IP: Use of SWAT Teams on the Rise

[Vladimir Z. Nuri]

From: believer at telepath.com
Subject: IP: Use of SWAT Teams on the Rise
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 12:11:32 -0500
To: believer at telepath.com

Source:  Charlotte (N.Carolina) Observer
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/local/pub/031225.htm

Published Saturday, September 19, 1998 

SWAT team approach less risky, police say
Use of squads on rise around region, nation

 By LEIGH DYER 
 Staff Writer 

Across the country, police departments are using SWAT teams to deal with
high-risk situations like the Sept. 4 drug raid that ended with a Charlotte
man dead.

Court papers said police were looking for evidence of drug dealing, but
they found no drugs in the Mayfair Avenue home.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say the paramilitary-style squad reduces the
risks to officers and the public in dangerous situations. But some critics
say using the SWAT team for search warrants is too heavy-handed.
 
Records show the Charlotte-Mecklenburg team is used sparingly. Last year,
SWAT officers were involved in 14 of the 441 warrants served by
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. Of 251 warrants executed from January to Aug.
31, SWAT team members served 15.

Of the 29 raids before Charles Irwin Potts' death, one resulted in minor
injuries. Potts' death is the first shooting during a search warrant since
the team organized in 1992.

It's less clear how often the team succeeds in finding what it's after. In
almost every raid, the team reports either an arrest or a seizure of
weapons or drugs. But they don't always seize the goods they were looking for.

The Sept. 4 raid netted three guns and gambling equipment -- but no
evidence of the cocaine dealing an informant told them they'd find.

Maj. Piper Charles, who is in charge of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg team,
said that when the team is used is not based on the likelihood of finding
drugs. Instead, it's based on the likelihood of facing armed resistance.

``The primary purpose is to save lives,'' said Charles. ``A successful
mission is one in which absolutely no one gets hurt.''

More scrutiny

SWAT calls range from negotiation with hostage-takers to quelling riots to
raids for guns, drugs or evidence of other criminal activity. 

The 42-member Charlotte-Mecklenburg Special Weapons and Tactics team uses
special equipment, including heavy body armor and laser-sighted guns. The
duty is part time. Team members are also assigned to other regular patrol
duties.

Nationally, the increased use of SWAT teams has drawn praise from those who
say their tactics are safer than traditional law--enforcement methods. 

But Peter Kraska, a criminology professor at Eastern Kentucky University
who has tracked SWAT teams, said they have a downside.

``Often when you see them in a neighborhood piling out of a vehicle . . .
it gives the community an impression they're kind of under siege,'' he said. 

Regionally, SWAT teams have become more active in counties including
Gaston, Union and Cabarrus in recent years. Sgt. Jeff Eisenhour, commander
of the Gaston County Police SWAT team, said most operations go more
smoothly with such a well-trained team, rather than regular patrol officers.

``The biggest advantage is the training,'' he said. ``Everybody knows what
everyone is doing.''

The Potts shooting has put the methods and policies of the SWAT team under
a microscope, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Charles. Those methods include
the use of ``flash-bangs,'' a diversionary device thrown into a room to
stun and distract occupants with a bang and bright lights while SWAT team
members storm in.

``My position is that you're not going to find a safer way to do it,''
Charles said.

As SWAT teams grow in popularity, they have encountered more questions
about their use. In Fitchburg, Mass., west of Boston, civil libertarians
criticized a SWAT team after its members arrested a group of young men in
1993 for lingering on a sidewalk.

And in Louisville, Ky., family members of a man killed in a SWAT raid in
March 1997 sued, challenging the police procedures. The suit alleges that a
flash-bang may have disoriented the man so much he didn't realize he was
pointing his gun at police officers. The suit is pending.

In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, though, officers say the devices may have saved
lives many times, including during a raid on Jan. 22 when a suspect dropped
a gun after a flash-bang went off.

``I have heard that sometimes people are not properly using their SWAT
teams,'' said Roy House, an instructor at Central Piedmont Community
College who conducts regional SWAT training. ``That's a leadership problem.''

House, who is also a reserve member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg team,
believes the benefits of the teams outweigh any criticism.

``I would think it's better to go in there and be a little heavy-handed
than to go in there and be outnumbered . . . or outgunned,'' he said. 
-----------------------
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-----------------------




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