Kristian Williams - Our Enemies in Blue - Police and Power in America

Police planning also quickly turned in a more martial direction. In 1969, theNYPD began planning construction of its Command and Control Center. Formodels, it visited military installations like the Pentagon and the Strategic AirCommand Headquarters. Mayor John Undsay described the new center, aptly,as a "war room."8 Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Daryl Gates was re-inventing theMetro Division of the LAPD:Breaking from LAPD tradition, we formed sixteen military-type squadswith a sergeant in charge of each ten-man squad, and then we meshedthem into two platoons, each headed by a lieutenant. They were givenmissions for which they were responsible. They developed the approachand the tactics without direction from above. Their only admonishmentwas to maintain departmental policy and rules.9Gates' adaptation of military organization to law enforcement was remarkable,and it did not end with the squad and platoon structures. Military tactics weresoon adopted as well, most famously with the creation of the SWAT team.The Los Angeles Police Department's Special Weapons And Tactics teambecame the first of many similar units, generically termed "Police ParamilitaryUnits," or PPUS.IO SWAT was developed in secret during the late sixties, trainingwith marines at Camp Pendleton. I I Though ostensibly designed to handlesnipers, the team's first mission was a 1969 raid on the headquarters of theBlack Panther Party. A shoot-out ensued, follow by a long stand-off. Growingimpatient, the SWAT team requested-and received-a Marine Corps grenade launcher, but the Panthers surrendered before it could be put to use.I2Shortly thereafter, SWAT raided a house where members of the Symbioneseliberation Army (SIA) were hiding out. Again, a shoot-out ensued, followed bya long standoff. This time SWAT asked for fragmentation grenades, and Gatesrefused. But no matter: when police fired tear gas into the house it caught fireand burned to the ground. Six SIA members died in the blaze.I3 Gates laterexpressed his concern: "At the moment my main concern was whether PattyHearst had been inside. I didn't give a shit about the others."14 Apparently, hisregard for the neighbors was no higher. No effort had been made to evacuatethe neighborhood before the raid, or during the stand-off. Nearby homes weredamaged in the fire, and several houses were riddled with bullets.IsThe IAPD SWAT team was deployed 200 times in its first two years.IGSince then, paramilitary police units have become a nationwide phenomenon,and their rate of use has sharply increased. In 1980, PPUs weredeployed 2,884 times across the country. Fifteen years later, in 1995, thatnumber had risen to 29,962YIn part, PPUs are deployed more often simply because there are moreof them to deploy. Many small departments have formed their own paramilitaryunits, whereas before they relied on those of larger cities or the statepolice in the (rare) event of an emergency. After all, how often do the campuspolice at the University of Central Florida face sniper fire, a barricadedsuspect, or a hostage situation? Yet they have their own SWAT team. I SMany factors promoted the spread of paramilitary units, including theexistence of a ready-to-use model, the availability of equipmentI9 and training,zaand the professional prestige attached to the highly specialized teams.199