It seems to me that this is an old post that has been brought up again.
In reviewing the past post's I see many views on civilian LE response Vs Military response to a school situation like happened in Russia.
Keep in mind that I'm a former SWAT Team Commander and SF.
Firstly, local law enforcement is going to be the first agency to respond to any incident, within it's jurisdiction. The first responders will normally be patrol units.
Since Columbine, LE tactics and training have been reviewed and changed to avoid many of the mistakes, made at Columbine and other, situations like it. The biggest change is they are not going to standby and wait for SWAT, if killing is taking place.
Most LE Officers are now armed with a patrol carbine and/or rifle. They are trained to form teams and take action where there is need for it. The need would be where the suspects were shooting people, etc.
There would also be a call for a SWAT team to respond. A very few local LE agencies have a full time SWAT team on call. It will take at least an hour or more for the teams arrival and then time to brief them, etc.
Most local SWAT teams have worked with local schools, during their training on hostage situations, floor plans on file, etc. Most are well trained and armed. Most large departments also have a bomb disposal unit that would also respond if explosives were found to be involved in the incident.
In a situation like experienced in Russia, hopefully the responding LE Supervisor first on such a scene, especially where explosives were involved, would take no action unless the hostage takers were shooting hostages, etc. He would form a perimeter and wait for the SWAT team, hostage negotiators and other department resources to arrive to include department's command staff.
The departments command staff would make any decisions on the need for help from other jurisdictions up to federal. (FBI) If the situation was determined to be within the jurisdiction of the FBI (Federal case) the command of the incident would be turned over to the FBI. The FBI would then decide if the HRT and/or Military units would respond and how they would be used. This of course all takes many hours of vital time in a case like the Russian incident.
What is the nearest Delta unit to say Seattle? IMHO, Delta is the only military unit, the should handle an incident like the Russian one. Yes, we have the 1st SFGA here in the area as well as the 2nd Ranger BN; however, I doubt on short notice in particular, that they have people, training and equipment on hand that would allow them to respond and handle a situation like the Russian school.
The bottom line? IMHO, like it or not the local LE is going to have to handle the brunt of any such incident, especially where the hostage takers are killing people! This may result in heavy losses in both responding LE and hostages, if they take immeadite action. This would be true of any group taking immeadite action.
At least one or more LE agency in each State, should have a SWAT team that have the training and equipment, to handle a situation like we are talking about. They should have the capability to handle the situation, until Federal help, of any kind if needed arrives.
The office of Homeland security should provide local LE with funding, training and equipment to such local teams, perhaps even certifying the teams, much like the FBI does with individual bomb technicians now.
There is no doubt in my mind that Delta would be the best answer to a situation like they had in Russia. The fact is; however, that in the USA it's going to be local LE that responds to any incident.
