one county in Maryland. These outrageous numbers should provide a long-overdue wake-up call to public officials about how far the pendulum has swung toward institutionalized police brutality against its citizenry, usually in the name of the drug war.
But that’s unlikely to happen, at least in Prince George's County. To this day, Sheriff Michael Jackson insists his officers did nothing wrong in the Calvo raid—not the killing of the dogs, not neglecting to conduct any corroborating investigation to be sure they had the correct house, not failing to notify the Berwyn Heights police chief of the raid, not the repeated and documented instances of Jackson’s deputies playing fast and loose with the truth.
Jackson, who's now running for county executive, is incapable of shame. He has tried to block Calvo's efforts to access information about the raid at every turn. Last week, Prince George's County Circuit Judge Arthur M. Ahalt ruled that Calvo's civil rights suit against the county can go forward. But Jackson has been fighting to delay the discovery process in that suit until federal authorities complete their own investigation into the raid. That would likely (and conveniently) prevent Prince George's County voters from learning any embarrassing details about the raid until after the election.
But there is some good news to report here, too. The Maryland state law, as noted, is the first of its kind in the country, and will hopefully serve as a model for other states in adding some much-needed transparency to the widespread use and abuse of SWAT teams. And some Maryland legislators want to go even further. State Sen. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George's), for example, wants to require a judge's signature before police can deploy a SWAT team. Muse has sponsored another bill that would ban the use of SWAT teams for misdemeanor offenses. The latter seems like a no-brainer, but it's already facing strong opposition from law enforcement interests. Police groups opposed the transparency bill, too.
Beyond policy changes, the Calvo raid also seems to have also sparked media and public interest in how SWAT teams are deployed in Maryland. The use of these paramilitary police units has increased dramatically over the last 30 years, by 1,000 percent or more, resulting in the drastic militarization of police. It's a trend that seems to have escaped much media and public notice, let alone informed debate about policies and oversight procedures. But since the Calvo raid in 2008, Maryland newspapers, TV news crews, activists, and bloggers have been documenting mistaken, botched, or disproportionately aggressive raids across the state.
Lawmakers tend to be wary of questioning law enforcement officials, particularly when it comes to policing tactics. They shouldn't be. If anything, the public employees who are entrusted with the power to use force, including lethal force, deserve the most scrutiny. It's unfortunate that it took a violent raid on a fellow public official for Maryland's policymakers to finally take notice of tactics that have been used on Maryland citizens for decades now. But at least these issues are finally on the table.
Lawmakers in other states should take notice. It's time to have a national discussion on the wisdom of sending phalanxes of cops dressed like soldiers into private homes in search of nonviolent and consensual crimes.
Radley Balko is a senior editor at Reason magazine.
Copyright 2010, Reason Magazine
SWAT teams, their use and their tactics have been the subject of a number of threads here.
Sure took them a long time to notice.
Utah Bob
03-04-2010, 11:02
I ranted against the overuse of the Uberninja teams all the time I was wearing a badge. They have a purpose in responding to dangerous incidents and serving warrants can definitely be one. Columbine showed athat a rapid response team can mean the difference between a nasty incident and a horrible tragedy.
BUT the explosion of SWAT teams and SWAT team "competition" across the country disturbed me. Some are very professional but some are ill trained testosterone driven yahoos that are poorly controlled by their commanders and headquarters. I've seen 15 man departments that had a 9 man SWAT team. What's the chance that with a department that small you have that many capable individuals able to handle that task? Very very small.
911 really accelerated the formation of these units as administrators rushed to form units that were larger and more heavily armed. And having formed these units, naturally you have to use them or risk losing funding and even worse, losing face in the law enforcement community.
I have good friends who are SWAT members and commanders and have debated the subject ad nauseum. Is it any wonder that the public perception of police these days is different than it was 20 years ago?
Streck-Fu
03-04-2010, 11:13
I have been familiar with this author's works for a few years now. Read his white paper if you have the time, though I don't think it will surprise most of you.
In too many cases, they are a solution looking for a problem. Many teams were created post 9-11 with DHS money and once created needed to find work. That's how SWAT began doing low-level misdemeanor warrants and other inappropriate work.
Utah Bob,
It;s good to hear you mention that there are those in the community that are concerned about their employment. Unfortunately, for every constructive criticism, we hear about 10 cases Maryland or Lima, OH.
It's a trend that seems to have escaped much media and public notice, let alone informed debate about policies and oversight procedures. But since the Calvo raid in 2008, Maryland newspapers, TV news crews, activists, and bloggers have been documenting mistaken, botched, or disproportionately aggressive raids across the state.
