Recently finished "Rise of the Warrior Cop".

[Nay]

5. As someone who used to work with many cops, I can attest to the hive mind

idea, but that was going on before SWAT teams -- cops mainly stuck together, no matter what. And if one PD somewhere is doing a thing, they all copy (that's no different from any other org.).

IMO, just from my direct knowledge, recent military veterans (esp. ones from the ME wars) hired as police officers can be stone cold about taking people down, being rough, etc. It was the atmosphere they were in, of course, and training didn't seem to get them to ratchet it down a few notches for some poor black kid with a water gun.

I did not know that about the Denver SWAT team -- but I'm not surprised. There are many SWAT teams around the country who have so little real experience with active shooters that they are simply too scared to go in and do their jobs. They love being SWAT until it means getting shot at.

And we can't forget all the federal military equipment that is being distributed by the federal government to any PD that wants it. They all want it. They don't know how to handle the stuff and it's harmful in civilian life, but they all want it.