Quote:So, if SWAT teams shouldn't be using ballistic plating and helmets, flashbangs, and other gear to make entry to extract dangerous and violent individuals, how should it be done then as an alternative?  Do we just negotiate with barricaded, dangerous individuals until they see the light?  SWAT teams aren't patrolling your neighborhoods man.  They are only called when the stuff hits the fan.

 

Officer Friendly and Judge Dredd are cute hyperbole and fantasies and all, but there aren't any vigilante cops out there.  Its just not the case.  Police aren't out there saying to themselves, "I'm going to kill this guy because he's a career criminal and our streets would be better off." and then pulling triggers.  There are real reasons why cops decide to pull the trigger and it usually relates to the danger they believe they or others are in, real or wrongly perceived.