Articles - SWAT

There is one weapon of mass destruction that we are certain the terrorists possess and have the know-how to use. They use it every day in Iraq. They've used it frequently in Afghanistan. This weapon is the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), commonly known as the "car bomb."

POLICE Magazine is proud to offer you this excerpt from "Bomb Squad," a book that answers the age-old question: Why would any right-thinking cop want to come face to face with a bomb?

The Canadian firm of Para-Ordnance has been a trailblazer when it comes to improving the classic 1911 pistol. One of the company's most radical concepts is the Light Double Action (LDA) trigger mechanism, which can be found on its new Carry 9 LDA.

When John Matthews developed the first SureFire flashlight, he realized that for officers to get the most benefit out of the light, they would need special training. So Matthews, now president and CEO of SureFire, created the SureFire Institute, one of the nation's premier low-light combat training academies.

R Block of the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville. Inmates are holding a hostage. His hands are bound with a strip of cloth that's tied around the crossbars of one of the cells. A negotiator has been called in to hear the inmates' demands and to try to secure release of the hostage. The ringleader of the riot, a young loudmouth called K-Dog, yells at the negotiator who is on the stairs above the showers, "You better take care of your boy!"

The detective rapped on the front door. Then three seconds later, instead of waiting for a resident to answer, one of the officers on his team kicked in the door. They had expected to find a meth lab in the apartment, but the man and woman they'd awakened in the middle of the night and handcuffed had committed no crimes. The officers had raided the wrong apartment.

Talk to any SWAT team leader, and he will tell you that one of, if not, the most important members of his team is the breacher. After all, on a raid, on a search, on a hostage rescue, nothing happens until that door or obstacle entry point is moved. The whole operation depends on a successful breach.

A search conducted under a valid search warrant can still violate the Fourth Amendment if it is conducted in an unreasonable manner. "It is incumbent upon the officer executing a search warrant to ensure the search is lawfully authorized and lawfully conducted." (Groh v. Ramirez)