This photo-illustrated book describes the life of SWAT officers, including the work they do to catch dangerous criminals and free hostages. Describes what it takes to become a SWAT officer and includes real-life missions. The Q&A features throughout promote reader inquiry and critical thinking. Includes glossary, further resources, and index.
SWAT teams are special groups of police officers called in to handle difficult situations. If there’s a hostage crisis or a riot, a SWAT team is usually on the scene. The heroic people who’ve chosen a career as part of a SWAT team had to go through special training and use special skills in order to do their job. Readers learn about this career through manageable text, eye-catching fact boxes, and a detailed graphic organizer. They also see exciting photographs of SWAT teams hard at work. Real-world examples are also included to get readers interested in this career path.
Provides an introduction to police departments' special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams, including their history, organization, functions, responsibilities, weapons and equipment.
SWAT teams are special groups of police officers called in to handle difficult situations. If there’s a hostage crisis or a riot, a SWAT team is usually on the scene. The heroic people who’ve chosen a career as part of a SWAT team had to go through special training and use special skills in order to do their job. Readers learn about this career through manageable text, eye-catching fact boxes, and a detailed graphic organizer. They also see exciting photographs of SWAT teams hard at work. Real-world examples are also included to get readers interested in this career path.
In turbulent Shanghai in the years between the World Wars, the International Settlement was a mercantile powerhouse that faced unrest from Communist labor unions, criminal gangs, spies, political agitators, armed kidnappers and assassins. Adjoining the Settlement were the French Concession and the Chinese city, both hotbeds of intrigue and crime themselves. Called the most sinful in the world, the Settlement relied on its police: the Shanghai Municipal Police, one of the most advanced forces in the world. After an incident in 1926 when the police fired upon demonstrators, which resulted in unrest and strikes, W. E. Fairbairn was charged with forming a specialized unit to deal with riots and armed encounters. The resulting Reserve Unit became the prototype for future SWAT teams, as it developed tactics for using snipers in barricade and hostage incidents, techniques for use of the submachine gun during raids, hostage rescue tactics, aggressive riot-dispersal tactics and various other tactical innovations. Out of the experiences of the unit came many of the techniques later taught by W. E. Fairbairn, E. A. Sykes, Pat O'Neill and others to the Commandos, Rangers, SOE, OSS, 1st Special Service Force and other Second World War elite units. Those same techniques still resonate today with special forces and police tactical units.
This groundbreaking history of how American police forces have been militarized is now revised and updated. Newly added material brings the story through 2020, including analysis of the Ferguson protests, the Obama and Trump administrations, and the George Floyd protests. The last days of colonialism taught America’s revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement. But over the last two centuries, America’s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: the home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as enemies. In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Balko shows how politicians’ ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. His fascinating, frightening narrative that spans from America’s earliest days through today shows how a creeping battlefield mentality has isolated and alienated American police officers and put them on a collision course with the values of a free society.
This handy manual lays the groundwork for police departments, paramilitary units or security companies to organize a SWAT unit capable of reacting to most situations. Learn what it takes to become proficient at hand-to-hand combat, use chemical weapons, negotiate hostage releases, handle the media and more. For academic study only.
Describes the rigorous physical training tactics employed by America's Special Weapons And Tactics teams, outlining a six-week program of calisthenics, weights, and speed drills as well as a twelve-week program designed to keep physical performance at a top level, in a reference that is complemented by demonstrative photographs and nutrition tips.