The Premier’s announcement that the island will assemble a SWAT team in response to the escalation of violent crime has left me cold.
Typically, a SWAT team is a paramilitary police force designed to provide superior assault firepower in confrontations, such as bank robberies or hostage situations.
To put it bluntly, a SWAT team would not be a useful tool against most of the major crimes that have plagued our community recently. A SWAT team is of little use in a drive-by shooting or a mugging-turned-murder.
We need a more effective Police force much more than we need a specialist unit scrambling for precious budget dollars. Prevention is better than purgative.
