SWAT By Design Is A Lifesaving Mission
SWAT By Design Is A Lifesaving Mission
[ Being An Open Letter To Stewart Rhodes and Elias Alias ]
Prisoners
May 26, 2011
Dear Sir,
I am a member of Oath Keepers, and it is a great organization with a distinct purpose. I, as other full members, took an oath to protect our beloved Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. I take this dead seriously, second only to my God.
I have spent 22 years as a cop, more than eleven of those as a SWAT senior operator and assault team leader. I am concerned about the totality and overtone of recent articles concerning SWAT teams in general. I do not have all the details of the unfortunate Tucson deadly force incident, but having been in deadly force incidents myself, I will never second guess the thoughts and actions of those involved. As you likely know, life and death decisions are made in parts of seconds…
I can tell you that I am a dyed in the wool 2nd Amendment supporter (as well as all the amendments). I can also tell you that SWAT is a lifesaving entity by design. The much higher training and standards lend themselves to lessening the risk of deadly force. When regular patrol cops or narcotics detectives serve search warrants the risk is exponentially higher that suspects and officers will be hurt (Again, I cannot attest to the Tucson issue…)
The simple fact is that overwhelming force, special skills, very disciplined operators, speed and surprise all contribute to everyone surviving the service of a justified and legal warrant.
My SWAT team, as most in this country, operate off of established matrix’s which carefully delineate when it is appropriate to use SWAT or to “knock and announce.” The latter is vastly more dangerous for all involved. Many criteria are considered for a warrant to be SWAT initiated.
Again, SWAT by design is a lifesaving mission.
As a member of the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA), I and MANY other SWAT officers are very concerned by the recent portrayal, that to some degree, paints SWAT teams with a single brushstroke. This is unrealistic and unfair. Many SWAT operators are members of Oathkeepers, and to categorize all as being inherently innapropriate and constantly violating 4th Amendment rights, is offensive.
I can tell you, personally, in my serving hundreds of warrants and hostage rescue operations, my team was always concerned with the safety of the suspects and innocents involved. We were always erring on the side of caution when it came to others’ civil rights and well being.
It is unfortunate that a member of our armed services died during this incident. God Bless him for his service. If the Pima County Regional SWAT is justified, or at fault, then let them stand or fall on their own merits or mistakes.
I have no issue with the “muster” either, as it is another of our cherished rights, the freedom of speech.
What does concern me is the all inclusive portrayal that all SWAT teams are trained killers who have no regard for the 4th Amendment rights of others. I think a clarification by the esteemed Mr. Rhodes is appropriate.
I do not have an email address for Mr. Rhodes, or I would be writing to him instead. I would appreciate you forwarding this to him, with the caveat that he may call me anytime, at his convenience, so I may discuss these issues on the other side of the coin.
Good luck with your upcoming muster and may God Bless all our troops, law enforcement and all those that go in harm’s way to protect our freedoms and keep safe our great nation.
Please feel free to call me as well, and thank you for your time.
VR,
Craig Meyer
Please donate and support Oath Keepers mission, every little bit helps!
May 28th, 2011 at 11:45 am
I posted this letter with Craig’s permission. I find Craig to be a voice of experience and a voice of maturity. Craig is a dues-paying member in Oath Keepers and supports our mission. What he has to share with us is valuable in many ways, and I am very grateful that Craig took time to write the above-posted letter. I have promised Craig that I would not let the comments thread under his letter become tainted with unsavory comments by drive-by commenters. Disagreement is fine and welcome, but I want to see maturity, self-control, and dignity in the comments under this letter. Please be respectful as we discuss the role of SWAT in today’s society, and the role of SWAT members in Oath Keepers. Let’s just keep things civil please. Thank you one and all.
And Craig, thank you for your service and for your support.
Salute!
Elias
May 28th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Dear Craig,
As Oath Keepers western vice president and national liaison to peace officers, I felt compelled to respond to your eloquent and poignant open letter, since as you can imagine, our founder and president is preoccupied with preparing for the rally having just come off of several speaking engagements back East. I have no doubt you will be hearing from him at his first opportunity, so please be patient for his response.
