The post I did yesterday about SWAT Overkill has generated a ton of response, and I knew it would. Over all I would say they have been very much in agreement w/ me that it was an improper use of force. But I have also received a number of messages from law enforcement folks objecting to the way I presented it such as this. Guys, I have always been a huge supporter and fan of Blackfive. I have always passed along your stories and gotten others to sign up for your site. But I have a huge problem now. I am former military (and still a support and fight for our troops) and long time police officer (with many years of ERT training and now am an Instructor) and this story is very disturbing to me and my friends. Not because of what happened but how it was posted by J and allowed to run wild with quick to judge comments. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that they were right or wrong. I would not know because I don't have all of the information (the truth not just what has been passed along). Uncle J is doing exactly the same thing to our SWAT members that he (and you guys) complain about every day that is happening to our military men and women. Someone taking a story, with limited truth and running with it because it makes a good story. I never thought I would see the day when you guys jumped on the bandwagon of "to hell with the truth just print it because it will raise the website hits"! If I am missing something please let me know but from reading his story and watching that "video" all I got out of it was SWAT teams are running wild and killing peoples poor animals. He's right. I didn't do it for traffic, but I definitely knew that the video would create a visceral response when people saw it and heard that dog wailing. That was wrong and if I believed this story was important enough I should have run it without that. I apologize to all the good folks who bust their asses every day to keep us safe. Below is my response to him and several others who expressed similar sentiments.I have been contemplating a post on this topic for quite a while and held off for just the reason you mentioned. I don't believe that there are bad intentions involved at all. I respect and admire all of those who wear either uniform. But as I wrote this is not an isolated incident, it is a far too common occurrence. Check out the Cato paper Overkill I linked in the piece, there are way too many times where a dynamic entry is used that cannot be justified. It should be a last resort tool, and it is not. I truly believe that some of this is due to "use it or lose it" budgetary pressure and that is no reason to expose kids to the trauma and possible wound trauma a dynamic entry can cause. There are far too many other ways to serve warrants and I believe we ought to save door-kicking for only when it is truly needed. I will make another post noting the several responses I have gotten from folks like you and my response. I have also gotten quite a few from serving officers who agree with me. Thanks for your service and I hope you can understand that I am not down on officers, just over use of this tactic. I stand by that sentiment and will be cognizant of not sensationalizing topics to make a point. I think some of the commenters would do well to think about the abuse they have been throwing around as well.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/YoPIlqZfrck/sensationalism-swat.html
Posted
May 06 2010, 01:57 AM
by
BLACKFIVE