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Comment by nostromo | Hacker News Reader

Shouldn’t local law enforcement do a little more triage before sending in paramilitaristic swat teams?

How many hostage situations actually happen in middle class boring suburbs such that a single unverified call turns into a full blown swat response?

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And police must be given training in de-escalation. There are a lot of skilled hostage negotiators in the police, probably every team needs one. Getting rid of overpunishment for victimless crimes will go a long way in avoiding needless crises.

This conversation has been had on HN many times. Someone will come and say that they have to assume all reports are good faith and then someone else will counter that they're the ones using deadly force and should apply it as needed.

Endless loop debate.

I don't think it's unreasonable for SWAT teams to respond to a credible call. What is unreasonable is American LEOs, SWAT and otherwise, being too quick to use de-escalation equipment that works by firing lead projectiles.

I'd assume in any situation where a swat team is necessary, 5 minutes of triage would drastically decrease effectiveness.

Well, I can't argue with that. Everybody loves free murder delivery, right?

Ok that still lands on the police force, as they're the one's to determine that a SWAT team is required.

American police aren't trained in deescalation. Couple that with their militaristic training style and you have a tendency to be cowboys, rushing into battle in a blaze of glory.

It's further complicated by massive inequality in the country, which generates strong class differences, resentment, and ultimately an "us vs them" mentality.

And we haven't even gotten to the pervasive racism yet.

America is an adolescent state, born from extreme violence and trauma that hasn't subsided yet. Americans in general are a paranoid people due to their general personal insecurity (high inequality, classism, racism, tribalism, one sickness from financial ruin, etc). It's only natural that their police force and justice system develop in such a medieval retribution style.

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