Transcript
S.W.A.T. teams, specially trained police teams, have been used increasingly in routine matters like serving drug warrants, sometimes with disastrous results.
How a Standoff with the Black Panthers Fueled the Rise of SWAT
S.W.A.T. teams, specially trained police teams, have been used increasingly in routine matters like serving drug warrants, sometimes with disastrous results.
S.W.A.T. teams were created in the 1960s to combat violent events. Since then, the specialized teams have morphed into a force increasingly used in routine policing, most often to serve drug warrants,sometimes with disastrous results. Which raises the question – are we too militarized?
Related:
The Rise of the SWAT Team in American Policing by Clyde Haberman
- Producer: Bonnie Bertram
- Producer: Olivia Katrandjian
- Editor: Jeff Bernier
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan: Watts Uprising and the Militarization of Policing
Grades
9-12
Students will learn how racial discontent in the 1960s led to the creation of the nation’s first SWAT team, how the War on Drugs of the 1980s caused SWAT teams to be repurposed for drug raids, and how, in recent years, the SWAT approach to policing has fueled a nationwide trend: the militarization of local police departments.
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