and this book is well written and thorough.

He goes into detail regarding the proliferation of SWAT teams in this country and how their mission has been skewed from its original intent. He discusses the "no-knock raid" and how they often go wrong. If you are at all interested in gathering a better understanding of the militarization of America's police forces, this book will provide it.

who is giving the marching orders,on a national level?
This is not a "hive mind" of various police Depts across the country all having the same military build up thinking. It happened too fast.
I know that police are sent off for training, and I know that the old Blackwater ( and whatever its name is now) did a lot of it.

I believe there is a reason for a police army, if you will, and am intensely curious as to who is pulling the stirngs.
Does the book address that?

I find I have the book, in my Nook files.

No, not really. The first SWAT team was formed shortly after the Watts Riots in the late 1960's. The explosion of SWAT teams occurred in the 70's and 80's facilitated by the idea of "Hey! They have one, why don't we get one?"

The answer to your question is no, he doesn't address who is pulling the strings (if anyone) but there aren't really strings to pull. The "Hive Mind" you seem skeptical of most assuredly exists and has existed for decades with police departments.

Not to give too much away, but Balko does go into some detail on the development of SWAT teams and how they are now mostly used for non-violent, victimless consensual crimes, primarily drugs. He talked about one of the highest profile cases in recent years where a team could have done the most good but did bugger all - the Columbine HS massacre. They KNEW where Klebold and Harris were almost the whole time because kids still inside the building were texting their whereabouts, but the Denver PD's SWAT team stayed outside.

Essentially, SWAT teams are used for easy pickings (low level drug busts) and avoid the kind of scenarios they were supposedly formed to address. It is this military style overkill that the book describes.

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.

From what I have read, it seems you are spot on about the former military now infesting Police Departments around the country. Too many have been hardened and seem to fail in the ability to understand that Americans are not their enemy.

As far as the Columbine incident, Here is an article critical of their procedures, but one can, I'm sure, find many articles defending them.

The military equipment being funneled at local cops is a HUGE problem, in my opinion, as it reinforces the 'Soldier' mindset. You look at some cops and the way they dress on regular duty and want to ask "Who the hell is the enemy you plan on encountering?"

pick up more good books to read. So, when I saw your post I figured I'd answer since I had experience in that field. Quite a few people are getting seriously worried about the number of messed-up people becoming cops; not enough checking is done before they are hired and, as we have seen in the news, cops who shoot little kids, moms in the park, a guy sitting in his car, a deaf guy walking down the sidewalk, etc., for no discernible reason are not even getting fired, much less prosecuted.

Besides, aren't you the guy who drives car carriers for a living? Didn't you write a really interesting post on that? Every time I see a car carrier, I say to myself: "I wonder if Heretic is driving that?" LOL

And I had put up a couple threads back when I was doing that. I left the last car haul gig I had 2 years ago September.

I haul US Mail these days. Better pay (And I am a Teamster now) and one tenth the physical labor!

To refresh your memory, here's one of those threads;

This one had 2 time-lapse vids of me loading;

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022759013