Radley Balko is a senior editor at Reason magazine.
Reason MagazineWhat drives me nuts about statements like these is that they reflect the journalist's impulse to claim all the credit for 'discovering' a story.
A quick search using Google disproves the validity of this assertion. One cannot help but wonder what other liberties Balko took on a story too important to get wrong.
Streck-Fu
03-04-2010, 14:15
A quick search using Google disproves the validity of this assertion. One cannot help but wonder what other liberties Balko took on a story too important to get wrong.
I think from reading many of his articles and blog entries is that it is the trend that is going unnoticed. Such bad raids often get reported locally and occasional make the national news, but there is not much widespread notice of the trend.
Kyobanim
03-04-2010, 14:23
we hear about 10 cases Maryland or Lima, OH
Lima? You're kidding, right? Do they call out SWAT when the cows fart?
Streck-Fu
03-04-2010, 14:57
Lima? You're kidding, right? Do they call out SWAT when the cows fart?
During a raid to a arrest a drug dealer, the SWAT team entered the house and shot the two dogs in the house. Another officer mistook shots by the officer dispatching the dogs as return fire and shot blindly into a room killing a mother holding her 1 year old. The child was wounded.
The officer was acquitted of any error because (as the jury ruled) just hearing gunshots is justification for fearing for your life.....I guess positive target identification in a civilian environment is optional.
LINK (http://reason.com/blog/2008/08/05/lima-ohio-swat-officer-acquitt)
robert2854
03-04-2010, 14:58
I too, am a retired cop but from Wash.,DC and I lived in Prince Georges County MD. It was a terrible thing for the police to have been responsible for the killing of the dogs and the miostaken raid on the Mayor's house. I have been part of many raids(Narcotic) where dogsw have been killed and they are just doing their duty, but none the less the police must protect themselves. Somebody should be blamed in Police Dept., but I don't think anyone should be fired. The problem is the police have to be right every time, and they should be but there will never be perfection in police work and/or war. That's why we do what we do and what we did.
RATHER BE TRIED BY 12 THAN CARRIED BY SIX
Streck-Fu
03-04-2010, 15:06
The problem is the police have to be right every time, and they should be but there will never be perfection in police work and/or war.
It so many of these reports, one common element seems to be the lack of verification. Whether making sure the address is correct, they actually have the right person, etc, there is a greater responsibility to make sure it is right.
The police have to be held to a higher standard as they are sworn to protect the citizens of their community.
RATHER BE TRIED BY 12 THAN CARRIED BY SIX
This is part of the problem. As long as the officers are safe, a few dead innocent civilians is acceptable.
It's one thing for an individual to express that attitude in reference to defending themselves against a criminal attack but has a completely different meaning when expressed by police officer entering the wrong house.
How did they accidentally raid the mayor's house?FWIW, a detailed journalistic account is available of the raid is available here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302935_pf.html).
The Reaper
03-04-2010, 15:52
Balko is wrong on so many counts as to call the entire report into question.
You have seen my comments on no knock warrant service, poor LE training, and search & seizure abuses.
Having said that, this is not going to turn into a cop bashing thread.
Most are good, some are not so good, and a few are actually bad. Kind of like the rest of us.
TR
Utah Bob
03-04-2010, 16:24
Exactly.
The over use of SWAT teams and a few poorly planned and executed raids do a tremendous disservice to the law enforcement community.
Being second guessed just goes with being in law enforcement. You try your best and expect to be held accountable. Then some local Sheriff tries to defend the improper of illegal actions of his troops and the next thing you know the opinion of the police has slipped another notch down in the public's eye.
There are a lot of administrators who need to re-read Robert Peel's rules of policing and remember that they exist to serve the people.
Streck-Fu
03-05-2010, 11:24
Not bashing all cops, but these are the kinds of mistakes that are too preventable...LINK (http://www.wsmv.com/video/22656573/index.html)
Somebody should be blamed in Police Dept., but I don't think anyone should be fired. The problem is the police have to be right every time, and they should be but there will never be perfection in police work and/or war.
I don't understand how no one should be fired. According to the article he blindly shot into a room and killed an unarmed mother and wounder her infant child. How is that not grounds for dismissal? I am by no means a trained anything and I completely understand that fear for you life and the heat of the moment can compound and cause you to make the wrong decision. But I don't think that can absolve your responsibility for your actions. As a citizen that carries a weapon I am responsible for every bullet I would put down range. I highly doubt that if I accidentally shot someone even if I feared for my life that I would be aquited let alone be allowed to continue to carry. Shooting an innocent person seems like it ought to be a career ender in my opinion, that is serious work so that standard should also be serious.
