A History of Bravery and Conflict Essay Example for Free

A History of Bravery and Conflict EssayAlthough many protest against the SWAT aggroup ups use of force, history shows how vital it is for SWAT teams to wield more(prenominal) power than standard law of nature officers. SWAT officers have captured and killed criminals who could not be stopped by conventional methods. Without them, incidents such as the Texas bulk large Massacre might occur with more frequency and with a greater number of casualties. Therefore, the SWAT team ought to be applauded for its power of protection and not hampered in its duties. ?Although many note that specialized weapons and tactics were utilise as early as the time of the civil war, special SWAT teams were not created until much later. Chris Pizzo cites William E. Fairbain as the creator of the first SWAT team. Fairbain organized his specialized teams, the Shanghai Municipal Police Force, to symbolize against riots, freedom fighter attacks and terrorists in the 1920s. Fairbains men were the firs t police group to use automatic weapons, carbines and high-powered rifles. They too used body armor, armed motorcycles, and chemicals to repel attackers.They countered snipers, used martial arts, and excelled at hand-to-hand combat. While Fairbains men originally worked in Shanghai, they brought their methods back to the United States (Pizzo, 2007). In Los Angeles, the postulate for teams with specialized weapons and tactics was do evident in 1965, when Marquette Frye, a black man, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. His mother tried to stop the arrest, and draw a crowd. The regular(a)t sparked anger and rioting against policemen in Los Angeles. According to Lee W. Minikus, the rioters threw rocks and gigantic pieces of concrete at patrol officers.The officers were armed only with eleven shotguns one per car, and batons. After being attacked, they used their batons on the rioters to defend themselves. According to Minikus, They were not rioters, as far as Im concerned, they were gangsters. The officers neighbors, slightly white, some Latino, def terminate his wife and children, holding rifles on their front porches. The riots left 25 blacks and nine whites dead. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 others were injured. Rioters burn down businesses to ash and damaged more than 600 properties. Ironically, Minikus and Marquette remained friends after the incident (Reitman Landsberg, 2005).In the summer of 1966, Americas need for SWAT teams became even clearer when a tragedy struck Texas. A disturbed engineering student and origin marine, Charles Whitman, killed his wife and parents, then climbed to a tower on the University of Austins campus and began shooting down students. Whitman allowed others to absorb close enough to aid the wounded victims, and then shot the would-be rescuers as well. He even shot an eight months pregnant woman in the stomach, killing her baby. When police arrived on the scene, they had to plan to irritate Whitman or to help the victims.Some tried to work him down with an airplane, but were repelled by his gunfire. Eventually, the officers were able to bring Whitman down by using an underground tunnel. When they reached Whitman, he fired on them. They returned fire and finally ended Whitmans attack (Snow, 1996). The tower massacre lead police to the realization that they needed to be more prepared for such attacks. Meanwhile, after the Watts riots, several snipers shot innocent civilians and police were not able to suffice efficiently to such disasters. The Los Angeles Police Department was the first to find a way to respond (LAPD, 2008). police officer John Nelson, supported by inspector Darryl Gates, came up with a special weapons and tactics squad, which would enlist a small group of extremely disciplined officers to handle the most challenging and unusual problems faced by the force. The original LAPD SWAT team consisted of fifteen men, who had both police and military experience. They operated once a month, or when they were actually needed. By the 1970s, however, SWAT teams operated on a full-time basis in larger cities. In 1971, they officially adopted the name of SWAT (Snow, 1996).