Thank you for your service to your country. You honor us with your affiliation to Oath Keepers. You and your fellow SWAT team members are definitely a force multiplier in respect to our stated mission – Section 8.05 of our By Laws. I much appreciate the temper of your comments, there’s no doubt in my mind that you are a professional SWAT team leader of the first degree. I think everyone would agree that what transpired in Tucson, AZ on May 5, 2011 certainly has the attention of countless military and police personnel throughout the country. I wholeheartedly agree that it’s entirely inappropriate to paint SWAT officers in general with a broad brush of distain or even criticism. As you alluded to: “These actions involved take place in fractions of a second.” We should focus our disapproval on the policies of serving search warrants (especially a NO Name High Risk or Dynamic entry) in a manner that places the officers or the occupants of the home in question in extreme danger of being killed or seriously wounded. [I would like to interject a personal viewpoint here, if I might be permitted: It’s unconscionable to subject children to these types of dynamic entries if it can be at all prevented, plus shooting the family pets is, again in my opinion, egregious; causing additional and possibly irreparable physiological harm to said children).
Here’s an excerpt of an appeal that I recently wrote in the aftermath of that tragic event: “…At all costs, I did NOT want us to be seen as pointing an accusatory finger at any segment of local law enforcement in that suffering community (the facts of the matter in that homicide will take a very long time to thoroughly investigate and could be sealed or locked up in multiple investigating agencies and the courts for several months or even years. So it does absolutely no one any good to speculate about “What Happened” and “Who will be ultimately held accountable for that travesty of justice). When the time is right, the good citizens of Tucson will have to address those questions and solve those problems through the jury box and the ballot box themselves!”
In closing, I would like to make everyone aware of our code of conduct as stated in our By Laws:
Section 8.04. Code of Conduct. All members must understand that their actions not only reflect on Oath Keepers but on the entire military, law enforcement, fire fighters and first responder , former and current, community. We strive to maintain a positive image within our communities and states. All members are fully and solely accountable for their actions while members of Oath Keepers. All Oath Keepers Members and Associates shall possess and maintain high moral and ethical standards and uncompromised integrity for continued membership in Oath Keepers. All members are to conduct themselves in a courteous and lawful manner at all times. Members are expressly prohibited from fraternizing with known criminals, known or suspected criminal organizations and their members, associates or affiliates. Oath Keepers and its members are responsible to maintain the integrity and honor of this organization. Oath Keepers shall have a zero tolerance policy for actions that bring disrespect, dishonor or disrepute on Oath Keepers or the military, law enforcement, fire fighters and first responder community.
As you can see, we set very high standards for ourselves and our precious organization – “Oath Keepers”
Saepe Expertus, Semper Fidelis, Fratres Aeterni
David A. Freeman
May 28th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Dear Sirs,
I must say I was disappointed to read an Oath Keepers official being critical of the SWAT officers and tactics prior to any meaningful information being released. The released video clearly shows that this was not a no-knock entry or warrant. They announced themselves three times in English and Spanish. The played the police siren. It is only by the grace of God that the deceased forgot to remove his safety that no officers were hurt. As far is known, no “travesty of justice” occurred. The deceased deserved a respectful burial due to his service. Oath Keepers should stand down, mute the rhetoric and cancel these “musters” if they wish to continue receiving support from those in service to our country until the actual facts come in. When it comes out that the deceased pointed his weapon at officers and the only reason it didn’t go bang is because he left the safety on and they link the weapons and clothing to the double-homicide, there will be a lot of law enforcement leaving the ranks of Oath Keepers because of their early position in this case.
Tim Beatty
May 28th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
How well do you know Dupnik? Maybe you should do some research first!
May 28th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Tim, thank you for your reply. I would like to ask you if you would please describe Oath Keepers’ “early position in this case”.
The reason I ask is because I’m not certain if you’re seeing our “position” correctly. I am inviting you to discuss this with me here. Thanks, Brother.
Salute!
Elias
May 28th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
I fully agree with your statement Elias Alias and Not everyone should be Judged by the action of a few although so many liberties and freedoms have been lost by the actions of a few, I personally know more than a few LEOs who are following this story closely and their concerns for the target they wear on a daily basis.
It is a sad state when those who are with us to serve are targets themselves and it is easy to bundle everyone together than to judge each man or woman on their own merits and dishonors. I always see these things as opportunities for those who scare the uninformed and to tighten the noose of lost liberties tighter.
We are being divided slowly methodically and surely and if “We the People….” do not see that! *SOON* we will fall divided. Also for Mr Beatty A Marine is a rifle man and one that has seen combat is not by the grace of god keeping his safety on, during basic range training 4 rules are driven into the mind of a Marine 1)Treat every weapon as if it were loaded. 2) Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you intend to fire. 3) Never point your weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot. 4) Keep your weapon on safe until you intend to fire.
