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Originally Posted by fng13
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You'll also find this in the article:
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But one senior police official who has trained police recruits in defensive tactics had a different take.
"When I first heard it, I was like, 'C'mon,'" he said. "Then I thought it through. We don't know what occurred. We don't know what information they had at that time. If you don't have all of the facts, it's hard to judge someone. … Anyone can be dangerous."
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Right, this was one of those steroid-pumping 95-year old studs. The funny thing is, every time a death from mostly-nonlethal devices (tazers, beanbags) gets in the news, someone will always be saying "but if it weren't for those things, the cops would have to physically subdue the individual, which is more dangerous." So how is four or five grown men holding this senior citizen down more dangerous than shooting him with a beanbag gun behind a riot shield?
On another note, regarding the explanations proffered in this thread painting the multitude of SWAT incidents on a few bad apples or an isolated misuse of the system, I don't buy it. When we talk about government, we generally assume that the power to take unilateral action will always result in tyranny. There is no such human that can be trusted with that kind of latitude.
So isn't it reasonable to assume that trusting human beings with the power to execute stealth no-knock warrants in the middle of the night is trusting them with such a power? What could be more one-sided than a surprise attack by five to seven armed men of unknown origin who are protected by cop-killer statutes if you shoot at them in self-defense and live to tell about it? Then there's the matter of "exigent circumstances" posted by Streck-Fu, where a warrant isn't even required. What, are we going to trust the NSA next? The TSA? Any arm of the government that has demonstrated they can have their way with you with little to no repercussions?
Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive, a QP, has long maintained that the vast majority of SWAT departments simply don't train enough in CQC to be trusted to conduct raids. I'm inclined to believe him.