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49-536: The bureau is the host of Beijing SWAT , reportedly one of the most well trained and best equipped special police ( 特警 ; Tèjǐng ) teams in the entire country. The director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau generally serves concurrently as a Vice Minister of Public Security . In 2010, the agency started a new public relations program by allowing Hong Kong and Macau media to attend press conferences and adding new spokespersons. On 17 August 2011,

98-599: A long lag between the initial emergency and actual SWAT deployment on the ground. The problems of delayed police response at Columbine led to changes in police response, mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive. SWAT teams use equipment designed for a variety of specialist situations including close-quarters combat (CQC) in an urban environment. The particular pieces of equipment vary from unit to unit, but there are some consistent trends in what they wear and use. Much of their equipment

147-761: A shooter in the Winnetka neighborhood of Los Angeles led to the first line-of-duty death of a member of the LAPD's SWAT team in its 41 years of existence. Radley Balko , an analyst for the libertarian Cato Institute , argued in his book Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America that increased SWAT raids have made no-knock raids , and danger to innocents and suspects, far greater. Another study, Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments by Diane Cecilia Weber, also of

196-509: A shootout, as happened in Austin with Charles Whitman . After the LAPD's establishment of its own SWAT team, many law enforcement agencies in United States established their own specialized units under various names. Gates explained in his autobiography Chief: My Life in the LAPD that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor the associated and often distinctive equipment; but that he supported

245-623: A single dedicated SWAT vehicle. By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants. The NYPD 's Emergency Service Unit is one of the few police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services in addition to SWAT functions, including search and rescue, and car accident vehicle extrication, normally handled by fire departments or other agencies. The need to summon widely dispersed personnel, then equip and brief them, makes for

294-406: A small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, making a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits, and were required to attend special monthly training sessions. The unit also served as a security unit for police facilities during civil unrest. The LAPD SWAT units were organized as "D Platoon" in

343-518: A strike that would last over five years from 1965 to 1970. Though the strike never turned violent, the Delano Police Department responded by forming ad-hoc SWAT-type units involving crowd and riot control, sniper skills, and surveillance. Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these events across the United States. Personnel from the LAPD, having seen these broadcasts, contacted Delano and inquired about

392-594: A threat to public safety which would otherwise exceed the capabilities of traditional law enforcement first responders and/or investigative units. According to the Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement , the term "SWAT" was used as an acronym for the "Special Weapons and Tactics" established as a 100-man specialized unit in 1964 by the Philadelphia Police Department in response to an alarming increase in bank robberies . The purpose of this unit

441-452: A variety of headgear such as M1 helmets , motorcycle helmets , bump helmets , or even soft patrol caps . Modern SWAT units use helmets similar to those issued by the U.S. military, such as the PASGT helmet or Future Assault Shell Technology helmet , though they may also use riot helmets or soft headgear such as caps . Balaclavas and goggles are often used to protect the face and protect

490-525: Is a police tactical unit in the People's Republic of China part of the People's Police that deals with incidents beyond the capabilities of normal patrol officers such as hostage situations, high risk warrants and riot control. The unit, along with the Snow Leopard Commando Unit (SLCU), was tasked with many of the security responsibilities of the 2008 Summer Olympics . It is reputed to be one of

539-518: Is a rational use of available police resources. Other defenders of SWAT deployments state that police have every reason to minimize risks to themselves during raids. By 2005, the number of yearly SWAT deployments in the United States had increased to 50,000, most often to serve drug-related warrants in private homes. According to a study by the ACLU , just under 80% of SWAT deployments were used to serve arrest warrants. Officers have cited safety as

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588-530: Is a response to real or perceived moral panics associated with fear of crime and terrorism. Banks writes that SWAT team employment of military veterans has influenced their tactics and perspective. Countering the view that post-9/11 SWAT policing represents the militarization of police forces, scholar den Heyer writes that SWAT policing is part of a natural progression towards police professionalization. Den Heyer also argues that while SWAT teams continue to be deployed to execute large numbers of drug warrants, this

637-424: Is indistinguishable from that supplied to the military, not least because much of it is military surplus . SWAT personnel wear similar uniforms to those worn by military personnel. Traditional SWAT uniforms are usually solid tones of dark blue, black, grey, tan, or olive green, though uniforms with military camouflage have become popular with some SWAT units since the 2000s. Early SWAT units were equipped with

