Scrapmo
08-21-2013, 10:31 PM
I should have learned by now.
I should fail to be shocked by the actions of our government enforcement class. But every time I believe that the bar has been set so abysmally low that police, as a corrupt institution, could not possibly fall any lower, could not possibly be anymore shameful, I am corrected.
This new pinnacle of disappointment came from reading Radley Balko’s new book “Rise of the Warrior Cop”, which I highly recommend. The section I was reading involved the police clamoring for more funding for SWAT and the need for SWAT teams in small rural locales in the wake of the Columbine shootings.
So lets review how the actions of those brave men on the day that two students decided to stroll into Columbine High and execute their classmates.
After the shooting had begun and the police were notified, 800 police officers and 8 SWAT teams eventually arrived on the scene.
This is where the story ends right? The heavily armed and armored SWAT teams who are highly trained to deal with these types of situation charged in waiving the American flag and neutralized the threats. Right?
Wrong.
Denver SWAT team began to enter the high school when they were ordered down by their commanding officers. “A dead police officer would not be able to help anyone.” was the justification given by SWAT team leader Donn Kraemer. The situation was deemed too dangerous to officer safety to intervene.
Twenty minutes after the shooting began; police did decide to enter the building. This is when they confronted the killers and liberated the children, right?
Wrong.
The SWAT entered the OPPOSITE side of the building where they knew the killers weren’t. There they found students trying to get out of the building. Instead of going of continuing to where the shooting was taking place, the police decided to escort the victims out of the building where they proceeded to FRISK every victim who came out. The shooters then proceeded to other areas of the building to continue killing. After the killers committed suicide the police still would not enter the parts of the building where gun fire occurred. It was still too dangerous. According to Balko, it took 3 hours for the police to sweep the building and reach the victims and another 45 minutes after that for paramedics to reach the victims. This is after the killers were already dead.
Also according to Balko, the SWAT team leader from Denver and the LAPD SWAT team leader deemed that the situation was handled appropriately.
And I would bet that the police were thanked for whatever it is they think they did there, probably awarded some really cool medals too.
This incident illustrated some basic truths that the American public has not fully awakened too yet.
The police will not protect you. The police will not save you. The police are not here to help.
And more specifically; SWAT teams are put in place to collect federal revenue for low level drug arrests. SWAT teams will not intervene in ANY situation that may pose a danger to themselves.
SWAT teams have no problem charging head first into a private home, shooting a dog, yelling obscenities at children and homeowners for a low-level drug charge where they are unlikely to meet much opposition. But in a situation where violence is already occurring, they will stand idly by while and allow your children to be slaughtered if they thought an officer might receive some armed resistance.
In other words SWAT is the culmination of all the cowardly policies and actions that make the institution of law enforcement one of the most disgraceful institution in our country.
/end rant.
End note: Pick up Radley Balko’s book “Rise of the Warrior Cop”. Most of the facts and quotes in this post came from his book.
I should fail to be shocked by the actions of our government enforcement class. But every time I believe that the bar has been set so abysmally low that police, as a corrupt institution, could not possibly fall any lower, could not possibly be anymore shameful, I am corrected.
This new pinnacle of disappointment came from reading Radley Balko’s new book “Rise of the Warrior Cop”, which I highly recommend. The section I was reading involved the police clamoring for more funding for SWAT and the need for SWAT teams in small rural locales in the wake of the Columbine shootings.
So lets review how the actions of those brave men on the day that two students decided to stroll into Columbine High and execute their classmates.
After the shooting had begun and the police were notified, 800 police officers and 8 SWAT teams eventually arrived on the scene.
This is where the story ends right? The heavily armed and armored SWAT teams who are highly trained to deal with these types of situation charged in waiving the American flag and neutralized the threats. Right?
Wrong.
Denver SWAT team began to enter the high school when they were ordered down by their commanding officers. “A dead police officer would not be able to help anyone.” was the justification given by SWAT team leader Donn Kraemer. The situation was deemed too dangerous to officer safety to intervene.
Twenty minutes after the shooting began; police did decide to enter the building. This is when they confronted the killers and liberated the children, right?
Wrong.
The SWAT entered the OPPOSITE side of the building where they knew the killers weren’t. There they found students trying to get out of the building. Instead of going of continuing to where the shooting was taking place, the police decided to escort the victims out of the building where they proceeded to FRISK every victim who came out. The shooters then proceeded to other areas of the building to continue killing. After the killers committed suicide the police still would not enter the parts of the building where gun fire occurred. It was still too dangerous. According to Balko, it took 3 hours for the police to sweep the building and reach the victims and another 45 minutes after that for paramedics to reach the victims. This is after the killers were already dead.
Also according to Balko, the SWAT team leader from Denver and the LAPD SWAT team leader deemed that the situation was handled appropriately.
And I would bet that the police were thanked for whatever it is they think they did there, probably awarded some really cool medals too.
This incident illustrated some basic truths that the American public has not fully awakened too yet.
The police will not protect you. The police will not save you. The police are not here to help.
And more specifically; SWAT teams are put in place to collect federal revenue for low level drug arrests. SWAT teams will not intervene in ANY situation that may pose a danger to themselves.
SWAT teams have no problem charging head first into a private home, shooting a dog, yelling obscenities at children and homeowners for a low-level drug charge where they are unlikely to meet much opposition. But in a situation where violence is already occurring, they will stand idly by while and allow your children to be slaughtered if they thought an officer might receive some armed resistance.
In other words SWAT is the culmination of all the cowardly policies and actions that make the institution of law enforcement one of the most disgraceful institution in our country.
/end rant.
End note: Pick up Radley Balko’s book “Rise of the Warrior Cop”. Most of the facts and quotes in this post came from his book.