Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

SWAT Team: A Life-Saving Not a Life-Taking Police Operation

Dr.Avdi S. Avdija.

The purpose of this study is to examine specific aspects of SWAT operations. One objective of this study is to determine the positive aspect of employing SWAT operations within the agency in dealing with suspects. The second objective is to examine the relationship between the SWAT response outcomes, prevalence, and incidence involving suspects and innocent civilians. Specifically, the analyses focus on the number of cases that SWAT teams managed to handle special threat situations with minimal human injuries or loss of life. The analyses are based on a national sample of 341 law enforcement agencies, which employed at least 50 sworn officers. The comparative analyses in this study show that, on average, hostages are 2.3 times more likely to be rescued by a SWAT intervention team than get killed during a hostage situation. Also, this study shows that during a SWAT intervention, the suicidal suspects are on average 10.5 times more likely to be rescued by a SWAT team than commit suicide.