686-1254: The 2008 Summer Olympics , the local government allocated CNY 280 million for the Beijing SWAT to procure equipment for operations, some of which went into purchasing specialized vehicles for various duties including the Hummer H2 and APC's . SWAT In the United States , a SWAT ( special weapons and tactics ) team is a generic term for a police tactical unit . SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to resolve "high-risk situations", often those regular police units are not trained or equipped to handle, such as shootouts , standoffs , raids , hostage-takings , and terrorism . SWAT units are equipped with specialized weapons and equipment not normally issued to regular police units, such as automatic firearms , high-caliber sniper rifles , stun grenades , body armor , ballistic shields , night-vision devices , and armored vehicles , among others. SWAT units are often trained in special tactics such as close-quarters combat , door breaching , crisis negotiation , and de-escalation . The first SWAT units were formed in

735-598: The Beijing Sports University and Chinese People's Public Security University . Beijing SWAT members are trained, aside from combat tactics, in many subjects including English, etiquette, cultural dynamics, intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism and anti-riot and anti-nuclear and biological warfare tactics. All SWAT operatives undergo psychiatric evaluation. The unit is armed with a variety of domestically manufactured weapons such as QBZ-95 assault rifles and QSZ-92 pistols. Vehicles In preparation for

784-545: The DEA . The money resulted in the creation of many narcotics task forces, and SWAT teams became an important part of these forces. In 1972, paramilitary police units launched a few hundred drug raids annually within the United States. In the early 1980s, SWAT drug raid numbers increased to 3000 annually, and by 1996, 30,000 raids annually. During the 1990s, according to The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin , weapons donations from

833-581: The Department of Defense greatly bolstered the number of SWAT teams and the extent of their operations. The paper reported that the military transferred nearly 100,000 pieces of military equipment to Wisconsin police departments in the 1990s. Criminal justice professors Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler, in their study Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units , surveyed police departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units had grown tenfold between

882-402: The People's Republic of China is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Beijing -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Beijing Special Weapons and Tactics Unit Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Counter-Terrorism and Special Police Unit ( Chinese : 北京市公安局反恐怖和特警总队 ) referred to as Beijing SWAT ( Chinese : 北京特警 ),

931-552: The "SWAT" acronym to be "Special Weapons Attack Team" but this was not accepted by deputy chief Edward M. Davis who instead approved Special Weapons and Tactics. The LAPD promoted what became known as SWAT teams for a variety of reasons. After the racially-charged Watts riots in Los Angeles in August 1965, the LAPD began considering tactics it could use when faced with urban unrest, rioting, or widespread violence. Daryl Gates, who led

980-636: The 1960s to handle riot control and violent confrontations with criminals. The number and usage of SWAT units increased in the 1980s during the War on Drugs and the 1990s following incidents such as the North Hollywood shootout and Columbine High School massacre , with further increases in the 2000s for counterterrorism interests in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks . In the United States by 2005, SWAT teams were deployed 50,000 times every year, almost 80% of

1029-707: The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau AW109E police helicopter crashed into Miyun reservoir  [ zh ] in Miyun County , Beijing. Three crewmen were killed and one severely injured. All police officers of the Beijing police are armed with a variety of guns on the beat, e.g. QSZ-92 , QSW-06 , officers in special units carry shotguns and SWAT members are armed with the domestically produced Norinco QBZ-95 Assault Rifle and QSZ-92 Pistols. This article about government in

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1078-624: The Cato Institute, raised concern about the increasing use of SWAT teams for ordinary policing tasks. The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively trained and equipped officers cannot be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments the officers are normally deployed to regular duties, but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, mobile phones, or radio transceivers. Even in larger police agencies, SWAT personnel will normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, but

1127-427: The LAPD response to the riots, would later write that police at the time did not face a single mob, but rather "people attacking from all directions". New York University professor Christian Parenti has written that SWAT teams were originally conceived of as an "urban counterinsurgency bulwark". Another reason for the creation of SWAT teams was the fear of lone or barricaded gunmen who might outperform police in

1176-569: The Metro division. Early police powers and tactics used by SWAT teams were aided by legislation passed in 1967-8 with the help of Republican House representative Donald Santarelli . The legislation was promoted within the context of fears over the civil rights movement , race riots , the Black Panther Party , and the emerging War on Drugs . The first significant deployment of the LAPD SWAT