Furthermore, wouldn't you expect to hear gunshots on a home raid? This is an honost question because I have no idea, but it seems reasonable that you would expect to hear gunshots and then react appropriatly not panic and open fire.
By expect I don't mean you expect people to shoot at the police, but rather you anticipate it as a possibility.
Buffalobob
03-05-2010, 20:11
Police arrested 27 post-game revelers in College Park after the University of Maryland's basketball win over Duke, officials said.
Accounts varied wildly, with some students saying they were acting peacefully when officers went overboard. Video footage aired by WUSA (Channel 9) showed what appears to be an officer clearly ramming a night stick into a young man's head.
Police officials defended their actions Thursday morning, with one saying students' behavior was "just ludicrous." Top officials from the Prince George's County Police Department are expected to address complaints as soon as this afternoon.
Some of the officers on the scene wore riot gear. Some were mounted on horses.
"We understand people want to celebrate the big win," said Cpl. Larry Johnson, a spokesman for Prince George's police. "But our main concern was the safety of the students and the residents of College Park. We have to maintain order as best as possible to maintain those interests."
Obviously the best way to be concerned about the students' safety is to smack them in the head with big stick.
Ret10Echo
03-05-2010, 23:43
Obviously the best way to be concerned about the students' safety is to smack them in the head with big stick.
Bob,
I have a young engineer that works in our office (The EE kind of engineer). He is a Maryland alum. I asked him if he was going to the game. His response was something to the effect of...."I know better than to be around the College Park crowd tonight, win or lose"
There was an expectation that an event would occur. Some people will make sure there is one in order to avoid disappointment.
My thought on this...considering what the general perception is of the State of Maryland and what party is in control you would think there would be NO specialized law enforcement teams. We are the "Hug-A-Thug State".
Like any other specialized assignment, it all comes down to training, training and more realistic training. I recently left our departments SRT after 9 years. I was always pleased that we constantly trained in as realistic a manner as possible. We developed a matrix to determine if SRT was used in search warrants or other situations. The factors considered included the criminal history of the suspect (violence, weapons, prior assault on LE,etc.), presence of weapons, presence of children, presence of barricades and more. Each factor is given a "point" value. In order for SRT to be used, the case would have to reach a certain "point" total. If it did not, we weren't used.
Wilson, of course, is much smaller than several of the cities and counties cited here, but we have never had an incident involving negligent discharges, wrong addresses or wrong suspects. I attribute this to our training level, even for a part time team, and the professionalism of each member. We have had several members with military experience and that helped. On the other hand, I have seen teams from larger cities that do not train as they should and it shows.
Bellevue family sues FBI over 'terrifying' raid
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_742235.html
"..............Led by FBI Special Agent Karen Springmeyer, about a dozen officers used a battering ram to enter Adams' rented Orchard Street home in a search for Sondra Hunter, then 35. But Hunter hadn't lived at that address for almost two years, while Adams and his family had been living there for more than a year, according to the lawsuit filed by Adams and 10 other family members................"
Hmm, didn't look like they did much intelligence work before kicking in the door.
Pittsburgh, PA
LongWire
06-17-2011, 08:39
Yeah it's comments like this that make me scratch my head........
"Denise Adams, 58, said seeing the red dots from the officers' targeting lasers crawl across her children's faces also has cost her faith in law enforcement."
LongWire
06-18-2011, 13:15
In the special forces, there is a deep sense of pride, of honor and commitment towards an ideal.
You are basing your comments off of what experience? For your second post you seem to be wading a little deep. If you have some experience that you are basing off of, then please feel free to share. As a new comer we like to know who we are in a discussion with.
BTW your intro was redacted, so you should probably direct yourself back to the intros and put something tangible down there. I would think that Penn probably Pm'd you about that, but if he didn't I'm sure he meant to.
incarcerated
06-18-2011, 14:01
the laxness with which police are prosecuted is appalling. they ought to be held to higher, more severe standards then your common citizen.
i have respect for a good police officer. but a good officer, is an exceptional person, and as the exception there are few of them.
Do you have a criminal record, or use illicit drugs? Just wondering.
greenberetTFS
06-18-2011, 14:12
Yeah it's comments like this that make me scratch my head........
"Denise Adams, 58, said seeing the red dots from the officers' targeting lasers crawl across her children's faces also has cost her faith in law enforcement."
