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April 04, 2009

In the News

Yesterday's hot story was the mass shooting of recent immigrants in Binghamton, NY. It was over in minutes, but heavily armed SWAT teams waited outside for three hours before entering. Judging from details in today's NYT story, those in charge should have been able to deduce from the 911 calls that it was a lone shooter. What distresses me is the probability that, as at Columbine, police reticence to enter such a scene almost certainly risked adding avoidable mortality and morbidity to a tragic situation.

Such a policy stands in stark contrast to the aggressive tactics SWAT teams routinely use on drug busts, in which raiding the wrong address occasionally leads them to shoot surprised home owners, their dogs, or even their children.

Doctor Tom

Posted by tjeffo at April 4, 2009 05:32 PM

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