1225-467: The SLA; no police were wounded, but the six SLA members died in the conflict, which ended when the house caught fire and burned to the ground. By the time of the SLA shootout, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team being divided further into two five-man units, called elements. An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal complement of weapons

1274-625: The SWAT first entered the school. As noted in an article in the Christian Science Monitor , "Instead of being taught to wait for the SWAT team to arrive, street officers are receiving the training and weaponry to take immediate action during incidents that clearly involve suspects' use of deadly force." The article further reported that street officers were increasingly being armed with rifles, and issued heavy body armor and ballistic helmets, items traditionally associated with SWAT units. The idea

1323-525: The afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily armed left-wing guerrillas , barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days afterwards. SWAT teams engaged in a several-hour gun battle with

1372-499: The capabilities of the Beijing Police to deal with terrorism issues, protection of delegates, and to enforce law and order in the 2008 Beijing Olympics . The unit has in recent years received training and advice from Western counter-terrorism units. In June 2008, the unit's 120-operator No. 1 Detachment was renamed Blue Sword (蓝剑, "Lán jiàn") Commando Unit . Typically expected of a police tactical unit from any country will be

1421-648: The early 1980s and late 1990s. The Columbine High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999 was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were shooting students and staff inside the school, officers did not intervene in the shooting, but instead set a perimeter as they were trained to do. By the time they did enter the school, 12 people were killed and Harris and Klebold had committed suicide. They were also heavily criticized for not saving teacher Dave Sanders, who had died from blood loss , three hours after

1470-601: The fight against drugs. Reagan subsequently declared drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security. In 1988 the Reagan administration encouraged Congress to create the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Program. The program modified existing federal aid structures to local police, making it easier to transfer money and equipment to fight the War on Drugs. Police forces also received increased assistance from

1519-468: The first few minutes of the incident. In some situations, this dictates the need to rapidly assess the situation and act quickly in order to save lives." According to criminal justice professor Cyndi Banks, the War on Terror , like the War on Drugs, became the context of a significant expansion of SWAT policing. Whereas some have attributed this expansion to "mission creep" and the militarization of police , other scholars argue that increased SWAT policing

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1568-1310: The identities of team members. Ballistic vests , sometimes including rigid plate inserts, are standard-issue. These vests are labelled with "POLICE", "SHERIFF", "SWAT", or similar, to allow for easy identification. SWAT units are equipped with special weapons that are not normally used by regular police units, typically military firearms such as assault rifles , submachine guns , riot shotguns , sniper rifles , riot control agents , smoke grenades , stun grenades , and stinger grenades . Though these armaments make SWAT teams resemble military infantry squads , they are still law enforcement units tasked with arrest , and are thus often also equipped with less-lethal weapons such as tasers , pepper spray , pepperballs , baton rounds , bean bag rounds , and rubber bullets to incapacitate suspects. Many SWAT units also have access to specialized equipment such as ballistic shields , entry tools , battering rams , armored vehicles , thermal and night-vision devices , fiberscope cameras , and motion detectors . Canine units may also be incorporated within SWAT teams, or may be used on an ad hoc basis. SWAT units often employ SWAT vehicles, also called "armored rescue vehicles" (ARV), for insertion, maneuvering, and during operations such as

1617-405: The main reason for use of SWAT teams, stating that SWAT units would frequently be called if there were a possibility a suspect might be armed. For instance, in 2006, only two police officers were killed in the arrest of 2 million drug suspects, a low casualty rate possibly stemming from the military equipment and tactics used in the raids. On February 7, 2008, a siege and subsequent firefight with

1666-597: The most well-equipped and well-trained of all the tactical units of public security agencies in the PRC . Jurisdictionally the unit is under the control of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau . The Beijing SWAT unit and Snow Leopard Commando Unit (SLCU) were unveiled in a demonstration at the Beijing Police Academy on April 27, 2006, as part of a public relations effort to illustrate

1715-449: The officers would not be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons. Since officers have to be on call-out most of the day, they may be assigned to regular patrol duties. To decrease response times to situations that require a SWAT team, it is now a common practice to place SWAT equipment and weaponry in secured lockers in the trunks of specialized police cruisers instead of forcing officers to travel to gather their equipment or only use

1764-627: The program. One officer then obtained permission to observe the Delano Police Department's special weapons and tactics units in action, and afterwards, he took what he had learned back to Los Angeles, where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form the LAPD's own first SWAT unit. John Nelson was the officer who conceived the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Inspector Gates approved this idea, and he formed

