The Effectiveness of Special Weapons and Tactics Teams (SWAT) - Essay Example

This essay describes the Special weapons and Tactical teams law enforcement that started with the idea of protecting the well-being of police officers in the United States, as they carried out their duties of “serving and protecting” the public. The idea of being able to extract bad guys efficiently without mass mayhem and creating collateral damage, was the hallmark for the creation of the teams. Whether one is a proponent or a detractor of the existence of SWAT teams, they must strike the same cord when confronted with the issue of the relevance of the teams continued existence.

SWAT teams have done some questionable things, and they have accomplished many good things. Before we throw out the baby with the bath water, we must objectively assess the situation and ask the question. Are we better off today with SWAT teams, than we were without them? The researcher of this essay believes that we are definitely better off, and what is needed is that a considerable amount of thought must be directed to how, these teams can be better utilized, while they are on hold waiting for the day, when they will be needed to serve in the capacity for which they were originally conceived.

It is commonly held that a good offense is better than a good defense. However, to sum up the researcher states that we know that municipal police departments left to their traditional arsenal and philosophy, are not equipped enough to handle the some of types of confrontations which the bad guys can concoct.