S.W.A.T. all for violence

Press, 22 October 1976, Page 11

S.W.A.T. all for violence

By

KEN COATES

The reaction of New Zealand viewers to S.W.A.T. — an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics — has included some incredulity that such a violent approach should accompany law enforcement, even on a television programme. But in the United States S.W.A.T. has been a primary tool for dealing with the “terrorist threat” of the 19705. Since the May, 1974, shoot-out between the - Symbionese Liberation Army (S.L.A.) and the Los Angeles Police Department, the training of S.W.A.T. units has become increasingly common by police departments across the countrv.

Wr iti n g in “The Nation,” a freelance journalist. Larry Remer, states that S.W.A.T. is to police forces what the Green Berets are to the army: an elite corps of specially trained, well-equipped experts in the arts of counter-inaurgency warfare.

Sergeant Bernie Remas, a founder member of Los Angeles S.W.A.T., said: “Those people out there — the radicals, the revolutionaries and the cop haters — are damned good at using shotguns and bombs, and setting up ambushes. We’ve got to be even better.”

The Los Angeles police first developed S.W.A.T. in

the winter of 1967-68. Brutal police repression in the city’s black and brown ghettos had followed the 1965 Watts rebellion and local activists had begun to organise for community self-defence.

The police sought to develop means to combat organisations like the Black Panther Party. S.W.A.T. was commissioned to “merge police and military strategies under those conditions requiring special tactics.” Borrowing methods developed by American troops in Vietnam, S.W.A.T. was intended to “neutralise guerrilla or terr o r i s operations directed against government personnel, property, or the general populace.”

S.W.A.T. members in Los Angeles are recruited from within the police department. Most of them are Vietnam or Korean combat veterans; all are white.

Lieutenant Bob Smitson, S.W.A.T. platoon leader,, said that each team member received more than 1000 hours of instruction in subjects such a,s guerrilla warfare, scouting and patrolling, night operations, camouflage and concealment, combat in cities, first aid, chemical warfare and ambushes.

Each S.W.A.T. member carries needed equipment in his car and is on 24hour call. A specially built armoured van stockpiled

with equipment is ready for use at all times. Five-man squads consist of a team leader, marksman, observer, a scout and a rear-guard. The team leader is in touch with the command post and controls the tactical operations.

He is armed with an AR-15, the semi-automatic version of the M-16. The observer spots for the marksman, and provides cover. He also carries an AR-15. The marksman carries a high-powered, bolt action rifle with telescopic sights, and can act as a sniper. Both the scout and the rear-guard carry 12gauge riot shotguns for use against barricaded suspects. They also double as grenadiers when gas is used. In 1974, S.W.A.T. and the S.L.A. fought it out in a Los Angeles ghetto before a live national television audience.

Discovery of the hideout brought S.W.A.T. into action. The first surrender orders were given but there was no response. Within minutes a gas attack had been launched and the “battle” had begun. More than 400 police were called out to augment the 29 S.W.A.T. team members and seven F. 8.1. agents who took part in the fight. Sheriffs’ helicopters circled overhead.

More than 5000 rounds of ammunition and 80 tear-gas cannisters were fired into the dwelling. Requests for fragmentation grenades and machine guns by S.W.A.T. officers were denied by higher officials. Within 90 minutes, the house was engulfed in flames and six members of the S.L.A. lay dead inside.

In the aftermath, police attributed the “victory” to S.W.A.T’s training and readiness. Departments across the country rushed to develop S.W.A.T. units of their own.

The Justice Department gave a $140,000 grant; to a San Diego police sergeant who organised his local S.W.A.T. unit to develop a programme and write- f manual detailing how S.W.A.T. is recruited, trained, equipped and organised.

The F. 8.1. has made available its academy for training local police in S.W.A.T. and sniper suppression. At the United States Army Research Institute, S.W.A.T. members from all over the United States study the latest techniques. In the meantime, a weekly network television series which extolls the virtues of S.W.A.T. prepares the public to accept the high level of violence that accompanies, its use.