1813-526: The report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. These included riots such as the Watts riots , which in the 1960s forced the LAPD and other police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared; the emergence of snipers as a challenge to civil order; political assassinations; and the threat of urban guerrilla warfare by militant groups. "The unpredictability of

1862-476: The report. The report states on page 109, "The purpose of SWAT is to provide protection, support, security, firepower, and rescue to police operations in high personal risk situations where specialized tactics are necessary to minimize casualties." In 1981 U.S. Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, giving police access to military intelligence, infrastructure, and weaponry in

1911-850: The rescue of personnel and civilians who may be in danger of receiving fire from suspects if extracted through other methods. Common armored SWAT vehicles include the Lenco BearCat , Lenco BEAR, BAE Caiman , Cadillac Gage Ranger , Cadillac Gage Commando , and similar vehicles. Some departments use decommissioned, disarmed military vehicles acquired from the Law Enforcement Support Office . Alternatively, SWAT teams may use unmarked police cars to respond faster, provide better mobility when splitting up, or avoid detection. Police aircraft , commonly helicopters , are used to provide aerial reconnaissance or insertion via rappelling or fast-roping . The use of armored vehicles by SWAT teams

1960-422: The role of a tactical response team to handle hostage-rescue, high-risk warrants, VIP or dangerous criminal escort duties and sometimes counter-terrorism and anti-riot duties. The Beijing SWAT Unit is divided into sub-units consisting of but not limited to: a aviation unit (航空队), an underwater diving unit (潜水队), female SWAT unit (女子特警队) and a K9 unit (警犬队). Recruits are selected from six colleges, including

2009-399: The sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increase the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerrilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerrillas." To deal with these under conditions of urban violence, the LAPD formed SWAT, notes

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2058-737: The time to serve search warrants , most often for narcotics . By 2015, the number of annual SWAT deployments had increased to nearly 80,000 times a year. Despite their heightened involvement in high-risk scenarios, research on their use of force has shown varied results. A study by professor Jimmy J. Williams and professor David Westall found that there wasn't a significant difference in the frequency of use of force between SWAT and non-SWAT officers when responding to similar situations. The United States National Tactical Officers Association's definition of SWAT is: SWAT : A designated law enforcement team whose members are recruited, selected, trained, equipped and assigned to resolve critical incidents involving

2107-577: The underlying concept, tried to empower his people to develop it, and generally lent them moral support. SWAT-type operations were conducted north of Los Angeles in the farming community of Delano, California on the border between Kern and Tulare Counties in the San Joaquin Valley . At the time, the United Farm Workers union led by César Chavez was staging numerous protests in Delano in

2156-429: Was a significant change to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles. The encounter with the heavily armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued body armor and automatic weapons of various types. A report issued by the LAPD after the SLA shootout offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. On page 100 of

2205-402: Was a sniper rifle (a .243 -caliber bolt-action , based on the ordnance expended by officers at the shootout), two .223 -caliber semi-automatic rifles, and two shotguns. SWAT officers also carried their service revolvers in shoulder holsters. Standard gear included a first aid kit , gloves, and a military gas mask . At a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns, it

2254-399: Was never actually used. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with four Panthers and four officers being injured. All six arrested Panthers were acquitted of the most serious charges brought against them, including conspiracy to murder police officers, because it was ruled that they acted in self-defense. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a police resource in Los Angeles. On

2303-525: Was on December 9, 1969, when an attempt by the LAPD to serve arrest warrants against the Black Panthers led to a four-hour standoff at their Los Angeles headquarters at 41st and Central, during which over 5,000 rounds were exchanged between police and the Panthers. During the shootout, Daryl Gates called the Department of Defense , requesting and receiving permission to use a grenade launcher ; however, it

2352-431: Was to react quickly and decisively to bank robberies while they were in progress, using a large number of specially trained officers who had a great amount of firepower at their disposal. The tactic worked and was used to resolve other types of incidents involving heavily armed criminals. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Special Weapons and Tactics was established in 1967. LAPD inspector Daryl Gates envisioned

2401-497: Was to train and equip street officers to make a rapid response to so-called active shooter situations. In these situations, it was no longer acceptable to simply set up a perimeter and wait for SWAT. As an example, in the policy and procedure manual of the Minneapolis Police Department , it is stated, "MPD personnel shall remain cognizant of the fact that in many active shooter incidents, innocent lives are lost within

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