Blog - SWAT - August 2007

Hidden within the larger story of the Mogadishu raid, there is a lesson for all tactical officers. “Blackhawk Down” involved Task Force Ranger, which was made of different branches of the U.S. military and every man in that team joined together regardless of unit or service branch to fight in a desperate life and death battle. If they hadn’t, none of them would have survived.

The debate over SWAT is also evident within individual agencies, where shifts in administrators often change how, when, and where SWAT is used. Some agencies use full-time SWAT teams for a wide variety of risk-involved assignments, as primary or backup responders. On the opposite end of the spectrum, other agencies are reluctant to use SWAT for anything except the highest risk assignments. Predictably, these SWAT teams are rarely called out and such agencies often target SWAT for budge

Unlike today’s established teams, early SWAT teams had to develop their own basic training camps. I was privileged to help form the current Cleveland Police SWAT Unit—after a decade of struggling through four failed units/concepts that were deleted from the organizational structure. New teams have challenges and growing pains that established teams don’t.

To many outside the tactical world, the need for SWAT teams to have access to new technology and new products is often dismissed as SWAT merely wanting more “toys to play with.” This sentiment is especially prevalent at times when budget-strapped agencies are hard pressed to obtain and maintain the bare essentials for their patrol officers.