This I find extremely difficult to accept from supposedly trained professional police officers,SWAT or otherwise..........:(:(:(
Big Teddy :munchin
[QUOTE]If a police officer or S.W.A.T teamster is not willing to risk their own death before risking civilian deaths, they are unfit for duty. the nature of their work is a serious one, it is not like a regular job. it is much better for an officer to die in the line of duty then for a civilian to die as a result of his ineptitude, or inability to put the welfare those that he is sworn to protect before his own safety.
Police officers and SWAT members risk their lives every day. Every contact we make is an unknown. We don't know if the 14 yo kid we are talking to is a gang member with a gun or if the 75 yo grandpa has alzheimers and a rifle. Your statement shows a distinct lack of understanding of what the job really is.
i personally don't know how they can stand living with the shame of even knowing unto themselves that they could do more towards doing it right, let alone having killed a mother and shot her child from a panic-response. i would most likely commit suicide if i had done that.
I know several officers that have had to use their firearm in the line of duty. I don't know any of them that were able to simply shrug that off. When an incident occurs where an innocent is killed or injured, it makes it worse. Many an officer has committed suicide when he wasn't able to deal with that. This comment, again, exhibits a lack of knowledge about the job and what it takes to be a police officer.
the laxness with which police are prosecuted is appalling. they ought to be held to higher, more severe standards then your common citizen.
To what specific case are you referring? Police officers are held to a higher standard in any court of law. Under most circumstances, the totality of circumstances are considered before judgement is rendered. If negligence is found, the officer is liable. State an example of lax prosecution.
being a 'good person' is not enough to qualify one to be a police officer, they ought to be 'exceptional people', as the average 'good person' is not fit to mete out justice or conduct himself in the authority of others. without a strong inner sense of justice and responsibility, strong as in distinguished from the norm by these values, a police officer is a disaster waiting to happen as soon as they are involved in anything more then filling quotas.
Police officers do not "mete out justice". They enforce the law. It is up to a judge and jury (which could be made up of any type of person, good or otherwise) to decide what the "justice" should be. What quotas are you referring to? Are you saying that once an officer takes himself beyond "filling a quota", and actually tries to detect and prevent a crime and arrest said perpetrator that he is an "accident waiting to happen"? Another example of having no idea what the job actually entails.
i have respect for a good police officer. but a good officer, is an exceptional person, and as the exception there are few of them.
To the contrary, I find there are few bad officers. Like any other job, you only hear about the bad apples. The good ones do their job every day, go home to their families and get up and do it again the next day. You have been watching way too much TV.
Surgicalcric
06-19-2011, 15:48
...ENTIRE POST...
Oh to be 21 years old again and know everything.
More learning can be done when your vision isn't blocked by the foot in your mouth. With that, more reading, less posting would serve you well...
Crip
[QUOTE]after hearing about the number of the offduty cops reported in attendance of kkk rallies, and having seen kkk rallies and what the texas racist acts like... i've simply never had a pretty picture of cops painted for me from what i've been shown and heard. the thugs are even worse.
Where and under what context did you hear of so many off-duty cops attending KKK rallies? If you were talking about 50 years ago, I might believe you. Today, that would be an extreme rarity. Even here in the southeast, that is an extreme rarity. The KKK is still alive today, but few actually pay them any attention. Racists are not limited to any one race and they are all over the place.
it improved after i listened to the 'bulletproof mind' tapes, by dave grossman, and he spoke from the point of view of an officer, i suppose i haven't put myself in their shoes and just went on what i heard.
Read his books and/or go see him in person. It might help clear things up.
my father really hates cops very much. that probably has something to do with it, although, i suppose i should have remained more critical but at a young age, i was not very critical of what i was taught at all, and in the end that led to many painful re-evaluations and many more to come. i suppose its part of growing up.
Why does your father hate cops so much? In my experience, when someone "hates" someone else in a particular occupation or position, it is usually because they have been caught doing wrong and refuse to accept responsibility for their own actions, thereby laying the blame of their misfortune on others.
longwire, i don't have any experience whatsoever really. i've just read everything, for what little its worth, and still read. if someone asked me to state in my honest opinion what i had gotten out of what i had gathered on the subject, that is something i would say, and i might be wrong, but from what i've seen and heard that is my current conviction. if i find i'm wrong the conviction will change. if someone argues otherwise it would be doubted.
If you are going to base an opinion just on things you have read, make sure you read and research from varying points of view. Take the time to actually talk to people with opinions different from your own and actively listen to their arguments and rebuttals to your opinions. Last, but not least, if you have no actual experience with something, look and listen before you leap.