TAM recommended the book "Rise of the Warrior Cop" a few months back. I took that advice and in the book found the suggestion that the types of officers who were the most likely to want to join SWAT like teams were the ones who deserved the greatest scrutiny in the application process. The book suggests that the mindset can be just wrong.mayor wrote:Maybe combat veterans should be vetted extremely well before being hired by police force, sheriff's department, mall security...OlBill wrote:"If you talk to any combat veteran..."
Having said that, I think that we can miss the biggest problem. Departments are often driven by the mindset of chief. The rank and file officers are likely to reflect that mindset. A Facebook poster yesterday suggested that the best approach would be to elect politicians who would hire chiefs of police who didn't drive toward the "warrior cop" environment. The chief doesn't have to create warrior cop thinking but just tolerating it can be a problem.