Comments on: Why Do SWAT Teams Exist? http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/08/08/why-do-swat-teams-exist/ <em>City Paper</em> Writers on News, Politics, the Media, the Arts, and More Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:50:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Caby Smith http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/08/08/why-do-swat-teams-exist/#comment-225093 Caby Smith Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:49:34 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=6293#comment-225093 First, I want to thank you for remembering Dr. Culosi… he was a good friend of mine, and we all miss him every day. My heart goes out to the Mayor for the loss of his dogs. I too can’t believe that that kind of force was needed to investigate the incident. Why didn’t they just keep the pot and then swing by and question the Mayor?... did they even do enough research to know he was the Mayor? If they know, were they just looking for headlines? Once again law enforcement has proved that “to serve and protect” isn’t very high on their list. What ever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? Have we elevated drug possession to a capital offense? This sort of police work (and I use that term loosely) creates more danger that the alleged crime created… just asked the dogs. In Dr. Culosi’s case, he was gambling $50-$100 with his friends (bar bets) on sports games. An underrcover cop pushed the bets up so he could have Dr. Culosi classified as a “bookie”, and then sent a SWAT team in to arrest him, shooting him dead. We should all feel afraid. Caby Smith, Jr. First, I want to thank you for remembering Dr. Culosi… he was a good friend of mine, and we all miss him every day. My heart goes out to the Mayor for the loss of his dogs. I too can’t believe that that kind of force was needed to investigate the incident. Why didn’t they just keep the pot and then swing by and question the Mayor?… did they even do enough research to know he was the Mayor? If they know, were they just looking for headlines? Once again law enforcement has proved that “to serve and protect” isn’t very high on their list. What ever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? Have we elevated drug possession to a capital offense? This sort of police work (and I use that term loosely) creates more danger that the alleged crime created… just asked the dogs. In Dr. Culosi’s case, he was gambling $50-$100 with his friends (bar bets) on sports games. An underrcover cop pushed the bets up so he could have Dr. Culosi classified as a “bookie”, and then sent a SWAT team in to arrest him, shooting him dead. We should all feel afraid.

Caby Smith, Jr.

]]>