With this in mind and knowing the little we have been told Marine Jose Guerena must have recognized (I’m assuming for he is dead) that they where friendlies although across this Great Country of Ours home invasions are taking place almost every day with the perpetrators yelling police! crap they even wear uniform and neck badges yet he did not disengage his safety. Mr Beatty in the mentioned released video did you count the seconds from door breaching to the shots fired? A 2 Iraq tour Marine Rifleman with the intent to kill LEOs would have terminated more than 2 LEOs. But what gets me in this great tragedy is the intel coming out from all angles depending on who gains from it and the fact that Mrs Guerena or Mr Guerena’s names where not even on the search warrant. Either way I stand as I started in this comment a Marine is down (after 2 tours in the sandbox) and there’s member(s) of the S.W.A.T.team who are also Veterans and I’m sure eventually the mud of intel will settle and the water will be clear enough to see the truth… Orion out.
May 29th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
The focus is off point here. What really should be addressed is why PCSD is not disclosing full transparency in the case. Why did a Marine die for nothing? I’m sick and tired of botched pot raids. The war and drugs and police militarization is eroding 4th amendment rights I don’t care how highly you think of swat teams. They bust down doors looking for nothing but arrests and drugs, if someone’s got a gun shoot em 70 times. I’d love to see what the founders would say this kind of search and seizure tactics all on the basis, and justified, by the present day illegality and prohibition of drugs. It’s ridiculous, it violates the constitution and I’m sure would have been thrown out by the founders. What happened to peaceable knock on the door, show your warrant, search the place and leave days? It’s a shame this young father could survive two tours of duty in Iraq but couldn’t survive an encounter with swat invading the privacy and sanctuary of his own home. SWAT by design, does not save lives, obviously. Just to put things in perspective. Let’s take a look at some statistics provided by cato just check cato.org/raidmap to double check my info given here. From 1985 to 2010 45 innocent people have been killed in botched paramilitary police raids. 31 cases of death or injury of a police officer. 26 deaths of non-violent offenders. 188 raids on innocent suspects. 15 unnecessary raids on patients and doctors. and 66 other instances of paramilitary police excess. Ya’ll have quite a track record.
May 29th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
“Now, before this comment gets deleted, maybe someone can show me exactly where I am … lying?”
* * *
Elias here. I have deleted the content of this post, and have also deleted another post by Agent Paranoid.
Salute!
Elias
May 29th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Mr. Meyer
I don’t have any arguement with you nor with SWAT teams in general. We never used them in my 30+ years as a LEO. Probably because we never had them. I/we made many high risk arrests and warrant service with just my partner and myself and a couple of uniformed officers. We planned our activity when the risk was minimal under the circumstances. We took down many a door with a 12 gauge shotgun with slugs of barricaded subjects and never suffered a police injury and seldom a suspect death. I’ve stood riot lines in regular police uniforms with armor as was supplied and was readily identified as a police officer.
I understand that times have changed. I understand that we live in a more violant time.
Sir what I don’t understand is why the militarism of police arrest units and why the black ninja or gestpo type uniforms and not the normal police uniforms that are more readily identified as police and why the military assault type weapons when the 12 guage has been the standard in law enforcement for many years. I’m confused as to why in the modern police departments that militarism is deemed important. I’m confused as to what our job is now compared to say 30 years ago? What happened to “Protect and Serve” or to the friendly neighborhood cop? What happened to community policing?
Am I missing the point completely? I’m in my late 70’s and don’t see law enforcement as the proud profession that it used to be. Am I wrong? Please help me understand. Why do we need a “Special Weapon Assualt Team” dealing with the general public albeit a criminal public? A bad guy is a bad guy now as he was way back when. US citizens have owned guns forever, nothing has changed. Bad guys used gun then as they do now. It just seems to me that we are not planning our arrest as arrest but warrant service as a dangerous army style assualt.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Now please don’t be insulted nor offended, I sincerely want to know.
Wes Thayer, Retired
In God We Trust
Proud OathKeeper
May 30th, 2011 at 7:51 am
No Knock Warrant SHOULD BE OUT LAWED BREAKING INTO A MANS HOME.ANY ONE CAN SAY FBI OR POLICE
WHEN THEY BREAK IN. United States Congress SHOULD HAVE A FEDERAL LAW AGANIST THIS.I BELIVE
IN LAW AND ORDER,HOWEVER A MANS HOME SHOULD BE HIS CASTLE.YOU CAN CATCH OUTLAWS OTHER WAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!