SWAT: April 2008 Archives

This from the Friendly Fire Blog at LADN.

Crime Scene reader Robert CJ Parry blogged the latest news about LAPD's planned SWAT reorganization. here's an excerpt:

The LAPD SWAT Board of Inquiry report that Police Chief William Bratton unveiled this morning is a remarkable insult to the people and police officers of Los Angeles. It recommends a litany of politically correct changes that have been used to eliminate 13 of the 18 standards SWAT has used for two decades in selecting its new officers. It even goes so far as to describe SWAT - not the criminals it captures - as “a threat to” Los Angeles as a whole.

In my research on this issue, I’ve interviewed officers whose experience totals more than 150 years on the department, a century in SWAT. Their comments on a draft copy of the un-released BOI report have been consolidated in a “Counter Analysis,” which will be released later today. It is a point-by-point review of both the BOI’s recommendations and their methodology for reaching them. In short, there was none.

These officers refuse to be identified because of an unprecedented campaign of intimidation LAPD management has pressed on SWAT. Bratton has gone so far as to remove officers from operations because of the comments of their wives and threatening to transfer out any officer who speaks his mind – publicly or privately.