Gentlemen: In 1977 I was a Cop in Washington DC when the Hanafi Muslims initiated a terrorist attack on three buildings in Washington DC. I was at the District Building where a reporter was killed, Marion Barry (DC Police got the largest pay raise in history thanks to Marion after the siege) was shot in the chest and a Special District building guard was shot and later died of a heart attack. These were the only casualties during the siege. We were filled with” Warrior Cops” only, they were primarily Army and Marine Viet Nam vets mostly “Grunts” with at least one combat tour, and a few Air Force and Navy vets as well. We were armed with Colt & S&W 4” .38 cal. revolvers, 870’s, .270 open rifles, and a couple of Uzi’s. The Muslims had Remington 1100 shotguns, Browning civilian/ hunting BAR semi-automatic high powered rifles, and some pistols. Once the DC Police got on the scene there were no more casualties. We turned a few conference tables placed on their side so we could move officers from one side of the marble hallway (ricochet issues) where the stairwell was, to offices on the other side where we had set up a couple officers w/ .270’s and shotguns over watching the council chambers, and others could wait and rest between there turns on the guns.
Things got particularly dicey for the hostages every time President Jimmy Carter spoke to the terrorists ( yes he did talk to them, and he really pissed them off)
. Ambassador’s from Iran (Zahedi was Elizabeth Taylors boyfriend at the time, and the Iranian Embassy was noted for parties that allegedly rivaled Rome’s in terms of pure debauchery) , Egypt and Pakistan. We were just down the street from FBI HQ and our Chief, Maurice Culliane would not allow the FBI HRT to play ( he told them to stuff it and they were literally frothing at the mouth they were so pissed they could not rush in withal their toys). We did get some very useful help from OGA’s mainly ISR stuff. We were about five minutes out from assaulting the Council Chambers when the bad guys listened to those ambassadors and gave up. We were patient, lucky and I think the officer’s combat experience gave them a much more mature outlook that saved lives. Most of us were basic Beat Cops and patrol officers. The DC Police Special Operations Division (SOD) recently renamed from the Civil Disturbance Unit (CDU) was in tactical control of the scene, and they were primarily trained to handle the many demonstrations that occurred almost daily. They did receive some extra weapons training but no SWAT training. When the bad guys gave up I was one of the officers that went in and hooked them up. When I took my guy down to stuff him in the Scout Car, I was greeted with a mass of media folks rushing at us that looked like the Oklahoma land rush. I was literally a Deer in the head lights of all the cameras and lights. I was so shocked, I “accidentally” hit the terrorist head against the Scout car a couple three times before I successfully got him into the car (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). The hostages had been hog tied and placed over desks in preparation for beheading. The media were as usual complete a------s.
Prior to this event, most of us had been walking a beat. I was in SE DC, the Ghetto, no radios; we used call boxes on corners to call in our marks. We knew the folks, who belonged and who did not. I am white, and quickly learned how to become part of the community, develop “sources” and eventually folks would call 911 for me when I was fighting for my life in the middle of the street! We had several barricaded suspect situations that me, and my partner resolved without any help from anything resembling a SWAT team I had a Second Chance vest that my parents bought for me, the Department did not issue vests. Our issued sidearm was the .38 Special 4” S&W with 12 158grain round nose bullets; (most of us had speed loaders with Super Vels or hollow points in our pockets, JIC, highly illegal on the Department at the time). Those weapons are no longer practical in today’s environment but, the M-4’s and military gear will cause more problems than they solve. I do not like where policing has gone, my experience is that the individual officer is far more important than technology. The militzarization of American policing is a very disturbing trend. My experience is that a Cop has to get right in with the community, get to know them, become part of that community. Especially in the hood where, they want you to get the bad guys but not escalate the violence. The community supports the low profile approach that keeps them safe and not fearful of the cops. I had folks who committed serious assaults in different parts of town, wait until I came on to surrender to me because I had become part of the neighborhood and their families trusted me. If the current trends continue, the people will respond. The FBI investigated me for Civil Rights violations (only locking up African Americans). I told them I would lock up any white folks, if I could find any on my beat. The people on my beat basically told the Feeb’s to piss off and made no derogatory statements against me. Kicking in doors and terrorizing families, kids, shooting family pets occasionally may be required but my very limited experience is that less is usually more when working in communities that desperately need good policing.
Noslack
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Hanafi_Siege
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